Less Than Zero

I wanted to like Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. I wanted to like their single, Home, that’s been getting fairly heavy airplay on alternative rock stations. It’s quirky and catchy. It’s folkie, but interestingly produced. It reminds me vaguely of the duet between Peter Yorn and Scarlett Johansson from last year, but this is more original, I think. I wanted to go to iTunes and download it, then add it to a mix I’m working on. Maybe burn it for a friend. But then it happened, probably on the third listen. I’m guessing I hadn’t heard it from the beginning, or just wasn’t listening to the words closely enough, but it happened. Before the chorus kicked in for the first time they went there, and for no good reason. Amid a list of decidedly banal objects that our hero likes less than his beloved, he inserts the Name above all other names. Why did he have to do that? (and don’t go complaining to Edward Sharpe, he doesn’t exist. Think “Lynyrd Skynyrd.”) I wanted to like it, but I just can’t.

I don’t know what the song writer’s motivation was. Maybe he was trying to be blasphemous. Maybe he was just trying to be cute or, more likely, shocking. Maybe he wanted to show that the Alpha and the Omega of our faith has no more value or meaning than pumpkin pie of chocolate candy. Anyway you cut it, the inclusion of the Messiah in this litany of the mundane is sad and cheap, and yes, offensive. Since Our Savior’s name doesn’t even rhyme within the line's context I have to conclude that he was determined to make his point, what ever that point is, no matter how self defeating.

For those who will protest, that it’s just words, and they have no meaning, it’s just a silly pop song, what’s the big deal? I say, words have meaning. They always have and they always will. No matter how contemporary intellectuals try to tell you otherwise, words have a power beyond our understanding.

There is a common notion, made popular by the late Lenny Bruce, that words have no inherent meaning. If we find a word offensive we need to put it into common usage. Sheer repetition will render the word ordinary and so lose its power to offend. He was referring to a particular word that African Americans tend to take issue with. His desire was for the President to start referring to black members of his cabinet by this name publicly as a way of dulling its impact (Yes, I understand Bruce was a comedian, but I think he was, in this case, trying to shock rather than be completely ironic). It’s almost fifty years later, and Mr. Bruce’s hypothesis simply doesn't hold up . Not only is this word unutterable outside of certain corners of the hip-hop community, in the halls of the mainstream media it is only mentioned by it’s first letter, the fear of giving offense is so great. The irony is that many of the same people who have rendered the “N” word unutterable hold Lenny Bruce as a hero.

Why has this word not been mainstreamed? Because it is ugly and hateful, and it projects a hate and ugliness beyond the intent of the speaker. Words have meaning. Yes, meaning can change over time. But that change comes in more organic ways. It can’t be decided on by a committee, it evolves without our knowing it. Words have a history of their own, and reflect the history they were born out of. Words have power. I would like to see one of those white intellectual college professor types get off the train at 125th Street in Harlem, descend the platform and begin to use that word with the people he meets. Then, let me know where to send the memorial bouquet.

But I digress.

Words have power. And of all the classes of words out there, names are the most powerful. As a teacher if I see a group of students on the playground doing something they are not supposed to, and yell out, “Hey, you guys, cut it out,” you know what’s going to happen? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. They are going to continue with what ever misbehavior they’re engaged in. If, on the other hand, I yell, “Pete, Nick, Bruno and Sasha, cut it out,” the odds are they stop quickly. If I include their last names, I guarantee they cut it out, stand at attention, and begin to look at their shoe laces in embarrassment.

Names have power. An exorcist is not supposed to engage the demon in conversation, except to find out how many there are, how long they plan on staying and what their name is. The demon does not give that last piece on information us easily because the exorcist will then have a powerful weapon to use against him.

The ancient Hebrews knew this thing about names. When Jacob wrestled the angel he asks for the mysterious visitor’s name. The “angel” tells him to pound pavement, punches him in his hip socket and changes Jacob’s name to Israel. Only God changes names in the Bible, so I’ll leave you to connect dots on that one. God gives Moses that mysterious answer of “I AM WHO AM,” in response to his request to know the divine name. Scholars still debate whether this was meant to be a proper name, a descriptor of God’s nature, or God’s way of telling Moses to mind his own business; no one controls the Almighty. In the Gospels it’s Jesus who changes Simon’s name to Peter, to denote the function the Apostle would have in the Church. Names have power, and the divine name is the most powerful of them all. This is why observant Jews to this day have such a respect for God’s name as revealed in scripture. It is not to be spoken; it is not to be even written down.

We have become sloppy, and throw the Lord’s name around as if He were an ordinary Joe (no offense to any Joes out there). But names have power, and Jesus’ name is holy and full of power. His words give us hope: Your sins are forgiven. His words have power: Go, and sin no more. His words give us a mission: Go and teach all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. His words give us a command: Do this in memory of me. His words give us His very Self: This is my Body, this is my Blood.

Our faith is based on the fact that words have power and it is by a Name that we are saved. I am a patient man. I believe that it's important to give generous leeway to the artist. I try to give the benefit of the doubt. I think we can be too quick to judge a song like John Lennon's God, for instance. Not that we agree with the sentiment, but to understand the pain, disillusionment and heart break that went into him writing that piece. But this particular number deserves no such consideration. This was just a sloppy attempt to be hip and Jesus' expense. I'm pretty easy, but don’t be sloppy with the Name. I may like quirky off beat pop, but I can’t take blasphemy, no matter how well produced and packaged; no matter how much I want to like it.