The physical manifestation of the Church of the Lost, Get your CD today with all sorts of extra goodies included in the mail just for you.
Church of the Lost is a concept album recorded entirely in quarantine in the spring of 2020. An agnostic gospel journey through life & death, the search for meaning, love & heartbreak. A soulful nihilism siren song for the forgotten & the lost.
A quick note on listening to a concept album in the modern age:
While all of the parts of this record could stand alone as individual songs, the album is meant to be listened to from beginning to end, preferably in one sitting. And to borrow a quote from the back of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, played at “maximum volume”.
Another brief note on “songs” verses “musical movements”:
There are two ways to separate the music on this record. The first, and most logical for the current marketplace (since the album has been pronounced dead repeatedly) is to look at it like this: A nine track EP featuring an intro, followed by one of four recurring interludes which serve to break up three longer songs. The whole piece ends with a coda that brings us back to the beginning. That is probably complex enough and is the way the album has been presented here.
The second way to listen (and the way I envision it as the writer), is to look at it as a single 24 ½ minute piece of music broken up into in 16 movements. It was written that way, one small piece at a time, with recurring themes musically and thematically meant to fit together and tell one story.
Movements:
I will attempt to describe the motivation and inspiration behind each movement. Please keep in mind that the meaning I glean from this piece is just my opinion. The best any artist can hope for is for their work to be interpreted in ways they've never dreamed of. If I'm lucky, these songs will mean something powerful and personal to you as the listener, that has nothing to do with me.
(Descriptions of each movement in each song description)
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Sermon:
The world is dark and corrupt. Greed is king, the peace and love hippie ideals I was steeped in growing up, have been dragged into the street and shot down execution style by online shopping and billionaire worship. We need a second coming, a savior to appear on the final reel, but unfortunately....
Somebody Kidnapped Jesus:
There is a Kurt Vonnegut book called Hocus Pocus where people in a post apocalyptic America build a new religion around Kidnapped Jesus. As society collapses, the messiah returns to earth, but just as he was about to reveal himself, somebody kidnaps him. Now all we have to do is find Jesus and the world will be saved. He could be anywhere, in your pocket, in your latte, under your bed...look around.
Bargain Bin:
After searching in vain for a hero to save us from the toil of this mortal coil, we shift into this next movement about disillusionment. A verse about searching for answers, a hand up from a higher power, but finding you have to fend for yourself as usual. Navigate your own boat through the dark river of the world. Turns out our faith is just paper, and we're left with only our sins...sadly, those ain't worth much either.
Wiseblood:
In the novel Wiseblood by Flannery O'Connor, the main character Hazel Motes, preaching from the hood of his broken down jalopy, creates an anti-religion ministry called the Church Without Christ. After many ups and downs (mostly downs), he finds his desperate salvation at last by blinding himself with lye. Only then can he truly see. What he sees is a mystery, but within his burned-out sockets there is a light.
Perhaps in the darkness, stripped of ego, hubris and the trappings of a normal life, our eyes will finally open.
lyrics
Brothers and sisters, and non-binary cousins
Our world is in a dark place right now. We are living in isolation while our leaders trade our lives for their own glory. The moneylenders have not only moved back into the
temple, they've opened a chain are guaranteeing next day shipping.
If we've ever needed the second coming, now would be the time... sadly, I've got some bad news
for you. And it goes a little something like this.
The Messiah came on down when we needed him the most
after years of showing up on my tortillas and my toast
but when he walked up to the podium to try to heal the world
a man in a plain white van pulled up, his mustache black and curled
He said “ Jesus, come on over here, I'll take you for a ride.
I got an ounce of uncut frankincense, why don't you step inside”.
He held a rag, to the nose, of the son of god, turned to him and said
“funny thing about chloroform, lord it goes right to your head”
Well he laid him down on the rug, the shag was tall and green
and drove him to a place and time even god had never seen.
That's when I noticed he was gone, as the world falls to pieces
everybody look around, cause somebody kidnapped Jesus
Well we printed up some fliers, nailed em to a post
“looking for a man with a beard, and loin cloth. Answers to the The Holy Ghost”
He could be in your coffee, he could be up in your hair,
in the back of your jalopy, or in your underwear
he just might be hiding behind the piercing in your ear
in your bathtub, in your glove box, even floating in your beer
When you're writing down your prayers, could be the ink in your pen
meditating on the mountain, he's the Z in your Zen
Keep an eye out for the savior, he came down here to free us
but now we gotta look around, cause somebody kidnapped Jesus
Well I didn't know the books were broken
Nobody told me the light had dimmed
I was just searching for my Jesus
when I couldn't find him within
I didn't know, all the good words were taken
Nobody told me, it was just down to me and him
I was left wandering looking for a pawn shop
to find a fair price of my sins
end up in the bargain bin
Search in your pocket for a fistful of lye
Jump on down from the rocking horse and
free the jelly from your eyes
you can't see the forest or the
trees, but you know your hair is just right
In the land of the lost, the no eyed man is
king, of an empty bottle of rye.
Here in the darkness you at last can see
you at last can see
credits
from Church of the Lost,
released June 25, 2020
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