Derek Webb's Stockholm Syndrome To Be Released In Two Versions, "Clean" and "Explict"

I listened to the song and I'm sure the controversy is not about the word "s**t". The controversy is over having the truth thrown back in the right wing Taliban's face regarding their hatred (Excuse me "Hate the sin, Love the sinner"). I applaud Mr. Webb for having the courage and the love of Christ to speak the truth in his song.

"You say you always treat people like you like to be
I guess you love being hated for your sexuality
You love when people put words in your mouth
'Bout what you believe, make you sound like a freak

'Cause if you really believe what you say you believe
You wouldn't be so damn reckless with the words you speak
Wouldn't silently conceal when the liars speak
Denyin' all the dyin' of the remedy

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?

If I can tell what's in your heart by what comes out of your mouth
Then it sure looks to me like being straight is all it's about
It looks like being hated for all the wrong things
Like chasin' the wind while the pendulum swings

'Cause we can talk and debate until we're blue in the face
About the language and tradition that he's comin' to save
Meanwhile we sit just like we don't give a s**t
About 50,000 people who are dyin' today

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?"

I'll have to check out the song, too. Derek Webb is famous for bringing up stuff we don't like to talk about and causing waves, which personally I think we need to do. You don't have to agree with someone to agree that we need to dialogue. I respect him for that!

Thanks for the lyrics - I'll study them a little more late.
Thanks!
Joanne
host of the GS blog

I don't think "What Matters More" is targeting the right wing Taliban at all... I think that Derek is talking straight to the Christian community. Since sexuality and hate is a is a subject that many other religions and people groups struggle with also I suppose that this song could be meant for everyone in general but given his background and audience, I think he meant it to speak to Christians.

oh, and intmh, I think that hillbilly pilgrim is my new favorite phrase :)

Hey, all the lyrics if you are interested. Possibly a couple words to be "tweaked."

BLACK EYE
Black eye
From staring through a keyhole at my lover
I swear it's not from his fist
Stockholm Syndrome comes to where they're keeping you
You never know what time it is

Black eye
Is all it's gonna take for me to love you
It's written in our constitution
If you go you know I will come with you
I'm blind-bound by love

Time is no friend to the ones who wait
For daylight to come
Time looks the same at the ones who hate and the ones that do nothing

Black eye
Is what I'm gonna paint for your protection
To cover the tracks that you're leaving
I misplaced my face so we can be together
And red lips change how you're perceiving

Time is no friend to the ones who wait
For daylight to come
Time looks the same at the ones who hate and the ones that do nothing

Instrumental

Black eye ... black eye
 
COBRA CON

You want to rock with the cops on the front line
You want to kick it with the people in the back
You strike a match and you throw back a cocktail
There's got to be a better way.

‘Cause it is harder to stay
It is harder to wait
To out-love, to out-suffer them.
It is harder to stay
It is harder to wait
To out-love, to out-suffer them.
Out-suffer them.

I want to dream up a world I want to live in
I want to spray it on a building downtown
I want to protest provisions and a paycheck
There's got to be a better way.

Cause it is harder to stay
It is harder to wait
To out-love, to out-suffer them.
And it is harder to stay
It is harder to wait
To out-love, to out-suffer them.

I don't want to wait
No drugs or sleep
I want to hold your hand-grenade
God bless these bombs
Baptize this rope
Lie with us in this bed we've made

Cause it is harder to stay
It is harder to wait
To out-love, to out-suffer them.
And it is harder to stay
It is harder to wait
To out-love, to out-suffer them.

FREDDIE PLEASE

Freddie please
How could you do this to Me?
How could you tell me you love Me when you hate Me Freddie please?

You know I love you honey
I bleed you dry with money
I talk where I know you can hear
Cause Freddie can't you see
Brother you're the one who's queer?

Freddie please
How could you do this to Me?
How could you tell me you love Me when you hate Me Freddie please?

Instrumental

The stone's been rolled away
But you're picketing my grave
For loving the things you hate
But why do you see
The living among the dead?

Freddie please
How could you do this to Me?
How could you tell them you love Me when you hate Me Freddie please?
When you hate Me Freddie please
When you hate Me Freddie please.

 
THE SPIRIT VS. THE KICK DRUM

(A one and a two and a chickaboom a chick)

I don't want the spirit, I want the kick drum
I don't want the spirit, I want the kick drum
I know how it works so I'm not dumb
I don't want the spirit, I want the kick drum

Like sex, without-love
Like peace, without the dove
Like a crime scene, without the blood
I don't want the spirit, you know I want a kick drum

I don't want the Son I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Son I want a jury of peers
Skin is gonna burn if you see my tears
I don't want the Son I want a jury of peers

Like lies without the truth
Like wine without the fruit
Like a skydive without the chute
I don't want the Son, you know I want a jury of peers
I don't want the spirit, you know I want a kick drum.

(Oh grope with me baby)

I don't want the Father, want a vending machine
I don't want the Father, want a vending machine
I know what I want if you know what I mean
I don't want the Father, want a vending machine

Like heaven without gates
Like hell without flames
Like life without pain
I don't want the Father, you know I want a vending machine
I don't want the Son you know I want a jury of peers
I don't want the Spirit you know I want a kick drum.

WHAT MATTERS MORE

Say you always treat people like you'd like to be
I guess you love being hated for your sexuality
You love when people put words in your mouth
'Bout what you believe, make you sound like a freak

'Cause if you really believe what you say you believe
You wouldn't be so damn reckless with the words you speak
Wouldn't silently consent when the liars speak
Denyin' all the dyin' of the remedy

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you? Huh?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you? Huh?

If I can tell what's in your heart by what comes out of your mouth
Then it sure looks to me like being straight is all it's about
Yeah it looks like being hated for all the wrong things
Like chasin' the wind while the pendulum swings

'Cause we can talk and debate until we're blue in the face
About the language and tradition that He's comin' to save
Meanwhile we sit just like we don't give a shit
About 50,000 people who are dyin' today

Tell me, brother, what matters more to you? Huh?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?

Instrumental

Brother, what matters more to you? Huh?
Tell me, sister, what matters more to you?
Tell me, what matters more to you? Huh?
Tell me, brother, what matters more to you?

 
THE STATE

Oh, I was free
To live and love
And kill as I saw fit
I was at peace, I really was,
No one I was at war with
The only common good
Was that we understood
That laws unjust were only good for breaking
That difference legalized instead of sameness
Left nobody free
But that was the day before I married my conscience to the state

My taxes paid
These road we laid
To places of my choosing
There were no eyes
Up in the skies
Looking down into my bed

There was no government
Without our consent
And keys were made for anyone who just claimed it
And glass was all of every wall that framed it
From sea to shining sea
But that was the day before I married my conscience to the state

Right and wrong written on my heart
And not just in the laws that condemn me
But now with Caeser satisfied
I can even do the things that should offend me.
 
THE PROVERBIAL GUN

Now I can buy the proverbial gun
And shoot the proverbial child
When my uncle looks me in the eye
And speaks of freedom
My conscience goes up on trial
In the courtrooms of the mind
Where the judges all have sons
And all the lawyers are wounded
And the backs are all broke
And the bailiff is my brother
And the witness is my sister
And I'm guilty as hell
And by the afternoon I'm out
Out on the pavement walking
Reeking of salt and blood
No hat upon my head
No shoes upon my feet
Picking your body from my teeth
No stars above me
No stripes upon me

Free (x10)

 
I LOVE YOU/HATE YOU

Baby when I put my hands on you, I feel like I'm touching the earth
Baby when I put my hands on you, I feel like I'm touching the earth
Baby when I put my hands on you, I feel like I'm touching the earth
Cause I'm breaking ground. The soil is wet, slipping through my hands.
I'm breaking ground and the soil is wet, slipping through my hands.

Baby when I set my eyes on you, I follow the curves of the moon
Baby when I set my eyes on you, I follow the curves of the moon
Baby when I set my eyes on you, I follow the curves of the moon
The oceans rise come crashing down onto the shore
The oceans rise come crashing down onto the shore

But your love is a noose around my neck
I give up and I know I will regret it.
Your love is a weight around my legs
I don't know who I am unless you're holding me.

Baby when I listen to your words, they whisper to me like the wind.
Baby when I listen to your words, they whisper to me like the wind.
Baby when I listen to your words, they whisper to me like the wind.
They're strong enough to blow me down, destroy my house.
They're strong enough to blow me down, and destroy my house.

But your love is a noose around my neck
I give up and I know I will regret it.
Your love is a weight around my legs
I don't know who I am unless you're holding me.

Baby when I listen to your words
Baby when I set my eyes on you
Baby when I put my hands on you
Baby when I put my hands on you
I don't
Hate
You
 

BECOMING A SLAVE

I admire these men
Brave and beautiful
Grabbing the blade
From all the wrong sides like children
They bring skins and smoke
We bring shackles and guns
We'll trade with them
And then we'll take them home.

It's simple, so simple
They're not like us

Becoming a slave
Is easier than you think
Becoming a slave
Is easier than you think
Becoming a slave
Is easier than you think
Becoming a slave

There's always a price to pay
It's gotta hit somebody's back
Trust me, new worlds
Don't just build themselves
Progress has more than one face
Evil isn’t always itself
There's nothing we can change that doesn't change everything else

So it's simple, it's so simple
If they're not like us

Becoming a slave
Is easier than you think
Becoming a slave
Is easier than you think
Becoming a slave
Is easier than you think
Becoming a slave

Talk from every head
Product in every word
It's under our feet,
You know it's over our heads
Everyone's telling the truth
In languages that nobody speaks
You listen close, you hear what you believe.

To love vision, to love action
To love vision, to love action
To be what you want
To be what you want

We want justice in the system
The strong fear for the weak
We won't just defend the system
We won't accept defeat
We want justice in the system
Let's reach a higher peak
We want justice in the system, system, system...

 

JENA & JIMMY

Jena and Jimmy they
Met at a rally to
Bring our boys back from the war
Jimmy was dancing,
He was dancing like crazy, showing
No mercy to the dance floor
Jena was minding, she was
Minding her business. She did
Not want no company
‘Til Jimmy spotted her,
Like a lamb to the slaughter
And he coaxed her over with a martini

(AND JIMMY SAID OOH, OOH)

She could … feel it … hitting her bloodstream
Before she knew it she was
Up on his chopping block
And he was flagging down a taxi

(And Jimmy said)
If you give me your love,
I'll give you my love, I'll give you my love
Gonna take on kiss to shut you up
(and that'll be enough)
If you give me your love,
I'll give you my love, I'll give you my love
Gonna kiss your lips to shut you up.

She told him stories of
Social injustices
And constitutional rights
He smirked and turned his head.
"Just lighten up," he said.
"Baby we got all night."
Jena was beautiful
And spoke convincingly.
He listened just like a priest.
His best shot at stopping her was
If he co-opted her
So he got two more rounds of drinks.

(And Jimmy said oooh, oooh)

Jimmy … held her … like an enemy
Then toasted global peace
And dovetailing interests
As he threw his shot back with a wink.

(And Jimmy said)
If you give me your love,
I'll give you my love, I'll give you my love
Gonna take on kiss to shut you up
(and that'll be enough)
If you give me your love,
I'll give you my love, I'll give you my love
Gonna kiss your lips to shut you up.

(And Jimmy said)
If you give me your love,
I'll give you my love, I'll give you my love
Gonna take on kiss to shut you up
(and that'll be enough)
If you give me your love,
I'll give you my love, I'll give you my love
Gonna kiss your lips to shut you up.

-----

 

HEAVEN

I was killed in a shopping cart.
Turned upside down and left for dead
I saw a clown try to speak to me
As I floated over head.

I found my way to a familiar place
I swear I’ve been some time before
I would have thought it was the marketplace
But I could not find the door

Oh I have been to heaven
And I have walked the streets
But I couldn’t find a hand to hold
To keep me on my feet

So paradise is a parking lot
A spot up front is your reward
And all the rest walk down streets of gold
To the house they could afford

I got lost in swelling crowd
And I could not afford to eat
You only have what you came in with
So I’m living on the street

Oh I have been to heaven
And I found no relief
Cause I couldn’t find a hand to hold
To keep me on my feet

INSTRUMENTAL

And I heard Jesus Christ was there
He had a car that’s bulletproof
That way everyone is safe
From the man who tells the truth

Oh I have been to heaven
And I have walked the streets
But I couldn’t find a hand to hold
To keep me on my feet

No I couldn’t find a hand to hold
To keep me on my feet

-----

 
WHAT YOU GIVE UP TO GET IT

Like sex when you're too young
Like youth, when you've got none
Like home, when you're too drunk
Getting everything you wanted with a lot of bad credit
Oh it's never quite worth what you give up to get it.

Like style, made by slaves
Like bribes to throw the race
Like women who know their place
Like an Indian casino or a tank of unleaded
Oh it's never quite worth what you give up to get it.

Stand back, stand back, stand back, stand back
Stand back, stand back, stand back, stand back
You love it now, but it's too much
You love it now, but it's too much

Like fame, for what you're not
Like joy, that you bought
Like pleasure, that never hits the spot
Like security for liberty, you gotta admit it
Oh it's never quite worth what you give up to get it.

Stand back, stand back, stand back, stand back
Stand back, stand back, stand back, stand back
You love it now, but it's too much
You love it now, but it's too much

-----

 

AMERICAN FLAG UMBRELLA

I'm building a house on the limb
I need something that could stop a war
I'm assailed on all sides
By extremists with eyes on my heart
SO I lie to everyone

I've lied to so many lovers
And have gotten away with it too
But if God is against us,
Then who can be for us my friends
There's justice for everyone

Please take your hands off my brother
Please take your laws off my lover
The agents of law
Should always be blind and on time
So there's freedom for everyone

And where are your American brothers
American before they were made
There a huddling mass
With no oceans to cross for our shores
When there's fortune for everyone

Oppression is always oppression
No matter the reasons or means
For skin or for sex,
By stares or by fist it's the same
There's blinders on everyone.

I've looked through the eyes of my father
And I've walked through Lincoln's back yard
And there's still a back seat
When you ride on the bus through this town
And there's color on everyone

So we lie beneath the tree of no color
With an American flag umbrella
Keeps the elements out
And it's stuck to the ground in this place
There's room for everyone

Oh I know a way out of hell
We raise all our enemy's children
After they've murdered ours
We affix all their scars to our walls
There's heartbreak for everyone

And in the end it will all be OK
That's what the wise men tell us
So if it's not OK
Then it's not the end, oh my friends
There's hope for everyone

I am one of the biggest Derek Webb fans that I know but am a bit dissapointed in this album. Artistically and musically I think the album is very orignal and shows the talent and diversity of Derek. However, I feel that Derek has not balanced Grace, Sovereignty, and truth. He has alot of complaints but offers no redemption. If I had not heard any of Derek's other albums I would probablly not know that this was a Christian album. I do agree that there are a ton of flaws in the church and alot of law without grace. However telling people that they run their mouth too damn much and that people don't give a shit is not the way to edify build up or even criticize the church. I feel that this album wanting to push the envelope to see just how controversial he could be. I look forward to reading the interview and I am hoping that Derek explains his thoughts and ideas clearly because right now I am not sure how I feel about this album or Derek.

Hey all! Here's Part 1 of my interview with Derek Webb:
http://blog.beliefnet.com/gospelsoundcheck/2009/07/part-1-of-my-interview-with-de.html

You can read portions or hear the audio excerpts that include his full answers to these first questions.

Thanks!
Joanne
host of the Gospelsoundcheck blog