ABOUT THE ALBUM "THE STAND"

"THE STAND" was my last album for the Good News record label. Most of the songs from this album were written and recorded during my downslide into the depths of the final stage of my alcohol addiction . Many of the songs were biographical, and reflected my then current struggles.
I had always participated in every step of the recording process of all my albums, completely hands on. This was the first album with which I was not. Bob Rose had been assigned as producer, why I don’t remember. I had always produced my own albums up until now. I was probably looking for a fresh approach. My intervention and hospitalization for my addiction happened during the final stages of this album. Bob finished up several songs without my participation, and the entire mix was done without me.
Word Records, who distributed the Good News label, hated the album, because of its painful content. I remember the president of Word at the time, Stan Moser, asking me “what was I thinking?” They basically buried it, putting little to no money into promoting and marketing. Consequently, it sold only a fraction of what my previous albums had sold. All my albums had sold over 100,00 up until now, but this album peaked at about 30,000. I am not going to play the "blame game”, and will admit that part if not much of the reason for the slow sales may have been the controversial content of the lyrics. Perhaps my audience was not ready for such painful themes in their music. My audience by now had come to know that I never put out a clone of my previous albums, so they knew I would do something different, but maybe not this different. I truly believe that this album would never have been released in today’s climate, where everything is so sanitized and safe.
My one proud moment was a glowing review from Cornerstone Magazine, published by Jesus People USA, the organization founded by Glen Kaiser of Resurrection Band . They loved the edgy controversial lyrics, and the harder rock sound. .

ABOUT THE SONGS

SOLDIER:

Wow, I had no clue I regard to spiritual warfare when I wrote this. I chanced upon the passages in Hebrews 6 in regard to the armor of God. I thought this was a great theme for a song, and wrote the song based on that passage. Little did I know that only a couple of years later I would have a revelation regarding spiritual warfare. Prophetic.

HOME FOR GOOD:

This was one of my few collaborations. I don’t even remember how I hooked up with Pat Hollis, but she had the lyric going as I remember. I wrote the music. and voila, hence the song. Very unmemorable to me, probably because the lyric was not my thought, An OK song, I guess.

BUSY DAY:

Believe it or not, this song was based on a Jello commercial. Back in (gasp) the black and white days of TV, there was a Jello commercial with a lyric something like:
“Busy day, busy day , too busy, too busy, etc,” ( I have actually found this ad on YouTube” "jello commercial busy" should get you there if it's still posted).
This ad was apparently effective, as I remembered the little phrase. My approach was to wear you out with the phrase, so that the very listening to the song would represent the busy-ness of life. Not much else to say, it’s just about taking the time to seek the Lord in the midst of a world filled with ever increasing distractions.

BORDER TOWN:

An observation of the condition of my own life during this season, it articulates the conflict, guilt and shame of abiding in a compromised life. At the same time that we are guilty in regard to life-controlling sin, we are also somewhat victims. When the addiction and power of the sin takes us over, there is an element of hopelessness that sets in. Fortunately, God realizes this, and eventually deliverance is forthcoming. (1 Cor:10-13)

WITNESS:

This song was my response to legalistic, statistic driven witnessing. There is an eternal conflict in street ministry between two main schools of thought, “fire and brimstone”, versus “friendship evangelism”. F&B is very legalistic, with an emphasis on getting in the necessary points in regard to salvation, almost by the numbers in the preaching of the gospel. There is an obsessive emphasis on the pointing out of sin and depravity, and the punishment that will result. Friendship evangelism is a more organic, natural approach which requires more of a sensitivity toward the individual and his life and needs. I am obviously an advocate of the friendship approach, and this song was a statement in that regard

THE FOLD:

I always preferred the demo of this song. (Available as a bonus cut on the Collector’s Series in my catalog.). This was on of the songs that Bob Rose finished up without my input. The guitar stuff in the front was ok, but I didn’t like the male background voices.. My vision of the song was to create a more tender musical landscape, but the voices made the song appear more ominous and oppressive. After all, this song is about ultimate surrender of our sin and lives into the forgiving, loving arms of Jesus, joining so to speak, “The Fold”. The end part, which should have been very melodic and atmospheric, came out kind of metallic and harsh. Not one of my favorite productions.

THE STAND:

This was a song which celebrated the courage and integrity of my wife Karen, as she stood by me during my time of deliverance from alcohol addiction. I like to say, “we have been married, many, many years, and it’s all her fault”. A consequence of my sin in this area was the fact that she grew on so many levels as a person during my addiction, and I was too medicated to be a partaker in these triumphs and victories in her life. In fact, my addiction was in so many ways the catalyst for many of these areas of her personal growth. But, one cannot live in what I call “coulda, shoulda woulda”. One must just realize what’s done is done and cannot be changed, At this point, one must just look forward to the salvation and healing of Jesus, as He works his good out of these life situations.
Ironically, I originally wrote the lyric from a first person male perspective to personalize it for my vocal. I quickly realized that since this lyric wasn’t fictional, but directly about Karen, I should change the song to a female third person perspective. I have had many comments from women throughout the years who have identified with the lyric, saying that in many ways it reflected their personal experience.

RACIN' LIKE THE WIND:

Again, my own struggle observed in a personal way. A look at the desperate state of mind that one finds himself in when he knows that he is deep in serious sin and wants out. One of my favorite lyric segments I have ever written is:
“Cryin' like the thunder as I kick against the fences that enclose me
I built them all and I built them strong enough to hold me
I'm tryin' to kick 'em down but you know They surround me and they choke me
Racin’ like the wind, racin’ like the wind back to you."
This so depicts the reality of so many who are caught in sin. James 1:13-15 says:
Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
One of the common syndromes of current thinking is to assign blame for whatever happens in your life. No personal responsibility is required for many. This song speaks to that issue.

CHILD COME HOME

Man, some things are self-explanatory. When I was going through this ordeal, and would perform this song, it was agonizing to realize that this message was directly from God to me. Even though I wrote the lyric, it applied directly on a personal level.
This is the only song on which I ever played my own guitar. It was done live in the studio in single takes. There is no editing on the final version. I saw no need to add anything to this dark, sad, powerful message.