themesong 12/15: I haven’t listened to this since I was a child

[warning: contains Christian ska-punk]

I was raised in a non-denominational Christian home, so my first real exposure to any sort of rock music was through Christian rock. It was really all I listened to until late in high school. At the time, I was totally into it, because it was rock music and it had lyrics that agreed with the way I thought about the world.

Blah blah, college, blah blah people who are different than I am are cool, blah blah evolutionary biology class yada yada yada, atheist*.

Last week I chatted with my high school buddy Frank. He told me Five Iron Frenzy is recording a new album. Five Iron Frenzy was a third-wave Christian ska-punk band, and it was, no joke, my favorite band for like six years. Maybe even longer than that. Certainly from 1997 onward, and I still liked them enough in 2003 to travel five hours to see them in concert.

My favorite Five Iron song was “Every New Day.” It’s about wanting to return to a childlike state of curiosity and energy, seeing every new day as if it was truly new. And, naturally, asking Jesus for some help with that. The bridge lyrics, excerpted below, adorned pretty much every writable surface I owned in middle and high schools. 

Man versus himself.
Man versus machine.
Man versus the world.
Mankind versus me.
The struggles go on.
The wisdom I lack.
The burdens keep piling
Up on my back.
So hard to breathe,
To take the next step.
The mountain is high;
I wait in the depths.
Yearning for grace,
And hoping for peace.
Dear God, 
Increase!

It’s super-weird to listen to a song that was your favorite song years after you’ve last heard it and realize that you’re essentially a different person from the punked-out Christian rock fifteen-year-old who loved that song. You’re the same person, but you’re a different person, too. I can barely see it from here.

I haven’t listened to this since I was a child.

[lyrics]

*Or rather, igtheist, but atheist for all practical purposes.