“What About Now” is the seventh single from American rock band Daughtry’s eponymous debut album. The song is a ballad, that was written by Ben Moody, David Hodges (both former members of Evanescence), and Josh Hartzler, who is married to Amy Lee (the lead singer of Evanescence) It is one of only two songs on the album not at least co-written by Chris Daughtry. The song was announced as the band’s next single on their website.[1] It was officially released in the U.S. on July 1, 2008.[2]
Copyright: EMI Music Publishing
“What About Now” is the seventh single from American rock band Daughtry‘s eponymous debut album. The song is a ballad, that was written byBen Moody, David Hodges (both former members of Evanescence), and Josh Hartzler, who is married to Amy Lee (the lead singer of Evanescence). It is one of only two songs on the album not at least co-written by Chris Daughtry. The song was announced as the band’s next single on their website.[1] It was officially released in the U.S. on July 1, 2008.[2]
The music video, directed by Kevin Kerslake, premiered Friday July 11 on FNMTV Premieres, where it got a standing ovation at FNMTV Studio.[3] The video can now be viewed on the band’s official site.
The video is a social commentary, depicting several people and places affected by poverty, natural disasters, and war, as well as other world issues. Several comments are made about these issues, and the video also asks introspective questions to the viewer. Certain people who are working to help these problems are shown throughout the video, with their names and what they’re associated with listed. The video features a light bulb that has not yet burned out, which symbolizes that it’s not too late to make a difference. The video concludes with one final question to the viewer, “What About Now?”, shown next to the burning light bulb. A few shots of the band playing the song live are also shown in the video.
The song was used on the February 21, 2008 episode of the seventh season of American Idol, in a video package showcasing the season’s top 24. An acoustic version of the song was performed by the band on a trip to Uganda, Africa in aid of the April 9, 2008 telecast of the fund raising charity event Idol Gives Back. The band performed in a small village surrounded by a group of underprivileged children that were heard singing along at one point, while a video also showed scenes of the band’s trip.
Raising money for Idol Gives Back, the acoustic performance of “What About Now” was put onto iTunes and debuted at number eight on the BillboardHot Digital Songs chart, fueling a number eighteen debut on Billboard’sHot 100, the band’s highest debuting song to date, as well as their fourth top twenty Hot 100 hit. It also entered at number seventeen on the Canadian Hot 100, giving the band their fourth top twenty hit there as well. It achieved these peaks over two months before the song’s official release.
Following “What About Now”‘s official release, the song has become the band’s fifth consecutive top ten hit on the Adult Top 40, so far reaching number three. This is an all time record for the most top ten hits from a debut album on the Adult Top 40 chart. This also ties the album with Kelly Clarkson‘s Breakaway and Nickelback‘s All the Right Reasons for the most Adult Top 40 top tens from any album.[4] On the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks, the song peaked at number three. It is their third top ten hit on the chart, making them the only rock band to ever have three top tens from one album on the chart. The song also entered the top twenty on Mainstream Top 40 radio, peaking at number nineteen in October 2008, their fifth consecutive top twenty hit on the format. As such, the song re-entered the Hot 100 at number 94 on the chart week of September 6, 2008, and climbed to number 29 upon its re-entry.
The song entered the UK Singles charts in May 2009 after being featured during a montage on Britain’s Got Talent, and in August 2009 re-entered after being featured during the premiere of the 6th season of X-Factor
On October 4, 2009, Daughtry re-entered the UK Singles Chart Top 40 again at number 39.
“What About Now” was recorded by Irish boyband Westlife for their tenth studio album, Where We Are. It was released as lead single the project on October 25, 2009 for download and October 26 as a physical single[8] and would go on to be the only single released from the album. Steve Robson retooled the original version of the song and serves as the producer for the Westlife version. The single officially sold over 270 000 copies in UK thus far and eleventh highest single sales of the band.[9]
On October 25 the group appeared on The X Factor to perform and for a brief interview on spin-off show The Xtra Factor. The group also performed the following day on GMTV with an interview and webchat to follow before appearing on October 30 on The One Show for an interview.[10] On November 27 Westlife performed “What About Now” on The Late Late Toy Show.[11] They also performed the song on Nobel Peace Prize 2009.
Westlife was recently asked by Daily Star about the success of the song for the band. Egan stated: “It is amazing that after 11 albums we can still do things we haven’t done before, or set new records for ourselves. What About Now definitely changed things. It might not have sold millions of copies, but I was on YouTube yesterday and the video has almost two million plays or something. That’s not just me watching it either! I think it shows that we can still reach new people and audiences with everything we do.”[12]
In the first week of its release Westlife’s cover of What About Now reached number two in the Irish singles chart taking the place of Alexandra Burke‘s “Bad Boys” and only beaten by Cheryl Cole‘s “Fight For This Love” which spent a second week at the number one position. A-Listed on BBC Radio 2, their version peaked at number four on UK Downloads Chart, number six on UK Radio airplay, number two on Scottish Charts and number twenty-two on UK TV Airplay Chart or Digital Subscription Plays Chart.[13]
The song has received mixed reviews. Nick Levine from Digital Spy commented that: “Their version for the “Daughtry song” is no great reinvention, adding a lick of extra pop gloss to the manly balladry of the original. The strings swell like Louis Walsh’s bank balance, the chorus is as big and stirring as Goliath’s sugar spoon, and the boys deliver every line with their usual note-perfect earnestness. Cynical and predictable? Oh yes, but this is ruthlessly effective too.”[18]
UK’s Daily Mirror released an article about the shooting of their music video on October 26, 2009. The article described it: “I was listening to the song and it spontaneously came into my head that it would be nice to film it in front of ice. If you remember Die Another Day, the Bond film, it’s like the contrast of the ice and the really modern things like the sexy, fashionable clothing and cars.”.[20] The full video was released on the band’s official website and UK music channels on November 6, 2009. It was directed by Philip Andelman and filmed on location at the Vatnajökull Glacier in Iceland, the biggest in Europe. The video shows a snowy setting with different sceneries in ice and northern lights in the resolution of the video. Feehily later said on his official blog that the actual location of the music video was already distorted because of the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland. Feehily also had the idea of taking the video on that location.[21][22]
David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.
As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.
Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.
David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.
In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
Christina Perri ‘Safe Haven’ Interview- New Album Coming! Published on Feb 6, 2013 http://bit.ly/ClevverMusic – Subscribe to ClevverMusic! We caught up with “Jar of Hearts” singer Christina Perri at the Safe Haven movie premiere where her song “Arms” is featured on the soundtrack. We chatted with her on the red carpet about the song, and […]
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]
Little Rock native and Arkansas Baptist High School graduate David Hodges co-wrote a song for the blockbuster movie “Breaking Dawn” that comes out this Friday. Interview: Breaking Dawn’s Christina Perri Twi’s Hard, Dreams Big By Leah Collins, Dose.ca Nov 1, 2011 More Images » OMG. Christina Perri went from a […]
EvenCanadaandSwedenhave earned my praise for recent economic reforms.
But here’s a video, produced by the folks at The Fund for American Studies, that identifies an even more impressive economic miracle.
How Nations Succeed: What’s the Secret to Ending Poverty?
Published onMay 1, 2013
http://www.TFAS.org/HowNationsSucceedFind out how one nation rose from poverty to unprecedented wealth in just a few generations in this eye-opening web video from The Fund for American Studies. The video raises the question: Will the United States continue to progress and innovate, or will big government stifle economic growth and innovation? Narrated by economist Michael Cox, the video comes during a time of economic uncertainty and calls on viewers like you to decide which path is best for the country.
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I did guess the country in the video, but only a few seconds before the narrator spilled the beans. My excuse is that I watched early on Sunday morning, when civilized people should still be asleep.
But allow me to atone for my slowness by adding a very important point about growth. The country in the video became successful because it enjoyed a very long period of decent growth. But that hasrecently changed for the worse.
By some measures, Hong Kong and Singapore arenow richer than the United States. The simple reason is that those jurisdictions have been enjoying 5 percent-plus growth for decades while the United States economy has struggled to achieve 3 percent growth.
Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.
Sincerely,
Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com
Dan Mitchell explains what happened in Cyprus. What Really Happened in Cyprus? April 14, 2013 by Dan Mitchell Did Cyprus become an economic basket case because it is a tax haven, as some leftists have implied? Did it get in trouble because the government overspent, which I have suggested? The answers to those questions are […]
Some very good points by Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute on Obamacare: Why We Should Be Optimistic about Repealing Obamacare and Fixing the Healthcare System April 10, 2013 by Dan Mitchell I’m going to make an assertion that seems utterly absurd. The enactment of Obamacare may have been good news. Before sending a team of medical […]
I have put up lots of cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog before and they have got lots of hits before. Many of them have dealt with the economy, eternal unemployment benefits, socialism, Greece, welfare state or on gun control. I’ve Obtained a Secret Pre-Release Copy of Obama’s Budget April 9, 2013 by Dan Mitchell The President is supposed to release […]
Very well said by Dan Mitchell. A Tribute to Margaret Thatcher April 8, 2013 by Dan Mitchell The woman who saved the United Kingdom has died. A Great Woman I got to meet Margaret Thatcher a couple of times and felt lucky each time that I was in the presence of someone who put her nation’s […]
I like Milton Friedman’s comments on this issue of immigration and Ron Paul and Dan Mitchell do well on the issue too. Question of the Week: What’s Your Take on the Immigration Debate? April 7, 2013 by Dan Mitchell A reader from overseas wonders about my views on immigration, particularly amnesty. I confess that this is one of […]
We should lower federal taxes because jobs are going to states like Texas that have low taxes. What Can We Learn by Comparing the Employment Situation in Texas vs. California? April 3, 2013 by Dan Mitchell One of the great things about federalism, above and beyond the fact that it both constrains the power of governments […]
Third-Party Payer is the Biggest Economic Problem With America’s Health Care System Published on Jul 10, 2012 This mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity Foundation explains that “third-party payer” is the main problem with America’s health care system. This is why undoing Obamacare, while desirable, is just a small first step if we […]
I have put up lots of cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog before and they have got lots of hits before. Many of them have dealt with the economy, eternal unemployment benefits, socialism, Greece, welfare state or on gun control. The funniest cartoon is the one with “Nurse Sebelius” stuffing the huge capsule down the kid’s throat!!! Obamacare […]
I have put up lots of cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog before and they have got lots of hits before. Many of them have dealt with the sequester, economy, eternal unemployment benefits, socialism, minimum wage laws, tax increases, social security, high taxes in California, Obamacare, Greece, welfare state or on gun control. President Obama’s favorite state must be California because […]
You want a suggestion on how to cut the government then start at HUD. I would prefer to eliminate all of it. Here are Dan Mitchell’s thoughts below: Sequestration’s Impact on HUD: Just 358 More Days and Mission Accomplished March 12, 2013 by Dan Mitchell As part of my “Question of the Week” series, I had […]
The King James Bible occupies nearly 42 pages of the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, only narrowly beaten by Shakespeare, with 45. Not just literature in the high sense but everyday speech is laced, suffused – riddled, even – with biblical phrases the status of which ranges from telling quotation (“They have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind”) to cliché (“No peace for the wicked”) and all points between. A word in season and perhaps we can see eye to eye. Although I wouldn’t call the Bible my ewe lamb, and I would have to go the extra mile before I killed the fatted calf for it, you don’t need the wisdom of Solomon to see how biblical imagery dominates our English. If my words fall on stony ground – if you pass me by as a voice crying in the wilderness – be sure your sin will find you out. Between us there is a great gulf fixed and you are a thorn in my flesh. We have come to the parting of the ways. I fear it is a sign of the times.
It has to be the King James version, of course. Modern translations break the spell as surely as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. Listen
to this, if you can bear to, from the Good News Bible, whose clunking title matches its style:
It is useless, useless, said the Philosopher.
Life is useless, all useless./You spend your life working, labouring, and what do you have to show for it? Generations come and generations go, but the world stays just the same.
Older readers might hear the voice of Tony Hancock. Or is it Victor Meldrew? Anyway, now here’s the real thing:
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity./What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?/One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for ever.
Real thing? Well, let me not emulate that notorious slogan against the teaching of Spanish in Texas schools: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, it’s good enough for the children of Texas.” Hebrew, alas, is a sealed book to me (yes, that’s another one: Isaiah 29:11), but I have it on respected authority that Ecclesiastes, at least, is pretty damn good poetry in the original. If so, it certainly doesn’t make it through the Good News mangling. But I shall argue that poetry can gain in translation, and I believe this may have been achieved with the King James Bible.
It is often said (though often forgotten) that the Bible is not a book but a library. Obviously unable to cover it all, I shall attend to my two favourite books, neighbours in the Old Testament: Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. First, the world-weary Preacher’s lament for the passing of youth and the privations of old age.
Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.
Compare that to the Good News version:
So remember your Creator while you are still young, before those dismal days and years come when you will say, “I don’t enjoy life”.
“I don’t enjoy life”? How are the mighty fallen! If I can’t have poetry, I’d prefer the blunt frankness of a beloved godfather who died this year at the age of 93. “Richard,” this tall, handsome old man said, fixing me with his blue eyes for the only piece of solemn, godfatherly advice he ever gave me, “old age is a bugger.”
Doug Stanhope on John Stossel
Uploaded on Oct 1, 2011
No description available.
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I have so much respect for the hard work that goes into stand up comedy because I have a son named Hunter who has been involved with a local comedy club and even presented several full length shows himself. He is always using just original material from his own life and that involves the constant study of life itself. The absurdities inside life are always being carefully examined. Today I am writing because I want to take a close look at the comedy of an atheist comic and breakdown his nihilistic views on life.
Since I have lived and worked in Little Rock many years, I used to run into Bill Clinton quite a lot in downtown Little Rock. It was quite remarkable to me when he chose to emphasize that the small town of Hope was his home town even though he had only lived there 3 or 4 years. Of course, he did so because of the power of the word “HOPE.” I wanted to talk to you about three men and the subject of nihilism: Comedian DOUG STANHOPE, Bass player DAVE HOPE of the 1970’s rock band Kansas and King Solomon of Israel who wrote Richard Dawkins’ favorite book of the Bible which is Ecclesiastes. There is a thread of nihilism that can be compared in these three men’s stories, and nihilism is the opposite of HOPE.
From sex to religion, nothing’s off-topic for the fearless comedian. Posted December 12th, 2012, 1:12 PM by Andy Hunsaker
Last year, on Louis C.K.’s breakout hit series “Louie,” Doug Stanhope played Eddie, an old friend and peer of Louie’s who hadn’t found any success in comedy, nor any happiness in life. Sharing Louie’s low tolerance for bull$#!@, Eddie confided in him that he was just passing through town on his way to Boston, where he would do his final show before killing himself. Every argument Louie tries to muster to convince him otherwise is quickly and brutally shot down, and eventually, he has to just acquiesce to Eddie’s intentions and bid him farewell. With a strong performance from both men, they destroyed the common wisdom that suicide should never be a viable option.
The more viscerally affecting part of that episode is that Eddie doesn’t seem all that far removed from Stanhope himself, aside from the quality of his comedy. Stanhope’s stage persona is a nihilistic man who has to blind himself on alcohol and drugs to enjoy any small part of the bleak, unending hellscape of existence, but as he often says, he’s funnier when he’s drunk, which means he’s not blinding himself at all.
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Obviously the atheist comedian DOUG STANHOPE has already arrived at the nihilistic conclusion that many other atheists have reached in the past.
The late Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer sums up where the secular worldview has brought modern man:
So some humanists act as if they have a great advantage over Christians. They act as if the advance of science and technology and a better understanding of history (through such concepts as the evolutionary theory) have all made the idea of God and Creation quite ridiculous.
This superior attitude, however, is strange because one of the most striking developments in the last half-century is the growth of a profound pessimism among both the well-educated and less-educated people. The thinkers in our society have been admitting for a long time that they have no final answers at all.
Take Woody Allen, for example. Most people know his as a comedian, but he has thought through where mankind stands after the “religious answers” have been abandoned. In an article in Esquire (May 1977), he says that man is left with: … alienation, loneliness [and] emptiness verging on madness…. The fundamental thing behind all motivation and all activity is the constant struggle against annihilation and against death. It’s absolutely stupefying in its terror, and it renders anyone’s accomplishments meaningless. As Camus wrote, it’s not only that he (the individual) dies, or that man (as a whole) dies, but that you struggle to do a work of art that will last and then you realize that the universe itself is not going to exist after a period of time. Until those issues are resolved within each person – religiously or psychologically or existentially – the social and political issues will never be resolved, except in a slapdash way.
Allen sums up his view in his film Annie Hall with these words: “Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable.”
Many would like to dismiss this sort of statement as coming from one who is merely a pessimist by temperament, one who sees life without the benefit of a sense of humor. Woody Allen does not allow us that luxury. He speaks as a human being who has simply looked life in the face and has the courage to say what he sees. If there is no personal God, nothing beyond what our eyes can see and our hands can touch, then Woody Allen is right: life is both meaningless and terrifying. As the famous artist Paul Gauguin wrote on his last painting shortly before he tried to commit suicide: “Whence come we? What are we? Whither do we go?” The answers are nowhere, nothing, and nowhere. The humanist H. J. Blackham has expressed this with a dramatic illustration:
On humanist assumptions, life leads to nothing, and every pretense that it does not is a deceit.79
One does not have to be highly educated to understand this. It follows directly from the starting point of the humanists’ position, namely, that everything is just matter. That is, that which has existed forever and ever is only some form of matter or energy, and everything in our world now is this and only this in a more or less complex form.
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To sum up Schaeffer is saying, “If man has been kicked up out of that which is only impersonal by chance , then those things that make him man-hope of purpose and significance, love, motions of morality and rationality, beauty and verbal communication-are ultimately unfulfillable and thus meaningless.” (Francis Schaeffer in THE GOD WHO IS THERE)
HAS COMEDY PROVIDED DOUG STANHOPE ANY ANSWERS? 3000 years ago Solomon pursued five “L” words in his search for the meaning of life and probing the area of LAUGHTER was one of his first places to start. In Ecclesiastes 2:2 he starts this quest but he concludes it is not productive to be laughing the whole time and not considering the serious issues of life. Then Solomon also asserted the nihilistic statement in Ecclesiastes 2:17: “So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
In the Book of Ecclesiastes what are all of the 5 “L” words that Solomon looked into? He looked into learning (1:16-18), laughter, ladies, luxuries, and liquor (2:1-3, 8, 10, 11), and labor (2:4-6, 18-20). IRONICALLY, DOUG STANHOPE HAS MADE ALL FIVE OF THESE BUTTS OF HIS NIHILISTIC JOKES!!!
Schaeffer noted that Solomon took a look at the meaning of life on the basis of human life standing alone between birth and death “under the sun.” This phrase UNDER THE SUN appears over and over in Ecclesiastes. The Christian Scholar Ravi Zacharias noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term UNDER THE SUN — What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system and you are left with only this world of Time plus Chance plus matter.” This puts him in the same place that DOUG STANHOPE finds himself.
If you are an atheist then you have a naturalistic materialistic worldview, and this short book of Ecclesiastes should interest you because the wisest man who ever lived in the position of King of Israel came to THREE CONCLUSIONS that will affect you.
FIRST, chance and time have determined the past, and they will determine the future. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-13)
These two verses below take the 3 elements mentioned in a naturalistic materialistic worldview (time, chance and matter) and so that is all the unbeliever can find “under the sun” without God in the picture. You will notice that these are the three elements that evolutionists point to also.
Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 is following: I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
SECOND, Death is the great equalizer (Eccl 3:20, “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.”)
THIRD, Power reigns in this life, and the scales are not balanced(Eccl 4:1, 8:15)
Ecclesiastes 4:1-2: “Next I turned my attention to all the outrageous violence that takes place on this planet—the tears of the victims, no one to comfort them; the iron grip of oppressors, no one to rescue the victims from them.” Ecclesiastes 8:14; “Here’s something that happens all the time and makes no sense at all: Good people get what’s coming to the wicked, and bad people get what’s coming to the good. I tell you, this makes no sense. It’s smoke.”
Solomon had all the resources in the world and he found himself searching for meaning in life and trying to come up with answers concerning the afterlife. However, it seems every door he tries to open is locked. Today men try to find satisfaction in learning, liquor, ladies, luxuries, laughter, and labor and that is exactly what Solomon tried to do too. None of those were able to “fill the God-sized vacuum in his heart” (quote from famous mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal). You have to wait to the last chapter in Ecclesiastes to find what Solomon’s final conclusion is.
In 1978 I heard the song “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas when it rose to #6 on the charts. That song told me that Kerry Livgren the writer of that song and a member of Kansas had come to the same conclusion that Solomon had. I remember mentioning to my friends at church that we may soon see some members of Kansas become Christians because their search for the meaning of life had obviously come up empty even though they had risen from being an unknown band to the top of the music business and had all the wealth and fame that came with that. Furthermore, Solomon realized death comes to everyone and there must be something more.
Livgren wrote:
“All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see, Dust in the Wind, All we are is dust in the wind, Don’t hang on, Nothing lasts forever but the Earth and Sky, It slips away, And all your money won’t another minute buy.”
Take a minute and compare Kerry Livgren’s words to that of the late British humanist H.J. Blackham:
“On humanist assumptions, life leads to nothing, and every pretense that it does not is a deceit. If there is a bridge over a gorge which spans only half the distance and ends in mid-air, and if the bridge is crowded with human beings pressing on, one after the other they fall into the abyss. The bridge leads nowhere, and those who are pressing forward to cross it are going nowhere….It does not matter where they think they are going, what preparations for the journey they may have made, how much they may be enjoying it all. The objection merely points out objectively that such a situation is a model of futility“( H. J. Blackham, et al., Objections to Humanism (Riverside, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1967).
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Both Kerry Livgren and the bass player DAVE HOPE of Kansas became Christians eventually. Kerry Livgren first tried Eastern Religions and DAVE HOPE had to come out of a heavy drug addiction. I was shocked and elated to see their personal testimony on The 700 Club in 1981 and that same interview can be seen on youtube today. Livgren lives in Topeka, Kansas today where he teaches “Diggers,” a Sunday school class at Topeka Bible Church. DAVE HOPE is the head of Worship, Evangelism and Outreach at Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, Florida. IT IS TRULY IRONIC THAT TWO MEN WITH THE WORD “HOPE” IN THEIR NAMES HAVE SUCH DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO THE 3 PROBLEMS THAT MAN MUST FACE IN ECCLESIASTES.
DOUG STANHOPE believes three things. FIRST, death is the end and SECOND, chance and time are the only guiding forces in this life. FINALLY, power reigns in this life and the scales are never balanced. In contrast, DAVE HOPE believes death is not the end and the Christian can face death and also confront the world knowing that it is not determined by chance and time alone and finally there is a judge who will balance the scales.
Solomon’s experiment was a search for meaning to life “under the sun.” Then in last few words in the Book of Ecclesiastes he looks above the sun and brings God back into the picture: “The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: Fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.”
Today I have demonstrated that atheists should agree with the comics Doug Stanhope and Woody Allen that nihilism should be embraced by atheists or they should consider the fact that God does exist and that will change everything!!!!
Nihilist Kerry Livgren wrote the song DUST IN THE WIND then came to Christ & here is his story Kerry Livgren’s testimony and Proto-Kaw at Schoal Creek Church KC 11/06 __ I am glad when atheists like the Twitter user going under the name “GodFreeWorld” comes to the point where they embrace nihilism because they […]
I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this post on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man can not hope to find a lasting meaning to his life in a closed system without bringing God back […]
_____ Doug Stanhope on John Stossel Uploaded on Oct 1, 2011 No description available. ______________________ I have so much respect for the hard work that goes into stand up comedy because I have a son named Hunter who has been involved with a local comedy club and even presented several full length shows himself. He is […]
_________________________ (If you want to check out other posts I have done about about Steve Jobs:Some say Steve Jobs was an atheist , Steve Jobs and Adoption , What is the eternal impact of Steve Jobs’ life? ,Steve Jobs versus President Obama: Who created more jobs? ,Steve Jobs’ view of death and what the Bible has to say about it ,8 things you might not know about […]
The Bible and Science (Part 05) Why Can’t Morals Be Grounded In Society? Published on Aug 31, 2012 Dr William Lane Craig was invited by the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Christian Union, London to give a lecture titled “Can we be good without God?” In this video Dr Craig answers a question about […]
The Fruits of Atheism (Part 2) Uploaded on Apr 10, 2009 Examining the Creation/Evolution Controversy in Light of Reason and Revelation The Bible and Science (Part 04) Eastwooding Richard Dawkins’ Moral Argument Objections Published on Oct 20, 2012 For more information and resources visit:http://www.reasonablefaith.org On September 29th, 2012, William Lane Craig participated in the Contending […]
Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]
The recent events in Little Rock concerning KARK TV’s top weatherman Brett Cummins and his experience of drinking alcohol and snorting coke has left a lot of people asking questions. Since the evening ended in the tragic death of one of Brett’s friends, Dexter Williams, many questions have centered on the use of illegal drugs. […]
Transcript and Video of Francis Schaeffer speech in 1983 on the word “Evangelical” _____________ SOUNDWORD LABRI CONFERENCE VIDEO – Names and Issues – Francis A. Schaeffer Published on Apr 20, 2014 This video is from the 1983 L’Abri Conference in Atlanta. The full lecture with Q&A time has been included. The lecture […]
Woody Allen Interview – ‘Magic in the Moonlight’ Red Carpet in Chicago Review and Pictures and Video Clips of Woody Allen’s movie “MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT” Part 4 Emma Stone and Colin Firth in Woody Allen’s Magic in the Moonlight. [PHOTO: SONY PICTURES CLASSICS] Magic in the Moonlight BY DAVID LEE DALLAS ON JULY 21, 2014 GO TO COMMENTS (0) There’s […]
The Seekers were a group of Australian folk-influenced popular musicians which was formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve significant chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Their most famous configuration was:
Judith Durham: lead vocals
Athol Guy: double bass, vocals
Keith Potger: twelve string guitar, banjo, vocals
Bruce Woodley: guitar, mandolin, banjo, vocals
They had nine hits in Britain and Australia in the 1960s: “I’ll Never Find Another You”, “A World of Our Own”, “The Carnival Is Over” (which The Seekers have sung at various closing ceremonies in Australia, including Expo ’88 and the Paralympics), “Someday One Day”, “Walk With Me”, “Morningtown Ride”, “Georgy Girl” (the title song of the film of the same name), “When Will the Good Apples Fall” and “Emerald City”.
Bruce Woodley and Dobe Newton’s “I Am Australian”, which has been recorded by The Seekers, and by singer Judith Durham with Russell Hitchcock and Mandawuy Yunupingu, has become an unofficial Australian anthem.
Kumbaya Pete Seeger 10 24 1963
Published on May 18, 2014
Pete Seeger live Australia
_____________________________
The song “Kumbaya” started back in the 1920’s and has a mysterious beginning. It has been sung by Peter, Paul, and Mary, and The Seekers, and Pete Seeger and Joan Baez and Ballad singer Tommy Leonetti . Here is the history of the song.
This article is about the song. For the town in Ecuador, see Cumbayá.
“Kumbaya” or “Kumbayah” or “Cumbaya” (Gullah, “Come By Here” — “Kum ba yah“) — is a spiritual song first recorded in the 1920s. It became a standard campfire song in Scouting and summer camps, and enjoyed broader popularity during the folk revival of the 1950s and 1960s.
The song is originally a simple appeal to God to come and help those in need, but more recently it is also cited or alluded to in satirical or cynical ways which suggest false moralizing, hypocrisy, or naively optimistic views of the world and human nature.[1]
Come By Here / Kum Ba Ya / Kumbaya transcribed by the United States Library of Congress from a 1926 recording.
According to Library of Congress editor Stephen Winick, the two earliest versions whose year of origin is known for certain were both collected in 1926, and both reside in the Library’s American Folklife Center. No precise month or day was recorded for either version, so either may be the earliest known version of the song. One was submitted as a high school collecting project by a student named Minnie Lee to her teacher, Julian P. Boyd, later a celebrated historian. This version, collected in Alliance, North Carolina, is a manuscript featuring lyrics but no music. The other 1926 version was recorded on wax cylinder by Robert Winslow Gordon, founder of what became the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The singer’s name was H. Wylie, and the song was recorded within a few hours’ drive of Darien, Georgia, although Gordon did not note the exact location. Between 1926 and 1928, Gordon recorded three more versions of traditional spirituals with the refrain “Come by Here” or “Come by Heah.” One of these is a different song concerning the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Of the other two, one has been lost, and one cylinder was broken, so it cannot be determined if they are versions of “Kumbaya.”[1]
According to an article in Kodaly Envoy by Lum Chee-Hoo, some time between 1922 and 1931, members of an organization called the Society for the Preservation of Spirituals collected a version from the South Carolina coast.[2] “Come By Yuh”, as they called it, was sung in Gullah, the creole language spoken by the former slaves living on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia.[3] It is possible this is the earliest version, if it was collected before 1926. However, because the individual songs in this society’s publications are not dated, it cannot be dated with certainty to before 1931.[1]
In May 1936, John Lomax, Gordon’s successor as head of the Library of Congress’s folk archive, discovered a woman named Ethel Best singing “Come by Here” with a group in Raiford, Florida.[4]
These facts contradict the longstanding copyright and authorship claim of Reverend Marvin V. Frey.[2] Rev. Frey (1918–1992) claimed to have written the song circa 1936 under the title “Come By Here,” inspired, he claimed, by a prayer he heard delivered by “Mother Duffin,” a storefront evangelist in Portland, Oregon. It first appeared in this version in Revival Choruses of Marvin V. Frey, a lyric sheet printed in Portland, Oregon in 1939. In an interview at the Library of Congress quoted by Winick[1] Frey claimed the change of the title to “Kum Ba Yah” came about in 1946, when a missionary family named Cunningham returned from Africa where they had sung Frey’s version. According to Frey, they brought back a partly translated version, and “Kum Ba Yah” was an African phrase from Angola (specifically in Luvale). Frey claimed the Cunninghams then toured America singing the song with the text “Kum Ba Yah.”[1]
The story of an African origin for the phrase circulated in several versions, spread also by the revival group the Folksmiths, whose liner notes for the song stated that “Kum Ba Yah” was brought to America from Angola.[1] However, as Winick points out, no such word or phrase exists in Luvale or any related language.
Although it is often claimed that the song originated in Gullah, Winick further points out that the Boyd manuscript, which may be the earliest version of the song, was probably not collected from a Gullah speaker. Winick concludes that the song almost certainly originated among African Americans in the Southeastern United States, and had a Gullah version early in its history even if it did not originate in that dialect.[1]
Folk music revival
Joe Hickerson, one of the Folksmiths, recorded the song in 1957, as did Pete Seeger in 1958. Hickerson credits Tony Saletan, then a songleader at the Shaker Village Work Camp, for introducing him to “Kumbaya” (Saletan had learned it from Lynn Rohrbough, co-proprietor with his wife Katherine of the camp songbook publisher Cooperative Recreation Service, predecessor to World Around Songs).[2][4][5][6] Joe Hickerson later succeeded Gordon at the American Folklife Center.[7] The song enjoyed newfound popularity during the American folk music revival of the early to mid-1960s, largely due to Joan Baez‘s 1962 recording of the song, and became associated with the Civil Rights Movement of that decade.
Recently “Kumbaya” has been used to refer to artificially covering up deep seated disagreements. We “join hands and sing ‘Kumbaya'” or “it’s all ‘Kumbaya'” means we pretend to agree, for the sake of appearances or social expediency.[2]
Lyrics
Version No. 1
Version No. 2
Kum bay ya, my Love, kum bay ya;
Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Kum bay ya, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Someone’s laughing, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s laughing, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s laughing, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Hear me crying, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Hear me crying, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Hear me crying, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Someone’s crying, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s crying, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s crying, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Hear me singing, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Hear me singing, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Hear me singing, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Someone’s praying, Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s praying, Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s praying, Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Hear me praying, Lord, kum bay ya;
Hear me praying, Lord, kum bay ya;
Hear me praying, Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Someone’s singing, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s singing, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Someone’s singing, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Oh, I need you, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Oh, I need you, my Lord, kum bay ya;
Oh, I need you, my Lord, kum bay ya,
O Lord, kum bay ya.
Recordings
“Kum Bah Yah”
Song by The Folksmiths including Joe Hickerson from the album We’ve Got Some Singing To Do
The Folksmiths including Joe Hickerson recorded the first LP version of the song in August 1957. As this group traveled from summer camp to summer camp teaching folk songs, they may be the origin of Kumbaya around the campfire.
The Journeymen had a minor hit in Vancouver in February, 1962[8]
Joan Baez‘s 1962 In Concert, Volume 1 included her version of the song. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach also sang “Kum Bah Yah” in a 1962 concert, a recording of which was subsequently released in 1963 on the albumShlomo Carlebach Sings.
The Seekers recorded it in 1963 for their first album, “Introducing the Seekers”. They later re-recorded for their third album, “Hide & Seekers” (also known as “The Four & Only Seekers”); it was re-released on their 1989 album “The Very Best of the Seekers”.
Ballad singer Tommy Leonetti gave the song chart status in 1969. His single reached #54 pop, #4 easy listening, released on Decca 32421. The song charted three years later for the Hillside Singers, reaching #117 in the Record World charts.
In 2013, Christian folk-rock band Rend Collective Experiment recorded a version as the opening track on their third album.
Melody borrowing
The melody of kumbaya has at times been borrowed for alternate versions that remove the spiritual emphasis.
In Peppa Pig, a British children’s animated television series, ‘International day’ episode 8 of series 4, the lyrics “Peace and Harmony in all the world; Peace and Harmony in all the world; Peace and Harmony in all the world; Peace and harmony” are used.
References in politics
After a private farewell dinner on December 5, 2006 at the White House for outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan (Secretary-General 1996 to 2006), soon-to-resign U.S. Ambassador John R. Bolton joked that “nobody sang ‘Kumbaya.'” When told of Bolton’s comment, Annan laughed and asked: “Does he know how to sing it?”[9]
In November 2007, Sol Trujillo, the Chief Executive of the Australian telecommunications company Telstra, mocked the proposed $4.7 billion taxpayer-funded, public-private partnership for a new national broadband network. He labeled it as some sort of “kumbaya, holding hands” theory.[10]
Woodstock music festival in Water Mill, New York Banker-turned-singer, peace activist, and television celebrity, “Sir-Ivan” performed his new hit dance single “Kumbaya”[11] in front of 800 guests and friends who attended Castlestock 2009 to raise money for The Peaceman Foundation. Sir-Ivan founded The Peaceman Foundation[12] to combat hate crimes and to assist sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD,
In September 2010, Christopher Pyne, the opposition’s manager of business in the Australian House of Representatives said “This will not be a Parliament where all of its history is turned on its head and we all sit around smoking a peace pipe singing Kumbayah.”[13]
References in movies
In the movie Addams Family Values, Wednesday Addams horrifies when on a summer camp, in order to “encourage” her to participate to the camp activities, the group starts singing “Kumbayah, my Lord, Kumbayah!”. The camp-owners are later revealed to discriminate the children based on class, race and physical appearance.
Evanescence – Bring Me To Life From David Hodges website: David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR. As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me […]
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David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.
As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.
Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.
David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.
In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
According to Lee, “Bring Me to Life” has several meanings and inspirations; its subjects are an incident in a restaurant, open-mindedness, and waking up to the things which are missing in the protagonist’s life. Lee later revealed that the song was inspired by her long-time friend and husband Josh Hartzler. Critical response to the song was mostly positive, critics praising the melody of the song, Lee’s vocals and their accompaniment by McCoy.
Following the inclusion of “Bring Me to Life” on the Daredevil soundtrack, it has become a commercial and critical success topping the charts in Australia, the United Kingdom and Italy. It charted in the top ten in more than fifteen countries including the United States, Argentina, Germany and New Zealand. “Bring Me to Life” was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and twice Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). The lyrics of the song have been interpreted as a call for new life in Jesus Christ, which helped the song to chart on the Christian rock charts.
The band won in the category for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 46th Grammy Awards where the song was also nominated for Best Rock Song. The accompanying music video was directed by Philipp Stölzl; it shows Lee singing and climbing on a skyscraper while having nightmares in her bedroom. “Bring Me to Life” was part of the set list during the Fallen and The Open Door Tour. Many artists recorded cover versions of the song, including the classical singer Katherine Jenkins and American pianist, John Tesh. The song was also used on several television shows.
“Since we released [the song] on Daredevil it went all over the world, whether they wanted it to or not, so we had fans in countries we had never been to because they had the soundtrack and they heard it on the radio. So, it started blowing up all over the world and then we had a reason to tour all over the world. And that’s how the whole international thing happened this early. Which is awesome.”
– Amy Lee talking about the release and the worldwide success of the song.[3]
According to Amy Lee, the song has several meanings, the first being an incident at a restaurant. During an interview from a tour stop in Tulsa she told The Boston Phoenix: “I was inspired to write it when someone said something to me — I didn’t know him, and I thought he might be clairvoyant.[…] I was in a relationship and I was completely unhappy. But I was hiding it. I was being completely abused and I was trying to cover it up; I wouldn’t even admit it to myself. So then I had spoken maybe 10 or 15 words to this guy, who was a friend of a friend. We were waiting for everyone else to show up, and we went into a restaurant and got a table. And he looked at me and said, ‘Are you happy?’ And I felt my heart leap, and I was like, he totally knows what I’m thinking. And I lied, I said I was fine. Anyway, he’s not really clairvoyant. But he is a sociology major.”[4] Lee said in a VH1 interview: “Open-mindedness. It’s about waking up to all the things you’ve been missing for so long. One day someone said something that made my heart race for a second and I realized that for months I’d been numb, just going through the motions of life.”[5] During an interview with Blender, Lee claimed that she wrote “Bring Me to Life” about her longtime friend, Josh Hartzler, whom she married in 2007.[6]
“Bring Me to Life” was released on April 22, 2003; it was the first single from the band’s debut album, Fallen. The album’s opening track, “Going Under“, was initially planned to be the first single, but the after the release of the Daredevil soundtrack, it was changed to the album’s second single. Wind-up Entertainment president/CEO Ed Vetri, revealed that when the label was pushing the song to the radio, owners stated “We don’t play pianos and chicks on rock radio.”[7] However, when “Bring Me to Life” was released on the Daredevil soundtrack, listeners demanded the radio to play the song.[7] The single includes “Farther Away” as a B-side and refers to it as the album version; however, the track order of Fallen was not finalized at the time of its release and the track was omitted from the album. The first pressing of the Australian single contained the track “Missing” as a B-side,[8] but this was omitted from later pressings and later released as a bonus track on the band’s first live album, Anywhere but Home.[9] Earlier versions of “Bring Me to Life” were recorded and released as demo versions before Fallen‘s release; featuring more industrial pieces of music and the absence of Paul McCoy‘s guest vocals. An acoustic version was recorded and released on the Bring Me to Life DVD. Several other versions of the track have been released, such as remixes, acoustic and altered versions. The live version featured on the Anywhere but Home DVD contains a piano and vocal solo before the song’s intro and features John LeCompt performing guest vocals.[10]
Recording and composition
Critics noted that “Bring Me to Life” had a similar sound with songs by American rock band Linkin Park.
“Bring Me to Life” was written by Amy Lee, Ben Moody and David Hodges for their first studio album Fallen.[11] Recording work for Fallen started at Ocean Studios in Burbank, California, where most of “Bring Me to Life” was recorded, prior to full album production.[12] The song was mixed by Jay Baumgardner in his studio, NRG Recording Studios in North Hollywood, on an SSL 9000 J.[12] A 22-piece string section was recorded in Seattle by Mark Curry.[12] “Bring Me to Life” was mixed at the Newman Scoring Stage and Bolero Studios, both in Los Angeles.[12] The orchestra parts were arranged by David Hodges and David Campbell.[12] During an interview, Lee recalled that during the recording process of the song it was said to her that the song must have male vocals: “It was presented to me as, ‘You’re a girl singing in a rock band, there’s nothing else like that out there, nobody’s going to listen to you. You need a guy to come in and sing back-up for it to be successful.'”[13]
According to the sheet music published by Alfred Music Publishing on the website Musicnotes.com, “Bring Me to Life” is a rock, alternative metal, hard rock, chamber pop and gothic metal song set in a common time and performed in a moderate tempo of 95 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E minor and Lee’s vocal range for the song runs from the note A3 to D5.[14] In the song, Paul McCoy sings the lines “Wake me up/ I can’t wake up/ Save me!”[1] in a rap style.[15]St. Petersburg Times‘ Brian Orloff called the song a “…boffo hit” in which Lee sang the lines “‘Call my name and save me from the dark’ over surging guitars.”[3] Ann Powers from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote: “‘Bring Me to Life,’ with its lyrical drama and crunchy guitars, branded the band as overdone nu-metal.”[16] Kristi Turnquist of The Oregonian called the song a power ballad.[17] Joe D’Angelo from MTV wrote that the “…toothy riffs” of songs like “Going Under” and “Bring Me to Life” might suggest that “…Nobody’s Home” (2005) from Avril Lavigne‘s second studio album Under My Skin will sound like “an Evanescence song with Avril, not Amy Lee, on vocals.”[18]
Rolling Stone‘s Kirk Miller wrote that: “…thanks to the song’s digital beats, clean metal-guitar riffs, scattered piano lines and all-too-familiar mix of rapping and singing”, “it was similar to Linkin Park‘s material.[19] Nick Catucci of The Village Voice found “…piano tinkles, Lee’s breathless keen, dramatic pauses, guitars like clouds of locusts, [and] 12 Stones singer Paul McCoy’s passing-12-kidney-stones guest vocals.”[20] Vik Bansal of musicOMH compared Evanescence’s own song “Going Under” with “Bring Me to Life”, noting their similarity to Linkin Park‘s material.[21] Lee said, during an interview with MTV News: “Basically, we go through life every day, kind of doing the same thing, going through the motions, and nothing phases us for the most part. Then one day something happens that wakes [you] up and makes [you] realize that there’s more to life than just feeling nothing, feeling numb. It’s as if [you’ve] never felt before and just realized there’s this whole world of emotion or meaning that [you’ve] never seen before. It’s just like, ‘Wow, I’ve been asleep all this time.'”[22]
Reception
Critical reception and awards
According to The Boston Globe, the song “…is a mix of Lee’s ethereal soprano, piano interludes, and layers of serrated guitar crunch that conjure visions of Sarah McLachlan fronting Godsmack.”[23] In his review of Evanescence’s second studio album, The Open Door, Brendan Butler of Cinema Blend compared “Sweet Sacrifice” (2007) with “Bring Me to Life” calling them “…radio-friendly songs.”[24] Jason Nahrung of The Courier-Mail called the song “…an ear-grabber”.[25] Adrien Bengrad of the website PopMatters said that Lee and McCoy made “Bring Me to Life” sound “…like a love song between a Lilith Fair girl and an Ozzfest dude.”[26] Blair R. Fischer from MTV News called the song a “…ubiquitous rap-rock confection”.[1] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times said that “Bring Me to Life” “…floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee and then hits like a brick.”[27] Richard Harrington from The Washington Post called “Bring Me to Life” a “…crunching metallic” song which helped the band to win a Grammy Award.[28] Joe D’Angelo called it an “…unrelenting paean that begins as hauntingly delicate” and that “Lee’s vocals soar above the whole sludgy mixture to keep it from sinking into tired mediocrity.”[22]
Ann Powers from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel called the song a “…mix of voluptuous singing and metallic guitar (the latter enhanced by guest vocalist Paul McCoy’s rap-rock declamations)”.[16] Bryan Reeseman of Mix wrote that the song was a “…grandiose and moody single” which features a “…dramatic trade-off” between Lee and McCoy.[12] While reviewing Evanescence’s second studio album, Don Kaye of Blabbermouth.net praised the songs on The Open Door saying that they lacked “…the annoying faux-rapping that was a key component of the band’s first big hit, ‘Bring Me To Life’ (here’s hoping that more rock bands feel less pressure to include some sort of hip-hop nod on their records).”[29] David Peschek of The Guardian said: “Take away the identikit rock riffs and Bring Me to Life could be a Britney Spears song, or one of those cheesily portentous techno-pop mini-symphonies for the Gatecrasher kids.”[30] Nick Catucci of The Village Voice compared the song with works by American rock band Creed, and said that it sounds like a “church-burning, brain-eating European dark metal.”[20] John Hood of Miami New Times called “Bring Me to Life” a “… huge, heavy, and mightily histrionic” song while complimenting McCoy’s “… rap-infused gruff” and Lee’s soaring voice.[31]
“Bring Me to Life” peaked within the top 10 of more than 15 countries, and within the top 20 of several other countries, making it the band’s most successful single to date. It was certified Platinum in 2003 for selling more than one million copies in the United States.[7] It topped the BillboardAlternative Songs and Pop 100 charts and peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100.[43] It also peaked at number four on the Adult Pop Songs chart. The song initially peaked within the Christian rock charts as well, because its lyrics were interpreted as a call for new life in Jesus Christ by several listeners.[44][45] “Bring Me To Life” charted at number 73 on Billboard‘s Best of the 2000s Rock Songs Chart, the only song by a female-led band on that chart.[46] The song topped the charts of Australia, Belgium, Italy and the United Kingdom. It peaked within the top 5 of Austria, Canada, France, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Norway, Netherlands, and Sweden. On the ARIA Singles Chart, “Bring Me to Life” peaked at number one where it stayed for six weeks.[47]
“Bring Me to Life” charted within the top 20 of every other country of its release. The song spent four weeks at number one in the United Kingdom and helped Fallen reach number one on the UK Albums Chart.[48][49] The song also topped the European Hot 100 chart.[50] On June 4, 2011, the song returned to the top of the UK Rock Singles Chart, eight years after its release, remaining at number one for two weeks, on June 11, 2011 to June 25, 2011. It fell to number two, remaining there for three weeks, and on July 17, 2011, “Bring Me to Life” returned to number one again and remained there for three weeks. The song remained within the top 10 into October 2011.[51] As of October 2011, the song has sold more than 511,500 copies in the United Kingdom.[52]
Music video
The accompanying music video for “Bring Me to Life” was directed by Philipp Stölzl.[53][54] After the success of the video, Lee received some film offers.[55] Talking about the video, Stölzl said: “On the one hand, it brings out the most catchy part of the song, the bridge, the duet with the male and female vocals. On the other hand, it reflects the [‘Daredevil’] soundtrack background of the song. I did not know if I would have to use a stunt double for most of the angles, which would have restricted me a lot, but then it turned out that Amy did everything herself, hanging on Paul’s arm for hours without getting tired. In the end, she is the one who made that shot strong.”[53]
The video begins with Amy Lee dressed in a nightgown, barefoot and asleep in a bed within a building, dreaming of falling through the air below a skyscraper. As the chorus begins, the band and Paul McCoy are performing in another room as Lee awakens and makes her way to the window. Lee climbs out of the window and climbs the building until she reaches the window of the room where the band is performing. During the bridge, McCoy notices Lee and opens the window, which causes her to lose her balance, and she grabs the ledge. Throughout the bridge and chorus, McCoy unsuccessfully attempts to reach Lee, who falls off the building. However, she is shown asleep in her bed again.
Ann Powers from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel wrote: “You might not immediately recognize Amy Lee’s name, but you would know her if she plummeted past you from the top floor of a tenement building” and: “That’s how anyone with basic cable first saw the singer for the band Evanescence, in the video for the song “Bring Me to Life”: falling backward in slow motion, her hair unfolding like a long black veil as she headed for hard pavement below.”[16] According to Joe D’Angelo of MTV News, Lee’s “…teetering on a ledge” in the video shows a “…distressed and emotionally wrought heroine.”[56] Corey Moss of MTV wrote: “…certainly as intense as a superhero movie, the sequence also gives a nice visual to the song’s most memorable lyric, ‘Save me.'”[53] MTV’s Gil Kaufman wrote that “…singer Amy Lee dreams that she has super Spidey powers, climbs up the outside of a building, spies on her creepy neighbors, then plunges into the abyss”[57] and added, “…even if your boyfriend is a buff rap-rocker guy, he might not be able to save you from falling off a 20-story building to your death. And don’t play on ledges in a billowy dress on windy days.”[57] John Hood of Miami New Times wrote that the “gothopolis backdrop” used in the video, “would make Tim Burton green with envy.”[31] The music video for “Bring Me to Life” was nominated at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rock Video.[38]
Live performances
During the live performances of “Bring Me to Life”, McCoy was replaced by John LeCompt.[1][58]
Evanescence performed “Bring Me to Life” as part of the set-lists of the Fallen and The Open Door tours. The band performed the song on August 13, 2003 in Chicago during their Nintendo Fusion Tour. During the performance, former Evanescence guitarist John LeCompt replaced McCoy during the song.[1] According to Blair R. Fischer: “The guitarist did an adequate job imitating McCoy while he laid down the song’s fiery, Iron Maiden-esque riff.”[1] The band performed “Bring Me to Life” in Wantagh, New York on July 23, 2004. According to Joe D’Angelo from MTV News: “…the massive popularity of the song was a smart set-list assembly that helped the crowd respond in kind.”[59] The song was performed on November 21, 2007 at WaMu Theater.[60]
Evanescence performed “Bring Me to Life” at the Webster Hall in New York City in September 2003.[27] During the performance, Lee wore an Alice in Wonderland dress covered with scrawled words, including the words Dirty, Useless, Psycho and Slut.[27] She explained her reasons for wearing the dress. On her previous visit to New York City, Lee had met a DJ from the radio station K-Rock, who had made what she called horrible comments about the pleasure he had derived from the picture of her face on the cover of Fallen.[27] She had felt too ashamed to say anything, so she decided to respond through the dress, which represented something innocent that had been tainted.[27] The band performed “Bring Me to Life” during their concert at The Great Saltair on October 25, 2006. Lee wore red and black, with a skirt.[61] She was called a magnet of the night by the Deseret News‘ reviewer Larry D. Curtis.[61] Other performances of the song were in Magna, Utah in October 2006,[62] and the Air Canada Centre in January 2007.[63] The band also played the song at a secret gig in New York City on November 4, 2009.[64] During their concert at War Memorial Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on August 17, 2011, Evanescence performed “Bring Me to Life” to promote their third album, Evanescence.[65] They also performed the song during the 2011 Rock in Rio festival on October 2, 2011.[66] While reviewing a concert by the band, Caroline Sullivan wrote “Slowly raising her arms during Bring Me to Life’s thunderous, strobe-lit fade-out, she’s missing only a chariot.”[67]
Cultural impact
Evanescence were promoted in Christian stores until the band made it clear they did not want to be considered part of the Christian rock genre, like fellow Wind-up Records artists Creed.[68] In April 2003, Wind-up Records chairman, Alan Meltzer, wrote to Christian radio and retail outlets to explain that, despite the “…spiritual underpinning that ignited interest and excitement in the Christian religious community,” Evanescence are “…a secular band, and as such view their music as entertainment.”[69] Therefore, he wrote, Wind-Up “…strongly feels that they no longer belong in Christian markets.”[69] Almost immediately, many Christian radio stations removed “Bring Me to Life” from their playlists.[69] Terry Hemmings, CEO of Christian music distributor Provident, expressed puzzlement at the band’s about-face, saying: “They clearly understood the album would be sold in these [Christian music] channels.”[70] In 2006, Amy Lee told Billboard that she had always opposed Evanescence being identified as a Christian band.[71]
Cover versions
British classical singer Katherine Jenkins, (pictured) recorded a cover of the song.
British classical singer Katherine Jenkins recorded a cover version of “Bring Me to Life” on her 2009 album Believe.[72] Jenkins said: “I’d mentioned that I wanted to try Evanescence’s Bring Me To Life and David [Foster] said ‘you can’t sing that’. I came out there questioning my vocal abilities. I’m just not used to being told that. I went home that night and I just thought to myself ‘you have to pull yourself together, he’s worked with so many incredible artists you have to step up the plate.’ I did talk myself round and I went in there the next day on a mission. It’s good to be pushed sometimes – and I proved him wrong!”[73] Jenkins decided to change the guitar-led and percussive original version and instead, “make it more orchestral with the percussion coming from the strings.”[74] Alfred Hickling of The Guardian gave a mixed review of Jenkins’ cover, calling it “…histrionic.”[75] However, a writer of BBC Online chose her version of the song as a highlight on the album.[74] On November 23, 2011, Jenkins sang the song live at the Leicester Square station in London.[76]
A hi-NRG dance cover by Rochelle was released through Almighty Records. An audio sample can be heard on the official Almighty Records website.[77] American pianist, John Tesh released an instrumental version of the song on his albums A Deeper Faith, Vol. 2 (2003) and A Passionate Life (2007).[78][79] Also in 2003, Kidz Bop Kids covered the song on their fourth studio album, Kidz Bop 4. In 2008, Black metal band Wykked Wytch covered the song and produced an accompanying music video. Their version was digitally released in October of that year on iTunes Store.[80] In 2010, German band Gregorian released a cover version of the song on their 2010 album Dark Side of the Chant.[81]
During the American Idols LIVE! Tour 2008, contestant Carly Smithson performed “Bring Me to Life”.[82]Jai McDowall, the winner of the fifth series of Britain’s Got Talent sang the song live during the semi-finale of the show.[83][84] Lys Agnés, a contestant on the sixth season of America’s Got Talent, performed an opera version of “Bring Me to Life” and was praised by the show’s judges.[85][86] In 2006, Zayra Alvarez, a Puerto Rican singer, performed the song on Rock Star: Supernova. On October 31, 2011, during the thirteenth season of the US reality show Dancing with the Stars, a group called Team Paso Doble danced while the song was played in the background.[87][88] In March 2012, Dennis Egal performed an “extremely unorthodox” version of the song during Britain’s Got Talent. Judge Simon Cowell praised his performance, saying: “This is totally bonkers, but another side of me says because I’ve never seen this before and I’m kind of intrigued by you, I’m going to say yes.”[89]
On August 12, 2012, Allen Jane Sta. Maria performed “Bring Me to Life” during The X Factor Philippines‘ second live show. On October 27, 2012, contestant Ella Henderson covered the song for the ninth season of the UK’s The X Factor.
On the April 3, 2013, edition of American Idol, contestant Angela Miller performed the song as part of their “Classic Rock” episode.
Usage in media
Mixtery used up-beat samplings of the song in a hit also titled “Bring Me to Life” featuring Nigerian Eurodance artist Eddy Wata.[90]
^ Breimeier, Russ (2003). “Fallen (Wind-Up)”. Christianity Today (Christianity Today International). Archived from the original on October 26, 2007. “‘Bring Me to Life,’ as excerpted above, reads as a solid plea for spiritual revival.”
^ ab“Les Certifications depuis 1973” (To access, select “Evanescence” from the drop-down list). Infodisc.fr (in French). Syndicat National de l’Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 26, 2011.
Christina Perri ‘Safe Haven’ Interview- New Album Coming! Published on Feb 6, 2013 http://bit.ly/ClevverMusic – Subscribe to ClevverMusic! We caught up with “Jar of Hearts” singer Christina Perri at the Safe Haven movie premiere where her song “Arms” is featured on the soundtrack. We chatted with her on the red carpet about the song, and […]
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]
Little Rock native and Arkansas Baptist High School graduate David Hodges co-wrote a song for the blockbuster movie “Breaking Dawn” that comes out this Friday. Interview: Breaking Dawn’s Christina Perri Twi’s Hard, Dreams Big By Leah Collins, Dose.ca Nov 1, 2011 More Images » OMG. Christina Perri went from a […]
On June 28, 2013 Underwood was back on top with a song that Little Rock native David Hodges who graduated at Arkansas Baptist High School help write. Carrie Underwood “Sees” No. 1 Again onTop 20 By Sarah Wyland | Leave a Comment Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Carrie Underwood current single title is prophetic. She makes […]
Music Video of Carrie Underwood – There’s A Place For Us – The Chronicles Of Narnia – Voyage Of The Dawn Treader Soundtrack
This video is created using various trailers from the film The Chronicles Of Narnia – Voyage Of The Dawn Treader and a taping of Carrie Underwood singing the song in the studio.
Various versions of the song “There’s a Place for Us” are featured in international versions of the soundtrack, used to promote artists signed to Sony Music in different marketing regions. Many of these artists resulted from reality TV talent shows such as American Idol, in the case of Carrie Underwood, X Factor in the UK for Joe McElderry, and Swedish Idol in the case of E.M.D.
It was released on November 16, 2010 as a lead single and can only be purchased exclusive on iTunes. It has sold 77,000 copies as of January 18, 2011.[1]
Joe McElderry recorded the song for a United Kingdom release. It was released on December 6, 2010 as the b-side to McElderry’s “Someone Wake Me Up” where it sold over 7,000 copies. Due to Sony Music’s tight recording schedule, McElderry accidentally sang “king and queen” in the chorus instead of the printed lyric, “kings and queens” (referring to the kings and queens of Narnia), although attempts were made to electronically correct this in post-production.
On November 26, 2010 a music video for the single was released prior to the official single release. The video features the trio performing in a dark room where they are walking on water with pictures of the movie around them, as well as cut scenes from the movie itself.[3][4]
David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.
As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.
Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.
David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.
In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
Christina Perri ‘Safe Haven’ Interview- New Album Coming! Published on Feb 6, 2013 http://bit.ly/ClevverMusic – Subscribe to ClevverMusic! We caught up with “Jar of Hearts” singer Christina Perri at the Safe Haven movie premiere where her song “Arms” is featured on the soundtrack. We chatted with her on the red carpet about the song, and […]
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]
Little Rock native and Arkansas Baptist High School graduate David Hodges co-wrote a song for the blockbuster movie “Breaking Dawn” that comes out this Friday. Interview: Breaking Dawn’s Christina Perri Twi’s Hard, Dreams Big By Leah Collins, Dose.ca Nov 1, 2011 More Images » OMG. Christina Perri went from a […]
On June 28, 2013 Underwood was back on top with a song that Little Rock native David Hodges who graduated at Arkansas Baptist High School help write. Carrie Underwood “Sees” No. 1 Again onTop 20 By Sarah Wyland | Leave a Comment Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Carrie Underwood current single title is prophetic. She makes […]
During the 1990′s I actually made it a practice to write famous atheists and scientists that were mentioned by Adrian Rogers and Francis Schaeffer and challenge them with the evidence for the Bible’s historicity and the claims of the gospel. Usually I would send them a cassette tape of Adrian Rogers’ messages “6 reasons I know the Bible is True,” “The Final Judgement,” “Who is Jesus?” and the message by Bill Elliff, “How to get a pure heart.” I would also send them printed material from the works of Francis Schaeffer and a personal apologetic letter from me addressing some of the issues in their work. My second cassette tape that I sent to both Antony Flew and George Wald was Adrian Rogers’ sermon on evolution.
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Below is the video of Rogers’ sermon on Evolution.
I think that Antony Flew may have pondered this quote from George Wald which was in Adrian Rogers’ sermon.
Dr. George Wald of Harvard:
“When it comes to the origin of life, we have only two possibilities as to how life arose. One is spontaneous generation arising to evolution; the other is a supernatural creative act of God. There is no third possibility…Spontaneous generation was scientifically disproved one hundred years ago by Louis Pasteur, Spellanzani, Reddy and others. That leads us scientifically to only one possible conclusion — that life arose as a supernatural creative act of God…I will not accept that philosophically because I do not want to believe in God. Therefore, I choose to believe in that which I know is scientifically impossible, spontaneous generationarising to evolution.” – Scientific American, August, 1954.
Adrian Rogers said the lack of an answer for the origin of life was a big reason Rogers rejected evolution. Rogers noted, “Evolution offers no answers to the origin of life. It simply pushes the question farther back in time, back to some primordial event in space or an act of spontaneous generation in which life simply sprang from nothing.”
I actually had the chance to correspond with George Wald twice before his death. He wrote me two letters and in the first one he suggested that he was just using hyperbole when he made the assertion that is quoted by Dr. Rogers. He also suggested the religion of Buddhism although he said he was not a Buddhist himself, but he thought that would be closest to the truth which he thought was atheism. This does seem to contradict what Flew says of Wald’s views in the 1990’s. Flew contended concerning Wald:
In later years, he concluded that a preexisting mind, which he posits as the matrix of physical reality, composed a physical universe that breeds life: ‘the stuff of which physical reality is constructed is mind-stuff. It is mind that has composed a physical universe that breeds life…’
Notice the quote in Antony Flew’s book: The Nobel Prize-winning physiologist George Wald once famously argued that “We choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance”
A heavier read but an excellent look at the philosophical implications of modern scientific discoveries is “There is a God: How the world’s most notorious atheist changed his mind” by Anthony Flew with Roy Abraham Varghese (Harper One, 2007). This book is available for about €10 on http://www.amazon.co.uk.
Here is a taster of what the book contains:
Chapter 4 “A pilgrimage of reason”
“The leaders of science over the last hundred years, along with some of today’s most influential scientists, have built a philosophically compelling vision of a rational universe that sprang from a divine mind” (Anthony Flew).
One could say that this vision was prompted by a response to three big questions –
(a)How did the laws of nature come to be?
(b)How did life as a phenomenon originate from non-life?
(c)How did the universe, by which we mean all that is physical, come into existence?
Chapter 5 “Who wrote the laws of nature?”
The important point is not merely that there are regularities in nature, but that these regularities are mathematically precise, universal, and “tied together”. Einstein spoke of them as “reason incarnate”. The question we should ask is how nature came packaged in this fashion.
We can put the issue this way:
(a)Where do the laws of physics come from?
(b)Why is it that we have these laws instead of some other set?
(c)How is it that we have a set of laws that drives featureless gases to life, consciousness and intelligence?
Chapter 6 “Did the universe know that we were coming?”
“The more I examine the universe and study the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the universe in some sense knew we were coming” (Physicist Freeman Dyson).
In other words, the laws of nature seem to have been crafted and fine-tuned so as to move the universe towards the emergence and sustenance of life.
Chapter 7 “How did life go live?”
How can a universe of mindless matter produce beings with intrinsic ends, self-replication capabilities, and “coded chemistry”?
How can self-reproduction arise by natural means from a material base?
Why does living matter possess an inherent goal or end-centred organisation that is nowhere present in the matter that preceded it?
“Life is more than just complex chemical reactions. The cell is also an information-storing, processing and replicating system. We need to explain the origin of this information, and the way in which the information processing machinery came to exist”. (Paul Davies, physicist and cosmologist)
The Nobel Prize-winning physiologist George Wald once famously argued that “We choose to believe the impossible: that life arose spontaneously by chance”
Chapter 8 “Did something come from nothing?”
Here, Flew notes how modern cosmology has placed the need to explain the universe centre stage again.
“No matter how you describe the universe – as having existed for ever, or as having originated from a point outside space-time, or else in space but not in time, or as starting off so quantum-fuzzily that there was no definite point at which it started, or as having a total energy that is zero – the people who see a problem in the sheer existence of Something Rather Than Nothing will be little inclined to agree that the problem has been solved” (John Leslie).
In other words, “the universe is something that begs an explanation” (Richard Swinburne).
Chapter 9 “Finding space for God”
Flew formerly argued that the very concept of God is incoherent because it presupposes the idea of an incorporeal omnipresent spirit. In this (unsatisfactory) section, he discusses his new thinking on the subject.
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Making Sense of Faith and Science
Uploaded on May 16, 2008
Dr. H. Fritz Schaefer confronts the assertion that one cannot believe in God and be a credible scientist. He explains that the theistic world view of Bacon, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Newton, Faraday and Maxwell was instrumental in the rise of modern science itself. Presented as part of the Let There be Light series. Series: Let There Be Light [5/2003] [Humanities] [Show ID: 7338]
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Antony Flew – World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God
Uploaded on Nov 28, 2008
Has Science Discovered God?
A half-century ago, in 1955, Professor Antony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his Theology and Falsification, a paper presented in a debate with C.S. Lewis. This work became the most widely reprinted philosophical publication of the last 50 years. Over the decades, he published more than 30 books attacking belief in God and debated a wide range of religious believers.
Then, in a 2004 Summit at New York University, Professor Flew announced that the discoveries of modern science have led him to the conclusion that the universe is indeed the creation of infinite Intelligence.
________________ ________ Antony Flew – World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God Uploaded on Nov 28, 2008 Has Science Discovered God? A half-century ago, in 1955, Professor Antony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his Theology and Falsification, a paper presented in a debate with C.S. Lewis. This work became the most […]
____________ Jesus’ Resurrection: Atheist, Antony Flew, and Theist, Gary Habermas, Dialogue Published on Apr 7, 2012 http://www.veritas.org/talks – Did Jesus die, was he buried, and what happened afterward? Join legendary atheist Antony Flew and Christian historian and apologist Gary Habermas in a discussion about the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join the […]
_______ ________ Does God Exist?: William Lane Craig vs Antony Flew Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010 http://drcraigvideos.blogspot.com – William Lane Craig and Antony Flew met in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Copleston/Russell debate to discuss the question of God’s existence in a public debate. Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most […]
_________________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his […]
____ Does God Exist? Thomas Warren vs. Antony Flew Published on Jan 2, 2014 Date: September 20-23, 1976 Location: North Texas State University Christian debater: Thomas B. Warren Atheist debater: Antony G.N. Flew For Thomas Warren: http://www.warrenapologeticscenter.org/ ______________________ Antony Flew and his conversion to theism Uploaded on Aug 12, 2011 Antony Flew, a well known […]
__________ Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010 A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008 Debate – William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens – Does God Exist? Uploaded on Jan 27, 2011 April 4, 2009 – Craig […]
________ William Lane Craig versus Eddie Tabash Debate Uploaded on Feb 6, 2012 Secular Humanism versus Christianity, Lawyer versus Theologian. Evangelical Christian apologist William Lane Craig debates humanist atheist lawyer Eddie Tabash at Pepperdine University, February 8, 1999. Visit http://www.Infidels.org andhttp://www.WilliamLaneCraig.com ________________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee […]
___________ Does God Exist? Thomas Warren vs. Antony Flew Published on Jan 2, 2014 Date: September 20-23, 1976 Location: North Texas State University Christian debater: Thomas B. Warren Atheist debater: Antony G.N. Flew For Thomas Warren: http://www.warrenapologeticscenter.org/ ______________________ Antony Flew and his conversion to theism Uploaded on Aug 12, 2011 Antony Flew, a well known […]
_____________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]
___________ Does God Exist?: William Lane Craig vs Antony Flew Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010 http://drcraigvideos.blogspot.com – William Lane Craig and Antony Flew met in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Copleston/Russell debate to discuss the question of God’s existence in a public debate. Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most respected […]
___________ ________ Jesus’ Resurrection: Atheist, Antony Flew, and Theist, Gary Habermas, Dialogue Published on Apr 7, 2012 http://www.veritas.org/talks –Did Jesus die, was he buried, and what happened afterward? Join legendary atheist Antony Flew and Christian historian and apologist Gary Habermas in a discussion about the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join […]
___________ ________ Antony Flew – World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God Uploaded on Nov 28, 2008 Has Science Discovered God? A half-century ago, in 1955, Professor Antony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his Theology and Falsification, a paper presented in a debate with C.S. Lewis. This work became the most […]
________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]
Discussion (2 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas ______________ Atheist Lawrence Krauss loses debate to wiser Christian Published on Sep 13, 2013 http://www.reasonablefaith.org More of this here The Bible and Science (Part 02) The Kalam Cosmological Argument (Scientific Evidence) (Henry Schaefer, PhD) Published on Jun 11, 2012 Scientist Dr. Henry “Fritz” Schaefer gives a lecture […]
Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010 A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008 ______________________ Making Sense of Faith and Science Uploaded on May 16, 2008 Dr. H. Fritz Schaefer confronts the assertion that one cannot believe […]
__________ Robert Jastrow on God and the Big Bang Published on Jun 26, 2012 Henry “Fritz” Schaefer comments on a popular quote made by scientist Robert Jastrow. Jastrow (who Carl Sagan was too scared to debate) is an agnostic but believes that the Big Bang leaves room for the existence of God. ____________ William Lane Craig […]
Is Richard Dawkins a secular bigot? Maybe the best person to address this was the famous atheist Antony Flew who left his atheism in 2004. Flew Slams Dawkins… Labels: Books, Religion & Society By Regis Nicoll|Published Date: August 25, 2008 …as a “secular bigot.” After the world’s most influential atheist stunned the atheist community with his book There Is a […]
Today I am going to look at H.J. Blackham and the artist featured today is Arturo Herrera. Herrera’s art interests me because it is based on the idea that accidental chance can bring about something beautiful and that is the same place that materialistic modern men like Blackham have turned to when they have concluded […]
David Hodges is a Grammy award-winning writer/producer/artist hailing from Little Rock, AR.
As the former writer and keyboardist of the band Evanescence, he and his band mates took home Best New Artist as well as the Best Hard Rock Performance trophy for their hit “Bring Me To Life” in 2004. Evanescence’s debut album Fallen has sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
David went on to write and produce Kelly Clarkson’s biggest worldwide single to date, “Because Of You”, which appeared on Clarkson’s 11 million-selling album Breakaway and garnered him the 2007 BMI Song Of The Year honor. The song was covered by Reba McEntire as the first single off her Duets album, and quickly rose up the country charts in 2007 becoming McEntire’s 30th Top 2 country single.
Hodges also penned the single, “What About Now”, which appears on American Idol Chris Daughtry’s debut album Daughtry. The 4x platinum Daughtry to date is credited as the fastest selling debut rock album in Soundscan history. “What About Now” also happens to be the first single on Westlife’s album “Who We Are.” David also won a BMI Pop award for this song.
David wrote the first single “Crush” for American Idol’s David Archuleta, which had the highest chart debut of any single since January 2007. David has since written songs for & released by Carrie Underwood, Train, Christina Perri, Celine Dion, David Cook, Lauren Alaina, The Cab, & many others.
In less than 10 years, David Hodges has been nominated for 6 Grammys & 1 Golden Globe, has won 5 BMI pop awards & 1 BMI country award, has had at least one album in the Billboard 200 for the last 8 consecutive years, and has written on albums that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide.
“My Immortal” is a song by American rock band Evanescence from their debut studio album Fallen (2003). It was released by Wind-up Records on December 8, 2003 as the third single from the album. The song was entirely written by guitarist Ben Moody, with the exception of the bridge, which was later written by lead singer Amy Lee, and it was produced by Dave Fortman. “My Immortal” was included on their EP releases Evanescence (1997) and Mystary (2003) and on the demo CDOrigin (2000). The version originally from Origin was later included on Fallen. The single version of the song was called “band version” because of the additional band performing the bridge and final chorus of the song.
“My Immortal” is a piano rock song written in slow and free tempo. Moody was inspired to write it after the death of his grandfather. Lyrically, it talks about “a spirit staying with you after its death and haunting you until you actually wish that the spirit were gone because it won’t leave you alone.”[1] Critical reception towards the song were positive with critics complimenting its piano melody. In 2005 it received a nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 47th Grammy Awards. The song was also commercially successful, peaking within the top ten in more than ten countries. It also peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in Canada, Greece and the US Adult Pop Songs chart. The single was certified gold in the US, and platinum in Australia.
An accompanying music video directed by David Mould was filmed entirely in black-and-white in Gothic Quarter, Barcelona on October 10, 2003. The video shows Lee sitting and singing on various locations, but never touching the ground. Shots of Moody are also shown but he is never together with his band or Lee. The video was nominated in the category for Best Rock Video at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards. The song was performed by the band during their Fallen Tour and The Open Door Tour. It was also performed live during some of their television appearances and award ceremonies such as the Billboard Music Awards.
“That’s the difference between us, Ben [Moody] tends to write like a storyteller, and it’s not necessarily from any kind of personal experience. I can’t bring myself to write about anything I don’t understand completely. For me, writing is always about some specific thing that’s happened, so sometimes I feel a little distanced singing the song, but I still love it.”
The first known recording of “My Immortal” was made for the band’s self-titled EP, which solely featured Lee’s vocals accompanied by an acoustic guitar and a piano, and slightly different lyrics. The song was cut from the EP before it was released.[4] In 2000, the song was re-recorded for the band’s demo album, Origin, which contains a rearranged piano melody and lyrics, including the bridge added by Lee.[5] It was again recorded for the band’s debut full-length debut studio album, Fallen where the vocals of the demo version (that were recorded by Lee at 18 years old) were accompanied by slightly different instrumentation.[1] It is also featured on the band’s 2003 EP, Mystary, which is much similar to the band version.[6]Wind-up Records preferred the Origin version, which is why the exact vocals recorded from 2000 are again included in the song’s album version.[2] The version that was recorded and released as a single is moderately alternative to that of the album version, and is often referred to as the “band version” because of the additional band performing the bridge and final chorus of the song. The later pressings of Fallen contain the single version (or “band version”) of “My Immortal” as a hidden track.[7] Lee expressed some dissatisfaction with the early versions of the song saying, “It’s not even a real piano. And the sound quality is bad because we had to break into the studio to record it late at night when no one was around because we couldn’t afford a real session.”[2]
Composition
“My Immortal” is a piano[8][9] and power ballad[10] written in the key of A major.[11] It was described as a “goth-meets-pop” song.[12] According to the sheet music published by Alfred Music Publishing on the website Musicnotes.com, the song is set in common time and performed in slow and free tempo of 80 beats per minute. Lee’s vocal range for the song runs from the musical note of A3 to C♯5.[13] Her vocals are accompanied by a simple piano.[10] Adrien Begrand of PopMatters concluded that in “My Immortal”, Lee is “doing her McLachlan/Tori Amos schtick”.[14] The song also received comparisons to Enya‘s material.[15]
The lyrics of the song refer to a spirit that haunts the memory of a grieving loved one.[2] Similar to several other songs written by Moody, the lyrics of the song are based on a short story he had previously written.[1] According to Lee, it was “Ben [Moody]’s song.”[16] Moody said that the song talks about “a spirit staying with you after its death and haunting you until you actually wish that the spirit were gone because it won’t leave you alone.”[1] He also stated in the booklet of Fallen that he dedicated the song to his grandfather, Bill Holcomb.[1] In “My Immortal”, Lee expresses her feelings through the line, “Though you’re still with me / I’ve been alone all along.”[17] A writer for IGN said that “‘My Immortal’ is a song of pain and despair caused by the loss of a family member or very close friend and how it drove her [Lee] to the edge of insanity.”[17] Talking about the composition and the meaning of the song, Tom Reynolds of The Guardian said, “[‘My Immortal’ is] A whimpering post-breakup tune in which lead singer Amy Lee pitifully mourns the end of a relationship over a piano accompaniment that sounds like Pachelbel after the Prozac wore off. My Immortal closely follows the ‘quantum tragedy paradigm’: the shorter the time two people spent together as a couple, the more overwrought the song is that describes their break-up. Judging by the lorry-load of anguish Lee spews out, she split from someone she dated for about an hour (if her lyrics are to be believed, the guy was a real freak, too).”[18]
Critical reception
While reviewing the band’s second studio album The Open Door (2006), Alex Nunn of the website musicOMH showed incredulity that the “angelic-vocalled woman who wrote the moving/emotive/whatever My Immortal” could “churn out such dross as Call Me When You’re Sober.”[19] Kirk Miller of Rolling Stone said that “‘My Immortal’ lets Lee wail about her personal demons over simple piano and some symphonic dressings — it’s a power ballad that P.O.D. and Tori Amos fans could both appreciate.”[10] Chris Harris of the same publication found it to be a “song that’s become something of an Alanis Morissette-like battle hymn for her [Lee’s] goth disciples over the last few years.”[20] Richard Harrington of The Washington Post called “My Immortal” a “majestic” song that helped the band win a Grammy Award.[21] Blair R. Fischer from MTV News described the song as a “delicate, heartfelt ballad”.[15] IGN’s Ed Thompson concluded that “My Immortal” was “one of the first and best songs Evanescence ever wrote”.[22] Jordan Reimer, a writer of The Daily Princetonian found a “haunting beauty” in the song.[23] Bill Lamb of About.com put the song at number 61 on his list of “Top 100 Pop Songs of 2004”.[24] Tom Reynolds of The Guardian put the song at number 24 on his list “Sad songs say so much”.[18] In 2005 the band was nominated in the category for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 47th Grammy Awards for the song.[25][26][27]
Chart performance
The song is considered the band’s second most successful single of all time, generally peaking within the top 20 of more than 10 countries internationally. On the chart issue dated April 10, 2004, “My Immortal” peaked at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100,[28] while on the Pop Songs chart it peaked at number two on March 27, 2004.[29] It has peaked at number nineteen on the Adult Contemporary chart as well.[30] On February 17, 2009, “My Immortal” was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling more than 500,000 copies in the United States.[31] The song managed to top the charts of Canada, Greece and Billboard‘s Adult Pop Songs in the United States.[32][33][34] It also helped Fallen to move from number nine to number three on the Billboard 200 chart, selling another 69.000 copies.[35][36] On the Billboard‘s Radio Songs chart, the song peaked at number seven on April 10, 2004.[37]Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems placed the song at number six on the list of most played radio songs in 2004 with 317,577 spins.[38]
On the Australian Singles Chart, “My Immortal” debuted at number four on January 25, 2004 which later became its peak position.[39] The next eleven weeks, it remained in the top ten of the chart,[40] and it was seen on the chart at number forty-four for the week ending June 13, 2004.[41] The single was certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).[42] On December 20, 2003, “My Immortal” debuted at number seven on the UK Singles Chart which later became its peak position.[43] On February 14, 2004 the song dropped out of the chart, and it later re-entered at number eighty-four on July 18, 2008.[44] After spending several weeks on different positions on the UK Rock Chart, on August 27, 2011, it peaked at number one.[45] The next week, “My Immortal” moved to number two being replaced by the band’s single “What You Want” (2011),[45] and one week later it returned at number one on the chart.[45] That achievement helped the song to re-enter on the UK Singles Chart at number eight-one on August 27, 2011 and at number eighty-nine on October 22, 2011.[44]
Music video
The music video for “My Immortal” was filmed in Barri Gòtic, Barcelona.
A music video directed by David Mould was filmed entirely in black-and-white in Plaça de Sant Felip Neri, Gothic Quarter (Barri Gòtic), Barcelona on October 10, 2003.[2][46] Lee described the place of the filming during an interview with MTV News: “We did it in a cool, old area of town.[…] We shot some of it at this scenic point, and there was a rooftop where you could see Barcelona below. It was really neat.”[2] The band version of the song is played throughout the video. Lee said that Evanescence initially wanted to film a video for the band version of the song, but “the label was stuck on the demo and wouldn’t let us use the version we really wanted.[…] We fought back and forth about it and finally we gave in, but we were all so angry about it.”[2] The video was filmed two weeks before Ben Moody’s departure from the band.[46] Amy Lee admitted that the visuals in the video were “striking in retrospect”, but added that the similarities between what was filmed and Moody’s departure were coincidental: “We shot it in Barcelona about a week before Ben left the band unexpectedly. I think none of us knew, including him, that he was going anywhere. And when we got the video back and watched it, it was right after he had left. And it’s bizarre how much the video is about that. We all sat there with goose bumps, like, ‘Holy crap. We’ve got to watch that again.'”[47] In an interview with the British magazine Rock Sound, Lee further explained the concept which was related with his departure:
“You know what? When you see the video it’s really amazing. Obviously we filmed it before this [Ben Moody’s departure] happened and it’s amazing irony, how much it makes sense. We’re all separated and wandering the streets looking like it’s the day after a funeral, with Ben in a suit and bare feet, and I’m never touching the ground. I’m sitting on a phone booth or lying on a car, to hint that I’m dead, that I’m singing from the dead. It’s all about separation. It’s almost like the director knew what was going to happen, but he can’t have known. It’s just one of those fate things.”[48]
The music video for “My Immortal” begins with Lee next to a fountain. Her legs and arms are covered with bandage, and she puts them in the water. She’s wearing a long white dress. While she walks around the fountain, behind her are shown children jumping on a skipping rope and playing soccer. Shots of Moody follow, who appears to be sullen and withdrawn. He is wearing a suit and his feet are bare. His shoulders sag and his head slumps forward as he delicately plays piano, and later he picks up his jacket as if he’s about to leave. When the bridge starts, the band is shot performing in one room while Moody is in another, with only his piano. Throughout the video, Lee is never filmed on ground level. She walks along the ledge of a fountain, sits in a tree and sings lying on top of a building. She also lies atop scaffolding and on the hood of a car surrounded with leaves.
The video for the song was nominated in the category for Best Rock Video at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards.[49][50][51] According to Jon Wiederhorn from MTV News, the shots of the video are “evocative and artistic, resembling a cross between a foreign film and a Chanel advertisement.”[2] Joe D’Angelo of MTV News said that Lee’s disconnection in the video shows a “distressed and emotionally wrought heroine.”[52] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone praised the video saying that Lee looked like a “teen-misery titan” and that she “tiptoed through a marble castle of pain”.[53] He also concluded that she could have borrowed the dress from Stevie Nicks.[53] During an interview with Spin in 2011 Lee said that it was weird for her to watch the old videos of the band including the one for “My Immortal”. She explaind, “Just watching our oldest videos, it’s weird. I definitely remember watching ‘My Immortal,’ like, ‘That was not some dream where it was really somebody else.’ I’ve totally had a couple of those moments. It’s cool.”[54]
Live performances
Amy Lee performing during a concert in 2009.
Evanescence performed the song at the 2004 Billboard Music Awards on December 8, 2004.[55] The band was joined by an eight-piece string section during the performance and a stage backdrop of knotted, decaying trees were placed on stage in order to showcase the “powerful vocals” by Amy Lee as stated by a writer of Billboard.[55] The band additionally performed the song at Late Show with David Letterman in March, 2004.[56]
The band performed “My Immortal” on August 13, 2003 in Chicago during the Nintendo Fusion Tour.[15][57] It was also part of the set list on the band’s first Fallen Tour.[58] Evanescence also performed the song at the Webster Hall in Manhattan, New York City in September, 2003. “My Immortal” was the closing song of the concert, and Lee performed it after asking the fans “Just promise not to fall asleep.”[57] During the performance, she wore an Alice in Wonderland dress covered with scrawled words, including the words “dirty, useless, psycho and slut.”[57] She explained that there was a story behind the dress. The last time she had come to New York, she had met a D.J. from the radio station K-Rock, who had made what she described as horrible comments about exactly how much pleasure he had derived from the picture of her face on the Fallen album cover.[57] She had felt too ashamed to say anything, she went on, so she decided to respond through the dress, which represented something innocent that’s been tainted.[57]
“My Immortal” was also part of the set list during the band’s second tour, called The Open Door Tour in support of their second studio album The Open Door (2006).[59][60][61] Evanescence also played the song live at their secret New York gig which took place on November 4, 2009.[20] They also performed the song during the 2011 Rock in Rio festival on October 2, 2011.[62] The song was later added on the set list of their third worldwide tour in support of their third self-titled studio album Evanescence (2011).[63][64] A live version of the song from Le Zénith, Paris is featured on their first live album, Anywhere but Home (2004).[65][66][67] Johnny Loftus of Allmusic praised the live version saying that Lee takes a “softer approach” while performing “My Immortal” and added that it “becomes a singalong moment for 5,000 souls.”[68]
The song has been used during several television episodes. It featured during the Smallville season three episode “Memoria”. It was used in the first episode, “No Such Thing as Vampires“, of the American series Moonlight.[70]Lucy Walsh, a contestant of the show Rock the Cradle, covered the song during the fifth episode, “Judge’s Picks”.[71] Dancer Hampton Williams performed to this song during his audition for the Season 9 premiere of So You Think You Can Dance which aired on May 24, 2012, where he received a standing ovation.[72][73]
The song was used for The Voice UK winner Andrea Begley as her winning single. The song saw much success for Begley and the show.
^ Harrington, Richard (October 6, 2006). “Another ‘Door’ Opens for Amy Lee”. The Washington Post (The Washington Post Company). Retrieved July 23, 2011.
Christina Perri ‘Safe Haven’ Interview- New Album Coming! Published on Feb 6, 2013 http://bit.ly/ClevverMusic – Subscribe to ClevverMusic! We caught up with “Jar of Hearts” singer Christina Perri at the Safe Haven movie premiere where her song “Arms” is featured on the soundtrack. We chatted with her on the red carpet about the song, and […]
David Hodges is a graduate of Arkansas Baptist High School in Little Rock and he co-wrote the song “A Thousand Years,”with Christina Perri. It was featured in the movie “Breaking Dawn Part 2.” David is one of the three founding members of Evanescence and he has written for Kelly Clarkson, Celine Dion, Reba McEntire, Carrie Underwood, […]
The “American Idol” contestant-turned-actress is getting positive reviews for her role in “Smash.” The singer plays an actress who is competing for the part of Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway show. The Hollywood Reporter calls it “‘Glee’ for grownups” and Entertainment Weekly calls McPhee “mediocre” but “very likable.” Great song: Uploaded by KatharineMcPheeVEVO on Nov […]
Little Rock native and Arkansas Baptist High School graduate David Hodges co-wrote a song for the blockbuster movie “Breaking Dawn” that comes out this Friday. Interview: Breaking Dawn’s Christina Perri Twi’s Hard, Dreams Big By Leah Collins, Dose.ca Nov 1, 2011 More Images » OMG. Christina Perri went from a […]
On June 28, 2013 Underwood was back on top with a song that Little Rock native David Hodges who graduated at Arkansas Baptist High School help write. Carrie Underwood “Sees” No. 1 Again onTop 20 By Sarah Wyland | Leave a Comment Carrie Underwood photo courtesy of Sony Music Nashville. Carrie Underwood current single title is prophetic. She makes […]
________________ ________ Antony Flew – World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God Uploaded on Nov 28, 2008 Has Science Discovered God? A half-century ago, in 1955, Professor Antony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his Theology and Falsification, a paper presented in a debate with C.S. Lewis. This work became the most […]
____________ Jesus’ Resurrection: Atheist, Antony Flew, and Theist, Gary Habermas, Dialogue Published on Apr 7, 2012 http://www.veritas.org/talks – Did Jesus die, was he buried, and what happened afterward? Join legendary atheist Antony Flew and Christian historian and apologist Gary Habermas in a discussion about the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join the […]
_______ ________ Does God Exist?: William Lane Craig vs Antony Flew Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010 http://drcraigvideos.blogspot.com – William Lane Craig and Antony Flew met in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Copleston/Russell debate to discuss the question of God’s existence in a public debate. Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most […]
_________________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his […]
____ Does God Exist? Thomas Warren vs. Antony Flew Published on Jan 2, 2014 Date: September 20-23, 1976 Location: North Texas State University Christian debater: Thomas B. Warren Atheist debater: Antony G.N. Flew For Thomas Warren: http://www.warrenapologeticscenter.org/ ______________________ Antony Flew and his conversion to theism Uploaded on Aug 12, 2011 Antony Flew, a well known […]
__________ Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010 A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008 Debate – William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens – Does God Exist? Uploaded on Jan 27, 2011 April 4, 2009 – Craig […]
________ William Lane Craig versus Eddie Tabash Debate Uploaded on Feb 6, 2012 Secular Humanism versus Christianity, Lawyer versus Theologian. Evangelical Christian apologist William Lane Craig debates humanist atheist lawyer Eddie Tabash at Pepperdine University, February 8, 1999. Visit http://www.Infidels.org andhttp://www.WilliamLaneCraig.com ________________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee […]
___________ Does God Exist? Thomas Warren vs. Antony Flew Published on Jan 2, 2014 Date: September 20-23, 1976 Location: North Texas State University Christian debater: Thomas B. Warren Atheist debater: Antony G.N. Flew For Thomas Warren: http://www.warrenapologeticscenter.org/ ______________________ Antony Flew and his conversion to theism Uploaded on Aug 12, 2011 Antony Flew, a well known […]
_____________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]
___________ Does God Exist?: William Lane Craig vs Antony Flew Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010 http://drcraigvideos.blogspot.com – William Lane Craig and Antony Flew met in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Copleston/Russell debate to discuss the question of God’s existence in a public debate. Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most respected […]
___________ ________ Jesus’ Resurrection: Atheist, Antony Flew, and Theist, Gary Habermas, Dialogue Published on Apr 7, 2012 http://www.veritas.org/talks –Did Jesus die, was he buried, and what happened afterward? Join legendary atheist Antony Flew and Christian historian and apologist Gary Habermas in a discussion about the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join […]
___________ ________ Antony Flew – World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God Uploaded on Nov 28, 2008 Has Science Discovered God? A half-century ago, in 1955, Professor Antony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his Theology and Falsification, a paper presented in a debate with C.S. Lewis. This work became the most […]
________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]
Discussion (2 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas ______________ Atheist Lawrence Krauss loses debate to wiser Christian Published on Sep 13, 2013 http://www.reasonablefaith.org More of this here The Bible and Science (Part 02) The Kalam Cosmological Argument (Scientific Evidence) (Henry Schaefer, PhD) Published on Jun 11, 2012 Scientist Dr. Henry “Fritz” Schaefer gives a lecture […]
Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010 A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008 ______________________ Making Sense of Faith and Science Uploaded on May 16, 2008 Dr. H. Fritz Schaefer confronts the assertion that one cannot believe […]
__________ Robert Jastrow on God and the Big Bang Published on Jun 26, 2012 Henry “Fritz” Schaefer comments on a popular quote made by scientist Robert Jastrow. Jastrow (who Carl Sagan was too scared to debate) is an agnostic but believes that the Big Bang leaves room for the existence of God. ____________ William Lane Craig […]
Is Richard Dawkins a secular bigot? Maybe the best person to address this was the famous atheist Antony Flew who left his atheism in 2004. Flew Slams Dawkins… Labels: Books, Religion & Society By Regis Nicoll|Published Date: August 25, 2008 …as a “secular bigot.” After the world’s most influential atheist stunned the atheist community with his book There Is a […]
Today I am going to look at H.J. Blackham and the artist featured today is Arturo Herrera. Herrera’s art interests me because it is based on the idea that accidental chance can bring about something beautiful and that is the same place that materialistic modern men like Blackham have turned to when they have concluded […]
Piers Morgan Tonight: CNN Official Interview: Ricky Gervais says atheism shouldn’t offend
Uploaded on Jan 20, 2011
Ricky Gervais tells CNN’s Piers Morgan why he’s an atheist, and why his jokes about God shouldn’t offend believers.
The Bible and Science (Part 01)
__________________________________
Antony Flew tells what the book THERE IS A GOD: “How the world’s most notorious atheist changed his mind” is all about in the first part of the introduction from the book:
Ever since the announcement of my “conversion” to
deism, I have been asked on numerous occasions to pro-
vide an account of the factors that led me to change my
mind. In a few subsequent articles and in the new intro-
duction to the 2005 edition of my God and Philosophy, I
drew attention to recent works relevant to the ongoing dis-
cussion on God, but I did not elaborate further on my own
views. I have now been persuaded to present here what
might be called my last will and testament. In brief, as the
title says, I now believe there is a God!
The subtitle, “How the World’s Most Notorious Athe-
ist Changed His Mind,” was not my own invention. But it
is one I am happy to employ, for the invention and employ-
ment of apt yet arresting titles is for Flews something of a
family tradition. My theologian father once edited a col-
lection of essays by himself and some of his former stu-
dents and gave to this polemic paperback the paradoxical
and yet wholly appropriate and properly informative title
The Catholicity of Protestantism.In the matter of form of
presentation, if not of substantive doctrine, following his
example, I have in my time published papers with such
titles as “Do-gooders Doing No Good?” and “Is Pascal’s
Wager the Only Safe Bet?”
At the outset I should make one thing clear. When
reports of my change of mind were spread by the media
and the ubiquitous Internet, some commentators were
quick to claim that my advanced age had something to
do with my “conversion.” It has been said that fear concen-
trates the mind powerfully, and these critics had con-
cluded that expectations of an impending entrance into
the afterlife had triggered a deathbed conversion. Clearly
these people were familiar with neither my writings on
the nonexistence of an afterlife nor with my current views
on the topic. For over fifty years I have not simply denied
the existence of God, but also the existence of an afterlife.
My Gifford Lectures published as The Logic of Mortality
represent the culmination of this process of thought. This
is one area in which I have not changed my mind. Absent
special revelation, a possibility that is well represented
in this book by N. T. Wright’s contribution, I do not
think of myself “surviving” death. For the record, then, I
want to lay to rest all those rumors that have me placing
Pascalian bets.
I should point out, moreover, that this is not the first
time I “changed my mind” on a fundamental issue. Among
other things, readers who are familiar with my vigorous
defense of free markets may be surprised to learn that I
was once a Marxist (for details, see the second chapter of
this book). In addition, over two decades ago I retracted my
earlier view that all human choices are determined entirely
by physical causes.
Since this is a book about why I changed my mind
about the existence of God, an obvious question would
be what I believed before the “change” and why.The first
three chapters seek to answer this question, and the last
seven chapters describe my discovery of the Divine. In the
preparation of the last seven chapters, I was greatly helped
by discussions with Professor Richard Swinburne and Pro-
fessor Brian Leftow, the former and current occupants of
the Nolloth Chair at Oxford.
There are two appendices to the book.The first is an
analysis of the so-called new atheism of Richard Dawkins
and others by Roy Abraham Varghese.The second is an
open-ended dialogue on a topic of great interest to most
religious believers—the issue of whether there is any kind
of divine revelation in human history, with specific attention
to the claims made about Jesus of Nazareth. In the inter-
est of furthering the dialogue, the New Testament scholar
N.T. Wright, who is the present bishop of Durham, kindly
provided his assessment of the body of historical fact that
underlies Christian theists’ faith in Christ.In fact, I have to
say here that Bishop Wright presents by far the best case for
accepting Christian belief that I have ever seen.
Making Sense of Faith and Science
Uploaded on May 16, 2008
Dr. H. Fritz Schaefer confronts the assertion that one cannot believe in God and be a credible scientist. He explains that the theistic world view of Bacon, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Newton, Faraday and Maxwell was instrumental in the rise of modern science itself. Presented as part of the Let There be Light series. Series: Let There Be Light [5/2003] [Humanities] [Show ID: 7338]
________________
Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas
Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010
A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008
Is Goodness Without God is Good Enough? William Lane Craig vs. Paul Kurtz
Published on Jul 29, 2013
Date: October 24, 2001
Location: Franklin & Marshall College
Christian debater: William Lane Craig
Atheist/secular humanist debater: Paul Kurtz
____________ Jesus’ Resurrection: Atheist, Antony Flew, and Theist, Gary Habermas, Dialogue Published on Apr 7, 2012 http://www.veritas.org/talks – Did Jesus die, was he buried, and what happened afterward? Join legendary atheist Antony Flew and Christian historian and apologist Gary Habermas in a discussion about the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join the […]
_______ ________ Does God Exist?: William Lane Craig vs Antony Flew Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010 http://drcraigvideos.blogspot.com – William Lane Craig and Antony Flew met in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Copleston/Russell debate to discuss the question of God’s existence in a public debate. Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most […]
_________________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his […]
____ Does God Exist? Thomas Warren vs. Antony Flew Published on Jan 2, 2014 Date: September 20-23, 1976 Location: North Texas State University Christian debater: Thomas B. Warren Atheist debater: Antony G.N. Flew For Thomas Warren: http://www.warrenapologeticscenter.org/ ______________________ Antony Flew and his conversion to theism Uploaded on Aug 12, 2011 Antony Flew, a well known […]
__________ Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010 A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008 Debate – William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens – Does God Exist? Uploaded on Jan 27, 2011 April 4, 2009 – Craig […]
________ William Lane Craig versus Eddie Tabash Debate Uploaded on Feb 6, 2012 Secular Humanism versus Christianity, Lawyer versus Theologian. Evangelical Christian apologist William Lane Craig debates humanist atheist lawyer Eddie Tabash at Pepperdine University, February 8, 1999. Visit http://www.Infidels.org andhttp://www.WilliamLaneCraig.com ________________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee […]
___________ Does God Exist? Thomas Warren vs. Antony Flew Published on Jan 2, 2014 Date: September 20-23, 1976 Location: North Texas State University Christian debater: Thomas B. Warren Atheist debater: Antony G.N. Flew For Thomas Warren: http://www.warrenapologeticscenter.org/ ______________________ Antony Flew and his conversion to theism Uploaded on Aug 12, 2011 Antony Flew, a well known […]
_____________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]
___________ Does God Exist?: William Lane Craig vs Antony Flew Uploaded on Dec 16, 2010 http://drcraigvideos.blogspot.com – William Lane Craig and Antony Flew met in 1998 on the 50th anniversary of the famous Copleston/Russell debate to discuss the question of God’s existence in a public debate. Unlike Richard Dawkins, Flew was one of the most respected […]
___________ ________ Jesus’ Resurrection: Atheist, Antony Flew, and Theist, Gary Habermas, Dialogue Published on Apr 7, 2012 http://www.veritas.org/talks –Did Jesus die, was he buried, and what happened afterward? Join legendary atheist Antony Flew and Christian historian and apologist Gary Habermas in a discussion about the facts surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Join […]
___________ ________ Antony Flew – World’s Most Famous Atheist Accepts Existence of God Uploaded on Nov 28, 2008 Has Science Discovered God? A half-century ago, in 1955, Professor Antony Flew set the agenda for modern atheism with his Theology and Falsification, a paper presented in a debate with C.S. Lewis. This work became the most […]
________ Antony Flew on God and Atheism Published on Feb 11, 2013 Lee Strobel interviews philosopher and scholar Antony Flew on his conversion from atheism to deism. Much of it has to do with intelligent design. Flew was considered one of the most influential and important thinker for atheism during his time before his death […]
Discussion (2 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas ______________ Atheist Lawrence Krauss loses debate to wiser Christian Published on Sep 13, 2013 http://www.reasonablefaith.org More of this here The Bible and Science (Part 02) The Kalam Cosmological Argument (Scientific Evidence) (Henry Schaefer, PhD) Published on Jun 11, 2012 Scientist Dr. Henry “Fritz” Schaefer gives a lecture […]
Discussion (1 of 3): Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas Uploaded on Sep 22, 2010 A discussion with Antony Flew, N.T. Wright, and Gary Habermas. This was held at Westminster Chapel March, 2008 ______________________ Making Sense of Faith and Science Uploaded on May 16, 2008 Dr. H. Fritz Schaefer confronts the assertion that one cannot believe […]
__________ Robert Jastrow on God and the Big Bang Published on Jun 26, 2012 Henry “Fritz” Schaefer comments on a popular quote made by scientist Robert Jastrow. Jastrow (who Carl Sagan was too scared to debate) is an agnostic but believes that the Big Bang leaves room for the existence of God. ____________ William Lane Craig […]
Is Richard Dawkins a secular bigot? Maybe the best person to address this was the famous atheist Antony Flew who left his atheism in 2004. Flew Slams Dawkins… Labels: Books, Religion & Society By Regis Nicoll|Published Date: August 25, 2008 …as a “secular bigot.” After the world’s most influential atheist stunned the atheist community with his book There Is a […]
Today I am going to look at H.J. Blackham and the artist featured today is Arturo Herrera. Herrera’s art interests me because it is based on the idea that accidental chance can bring about something beautiful and that is the same place that materialistic modern men like Blackham have turned to when they have concluded […]
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