Quote of the Day: Let Hope Still Ring Through Depths of Twilight

 

A song from a favorite semi-underground Christian rock band, Brave Saint Saturn. It’s not quite my favorite song from BSS, and I know basically nothing about music anyway. But I still think this is a good song; listening to it once isn’t enough; like good art often does, it gets better over time.

From a lyrics website, the chorus:

And we will burn the starless night
The truth will ring through depths of twilight
Liberty, our hearts ignite
Let hope still ring through depths of twilight

I wouldn’t be surprised if BSS’s Reese Roper thinks systemic racism is the big problem this song calls us to have hope in the face of. I’m not so sure. (I think racism is still a problem in America, and based on mountains of anecdotal evidence like the kind covered in this National Review Online piece, I’m prepared to believe that some of it is systemic. But I’d still like a case for systemic racism that I’m pretty sure can get past any subtleties drawn from Thomas Sowell’s Discrimination and Disparities.)

I’m more inclined to think that abortion or leftist disregard for religious liberty (for Muslims, too!) is a bigger issue. And petty coronavirus tyrannies.

Anyway, I do find this song moving. It could probably make me cry if I let it. The poetry seems to me flexible enough to apply to whichever injustices America has most to worry about. (However, the quotes from MLK Jr. make that case more difficult.)

And you? Have you ever even heard of this band before now? Do you like this song? You want more suggestions on their music?

In the face of what problems do you think America needs hope the most?

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  1. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Some of the finest work from the people in BSS, with the band Five Iron Frenzy:

    • #1
  2. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    And here’s what–for me, anyway–is BSS’s most deeply moving song.  Works better over time, like good art often does.  I hope to do a QOTD on it some other time.

    • #2
  3. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Wikipedia intro to BSS’s trilogy of concept albums/rock operas/whatever they are.

    • #3
  4. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    It’s introducing me to a different world.


    This is the Quote of the Day. If you’d like to share a favorite quotation, we’d love to have you do so. The Quote of the Day can be the easiest way to start a conversation on Ricochet. Sign up today!

    • #4
  5. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Saint Augustine: In the face of what problems do you think America needs hope the most?

    Despair.

    I’m not kidding. We seem to have a lot of despair junkies out there. People who believe that things are always darkest just before they go pitch black.

    The first thing to ask someone who tells you that there are no absolute truths should be “Is that absolutely true?”

    • #5
  6. CJ Inactive
    CJ
    @cjherod

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Some of the finest work from the people in BSS, with the band Five Iron Frenzy:

    Artwork by Doug TenNapel, if I remember correctly.

    • #6
  7. DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator
    @DrewInWisconsin

    I had no idea these were concept albums. I might need to give them a closer listen. I’m familiar with a few of the songs. The Sun Also Rises and Estrella come to mind.

     

    • #7
  8. DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Unhelpful Communicator
    @DrewInWisconsin

    CJ (View Comment):
    Artwork by Doug TenNapel, if I remember correctly.

    Doug is my hero. Fearless. He makes me feel good about my anger.

    • #8
  9. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    DrewInWisconsin, Doormat (View Comment):

    I had no idea these were concept albums. I might need to give them a closer listen. I’m familiar with a few of the songs. The Sun Also Rises and Estrella come to mind.

    “Estrella” is deeply moving.

    Yes, they are all concept albums (or something like that). They follow the story of the Gloria, which sets out to explore Saturn (or was it the moons of Saturn?) and runs into trouble. The Wikipedia intro is good: The story of the Gloria is a metaphor for troubles in the artists’ own lives.

    A friend in undergrad gave me the basics on the central struggle in Roper’s life, but I don’t know his sources, may not remember it well, and doubt whether much of this is my story to tell.  But “Independence Day” and “Enamel” give us some clues on the events.  “Recall” and “Daylight” and “Anastasia” apparently wrap up that story. 

    The second album begins with hope in “Sun Also Rises” as a prologue and ends with “Daylight” as the very dramatic rendering of the shift from despair to hope–with Jesus at the center.

    If you listen to “Daylight” a few times at the right challenging time in your life, it can be very deeply moving and helpful. I think that was the point of it.  I still like “Daylight” a lot, but “Heart Still Beats” might be my favorite song overall from BSS.

    • #9
  10. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):
    “Recall” and “Daylight” and “Anastasia” apparently wrap up that story. 

    Or do they? There was a whole album after “Daylight”! But I haven’t listened to it enough to put more pieces together.

    • #10
  11. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Percival (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine: In the face of what problems do you think America needs hope the most?

    Despair.

    I’m not kidding. We seem to have a lot of despair junkies out there. People who believe that things are always darkest just before they go pitch black.

    Excellent.

    BSS is all about that. “The bravest thing I have is hope.”

    The first thing to ask someone who tells you that there are no absolute truths should be “Is that absolutely true?”

    Yes.

    • #11
  12. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Hey, @samuelblock, we’re talking about music and stuff here.

    • #12
  13. DrewInWisconsin, Doormat Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Doormat
    @DrewInWisconsin

    On this same theme, you might want to check out Andrew Osenga’s Leonard the Lonely Astronaut, a concept album about a man who copes with the loss of his wife by launching into space:

    Osenga introduces us to Leonard Belle, whose story we enter in the wake of the unexpected death of his wife—a beginning made all the more tragic by the fact that they were in the midst of settling their divorce. With so much left unresolved, Leonard’s grief takes the form of his accepting a job as the lone pilot of a space freighter delivering cargo to the far reaches of outer space. Because of the laws of relativity, all of Leonard’s friends will have grown old and died by the time he returns to earth. Leonard wants out of his own life. In fact, he’s probably been absent from it for quite some time already.

    • #13
  14. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    DrewInWisconsin, Doormat (View Comment):

    On this same theme, you might want to check out Andrew Osenga’s Leonard the Lonely Astronaut, a concept album about a man who copes with the loss of his wife by launching into space:

    Osenga introduces us to Leonard Belle, whose story we enter in the wake of the unexpected death of his wife—a beginning made all the more tragic by the fact that they were in the midst of settling their divorce. With so much left unresolved, Leonard’s grief takes the form of his accepting a job as the lone pilot of a space freighter delivering cargo to the far reaches of outer space. Because of the laws of relativity, all of Leonard’s friends will have grown old and died by the time he returns to earth. Leonard wants out of his own life. In fact, he’s probably been absent from it for quite some time already.

    Rabbit Room?

    That means it has something to do with Andrew Peterson, right? So it’s coming from a Christian worldview.

    Yeah, I might be very interested. Thanks!

    (But it’s hard to get in music these days except as background entertainment while I’m working on the computer!)

    • #14
  15. Hank Rhody, Badgeless Bandito Contributor
    Hank Rhody, Badgeless Bandito
    @HankRhody

    Percival (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine: In the face of what problems do you think America needs hope the most?

    Despair.

    I’m not kidding. We seem to have a lot of despair junkies out there. People who believe that things are always darkest just before they go pitch black.

    The first thing to ask someone who tells you that there are no absolute truths should be “Is that absolutely true?”

    Can’t say I’m a great fan of the song musically. However, I’m glad that someone’s doing defiant songs. Entirely too much of Christian music is of and about the “everything’s happy” crowd. There’s got to be some for us who think the world is a plenty bleak place but darn it, someone’s got to go on fighting.

    • #15
  16. Samuel Block Support
    Samuel Block
    @SamuelBlock

    I enjoyed the song, but, I never really catch lyrics until the second or third go-round. I’m sleepy right now. Since I’ve commented, I’ll be following the post. Maybe some more thoughts will come to me while I REM.

    • #16
  17. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Hank Rhody, Badgeless Bandito (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine: In the face of what problems do you think America needs hope the most?

    Despair.

    I’m not kidding. We seem to have a lot of despair junkies out there. People who believe that things are always darkest just before they go pitch black.

    The first thing to ask someone who tells you that there are no absolute truths should be “Is that absolutely true?”

    Can’t say I’m a great fan of the song musically. However, I’m glad that someone’s doing defiant songs. Entirely too much of Christian music is of and about the “everything’s happy” crowd. There’s got to be some for us who think the world is a plenty bleak place but darn it, someone’s got to go on fighting.

    Does this count?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcYhYO02f98

    • #17
  18. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw (View Comment):

    Hank Rhody, Badgeless Bandito (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Saint Augustine: In the face of what problems do you think America needs hope the most?

    Despair.

    I’m not kidding. We seem to have a lot of despair junkies out there. People who believe that things are always darkest just before they go pitch black.

    The first thing to ask someone who tells you that there are no absolute truths should be “Is that absolutely true?”

    Can’t say I’m a great fan of the song musically. However, I’m glad that someone’s doing defiant songs. Entirely too much of Christian music is of and about the “everything’s happy” crowd. There’s got to be some for us who think the world is a plenty bleak place but darn it, someone’s got to go on fighting.

    Does this count?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcYhYO02f98

    Well, if that’s how you’re gonna play this maybe I should link to some Savatage.

    • #18
  19. Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw Member
    Matt Balzer, Imperialist Claw
    @MattBalzer

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):
    Well, if that’s how you’re gonna play this

    • #19
  20. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Maybe we need a QOTD for this other BSS song. “Boys need fathers.”

    • #20
  21. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    Maybe we need a QOTD for this other BSS song. “Boys need fathers.”

    Plenty of upcoming openings.

    • #21
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