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Sometimes when I sit down to write, I know exactly what I want to say, but I don’t know how to start. This is usually when I can’t solidify my thoughts for one reason or another. This would be one of those times.

So, right in. I’m trying to say that there are some bands I like that could be classified as Christian. I’m in love with none of these bands, except for Pedro the Lion. Conveniently for me, I suppose, the religious overtones of Pedro’s music are of the most subtle nature (originally, I thought the message was critical of religion). He’s passionate about something, and that’s worked for me so far. Other bands, like Jars of Clay, perform pretty good music with heavy Christian lyrics. This turns me off, and I can’t listen for too long.

It works the other way too. Some of the more irritating hard-rock tendencies of Rage Against the Machine (say, Tire Me from Evil Empire) work for me because of the politically agreeable lyrics.

I’m always the first to think that the message is just as important as the music, and you really need to agree with both for everything to be right. So, it feels funny walking around wearing a Pedro the Lion shirt. I get a few questions sometimes, e.g. “wanna come to the bible group tomorrow night?” Hmm. On the other hand, if I was wearing a Rage shirt and someone invited me to a left-wing political meeting, I’d probably be interested. So at what point does it become hypocrisy? Well, I like the music, so who cares.

Which brings me to the larger point: genres. I hate musical genres. I download music all the time, and it’s labeled. You in this group, you in this other group. It just doesn’t work like that. The whole deal with music (the music that I listen to anyway, I hope) is that it’s all unique. Take Dave Matthews Band for example. Jazz? Rock? Folk? Pop? AC? Try Rage — hard Rock, metal, rap, rap-rock, hip-hop, n?-metal? Didn’t they invent that last genre? Who cares. Genres can be useful, mostly to separate very disparate kinds of music (country from classical, let’s say). But beyond that, all this classification seems useless. #