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Sunday 3 October 2010

Science, faith and flamingo

Brandon Flowers (of The Killers) recently spoke about the influence of his faith on his writing. Flowers regularly uses religious references in his lyrics and the new album Flamingo is suffused with religious imagery. In speaking about his latest single 'Crossfire' he said: "[My religion] always comes out, it's inevitable. There's a lot of imagery in the songs... I don't think about it, it's not a real conscious decisive thing that I'm trying to get into the songs; it just creeps its way in. Being a religious person living in Las Vegas, I definitely have been caught in that crossfire."

What Flowers is saying seems to be encapsulated in some lines from the title track of the latest album by The Script:

"Having heavy conversations
About the furthest constellations of our souls
We're just trying to find some meaning
In the things that we believe in"

'Science & Faith' has a chorus with which many people of faith can no doubt identify:

"You won't find faith or hope down a telescope
You won't find heart and soul in the stars
You can break everything down to the chemicals
But you can't explain a love like ours"

These are not songs about faith however, instead what Flowers and The Script do in songs like 'Crossfire' and 'Science and Faith' is to spiritualise the standard rock fare of boy girl relationships. They are therefore reversing the original basis of much rock 'n' roll and soul which saw gospel songs, styles, mannerisms and lyrics being secularised in order to sing about boy/girl relationships rather than love of God.

When this is combined with aging rock stars such as Tom Jones and Robert Plant re-energising and re-invigorating their careers and creativity by tapping into the songs of the American South, with its significant vein of gospel being particularly prominent, plus authentic gospel stars such as Mavis Staples releasing new material and the emo and goth bands with Christian members and themes, then there is much in mainstream music currently to demonstrate the continuing influence of Christian imagery and themes. 

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Brandon Flowers - Magdalena.

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