Some Christmas songs are really suitable for listening year round. One from this season that I recommend is Jason Harrod's "Out In the Fields," from his Christmas EP of the same title. As the EP dropped December 18th and is an digital only, indie release, you may have missed it unless you are a Harrod fan. While the EP is an enjoyable and fresh mix of hymns and carols, such as "Angels From the Realms of Glory" featuring some buoyant trombone playing, and this one original tune, it's worth picking up just for latter, which will join my Christmas play list for years to come.
"Out of the Fields" has several memorable lines, built around questions by a faith-challenged, melancholic narrator, but the bit that seems at its center is this:
O Lord Invisible where are you hiding?
Where do you burn and whose way do you light?
Out in the fields we are watching and waiting
We need a Redeemer to come make us right
Or even this earlier re-phrasing of it:
Light inaccessible where are you shining?
Where do you burn and whose face do you warm?
Out in the fields we are ready for finding ---
smoldering stars waiting to be reborn
The song contains a longing not for just the coming of a Jesus who can remake us and make all things right. I like the questions, which are not unlike those the Psalmist asked. I like the honesty of the narrator, riven by doubt and faithlessness. And I like the hope, driven home by a driving electric end where the instruments cry the inarticulable. I'll play it all year.
You'll find it here.
Recent Comments