Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel a Lot Better
One of the best musicians and songwriters you've never heard of is Steve Taylor, a Christian recording artist who had his heyday in the late 1980's. During the years before indie rock and iTunes, when 'Christian music' meant K-Love-style crooning, Taylor was a counter-cultural fly-in-the-ointment. His specialty was using his considerable lyrical genius to satirically lambaste the Christian subculture. As such, he was frequently misunderstood by well-meaning Christians who just didn't get the joke. For instance, in 1987 he wrote a song called "I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good," written from the perspective of an abortion-clinic bomber who thought he was doing God's will. Taylor's point was to cleverly show how ludicrous such thinking was; but some Christian bookstores interpreted the song as endorsing violence and pulled the album from the shelves. (Evangelicals have never been quite at home with satire).Reflecting on Psalm 89, a Psalm written to lament God's absence, I asked, "What do we tend to do, instead of engaging with God in the midst of rejection and abandonment?" Answer: we give up hope. Taylor wrote a song about that, with college philosophy professors as his whipping boys:"Since I Gave Up Hope I Feel a Lot Better" - Steve Taylor - from the album I Predict 1990Enter the young idealistChasing dragons to slayExit the hustlerPacking up his M.B.A.Freshmen scream in a classroomWas there a sound?First degree in the vacuumI'm on college groundTook a class, big funModern ethics 101First day learned whyEthics really don't applyProf says, "One traitTakes us to a higher stateDrug free, pure blissGet your pencils, copy this"
"Life unwinds like a cheap sweaterBut since I gave up hope I feel a lot betterAnd the truth gets blurred like a wet letterBut since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"
Top of the class sits ErnestHe was brightest and bestTill the professor lured himTo the hopeless nestNow he lives for the shortcutLike a citizen shouldTells the class with a wink"Only the young die good"He says, "Ideals? UncouthFatalism needs youthEat well, floss rightKeep the hungry out of sightSave face--nip and tuckPraise yourself and pass the buckAnd don't forget the best adviceEverybody's got a price”
"Life unwinds like a cheap sweaterBut since I gave up hope I feel a lot betterAnd the truth gets blurred like a wet letterBut since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"
"While the world winds down to a final prayerNothing soothes quicker than complete despairI predict by dinner I won't even careSince I gave up hope I feel a lot better"
Nazis plead in a courtroom"Pardon me, boys"Profits fall in a boardroomDid they make a noise?Someone spreads an afflictionCompany's niceSomeone sells an addictionPuts your soul on iceHalf wits knock headsCandidates in double bedsGood guys defect"I can't precisely recollect"Teacher's pet theory's fineIf you're born without a spineCan't you spell wrong?Sing it to him Papa John
"While the world winds down to a final prayerNothing soothes quicker than complete despairI predict by dinner I won't even careSince I gave up hope I feel a lot better"
"Life unwinds like a cheap sweaterBut since I gave up hope I feel a lot betterAnd the truth gets blurred like a wet letterBut since I gave up hope I feel a lot better"