*Today I traveled to Kansas City. As I looked through my stack of random CDs to take on the road with me, I came across the first album I ever owned: Relient K's "Mmhmm." Needless to say, nostalgia took me over and I ended up listening to the entire album three times. Though I've remained a Relient K fan over the years, it's been a long time since I've dug into the meaning behind their lyrics and the significance of the instrumentals. It's amazing to me how different songs are when you're 21 compared to the first time you hear them when you're 10. Needless to say, the experience became overwhelming enough that I just had to write about it.
Struggle: the essential ingredient for any compelling story. However, it's not simply the presence of struggle within a story that creates a memorable experience, but the author's ability to articulate the extent of its impact. In my opinion, the best way to make an audience feel the emotions of these struggles is through the heavy hits, pounding beats, and distorted effects of punk rock. However, when this struggle becomes tangled with our spiritual wrestling matches with God, the music gets really interesting.
That's exactly what Matt Hoopes and Matt Thiessen of Relient K did with their fourth album, "Mmhmm" released in 2004. Though it wasn't their first time to incorporate theological views into their music, the lyrics and music took a sharp turn from their previous light-hearted work. What went from hilarious songs like "Sadie Hawkin's Dance" and "Mood Rings" quickly turned into deep songs like "Who I am Hates Who I've Been", "I So Hate Consequences", and their most popular song "Be My Escape".
It's obvious that both Matts went through struggling times in their personal lives, which rubbed off into their spiritual beings and into their lyricism. However, rather than gloss over their struggles and produce for the market of contemporary Christian rock, they wrote authentic pieces that embodied their struggles and inner demons that manifested during the inevitable difficult times of our lives. They embraced the common struggles that so many people face, instead of trying to cover it up. However, they did all of this while maintaining hope and faith in a future where all the puzzle pieces would be brought back together.
This resulted in an album that embodies to me what it means to live with God at the center of our lives. They aren't in an endless cycle of naive praise, but are facing the reality that, sometimes, we all slip up. We lose sight of who we are and who we want to be. However, there is always a sense of inner peace and forgiveness to be found despite our shortcomings.
Here are three specific things that stand out to me about the album:
3. Matt Thiessen's voice.
It's no secret that lead vocalists are the most instrumental aspects of giving a band their sound. Thiessen doesn't just give Relient K their sound, but adds a level of trust and authenticity into their lyrics. Check out this interview with him, he's just a simple and genuine guy, which allows audiences to both sympathize and relate with him. Thiessen translates meaning and significance through his gifted, yet simple, voice. Also, there are rumors that he dated Katy Perry before she was famous, so that's pretty cool!
2. Incredibly gifted musicianship.
While it's true that punk rock requires minimal skill compared to the technicality required from other genres, Matt Hoopes' ability to spice up simple chord progressions and guitar riffs gives this band its distinct sound in the replaceable sea of pop-punk artists. Any of their singles from this album exemplify this, but I especially like the hooks from "More Than Useless" and "This Week the Trend". Nicely done, Hoopes, nicely done! Additionally, Relient K is great about adding some gnarly harmonies and unique instruments including a banjo and gong. Lastly and most importantly, the instruments play a vital role in translating the emotions of the artists. Many songs start really dense with heavy distortions as Thiessen confesses his anger and frustration. However, it then transitions into slower acoustic endings that follow the same chord progression, which reveals their searching for acceptance and understanding despite the initial pain. There's an old rule of thumb that states "show, don't tell" when writing any piece of literature. Relient K does this perfectly.
1. Meaningful Lyrics
As I've stated above, the combination of punk hooks and theological tie ins makes this album unique. With its punk foundation, the lyrics are then vessels for the search of greater understanding. In other words, the rhythms and melodies draw you in, but the lyrics take you for a ride. Rather than explain them anymore, here are a couple examples of simultaneous faith and struggle manifestations:
"Opinions are immunity to being told you're wrong
Paper, rock, and scissors
They all have their pros and cons"
"and this week the trend
was to borrow all the strength that you could lend
to keep my head above the water and not descend
back to where I said I'd never go again"
"Something tells me that this is going to make sense
Something tells me it's going to take patience
Something tells me that this will all work out in the end"
"I heard the reverberating footsteps
Syncing up to the beating of my heart,
And I was positive that unless I got myself together,
I would watch me fall apart."
"And you said I know that this will hurt
But if I don't break your heart then things will just get worse
If the burden seems too much to bear
Remember
The end will justify the pain it took to get us there"
"And today I will trust you with the confidence
Of a man who's never known defeat
And I'll try my best to just forget
That that man isn't me"
"what happened to us
I heard that it's me we should blame
what happened to us
why didn't you stop me from turning out this way
and know that I don't hate you
and know that I don't want to fight you
and know that I'll always love you
but right now I just don't..."
"When I got tired of running from you
I stopped right there to catch my breath
There your words they caught my ears
You said, "I miss you son. Come home"
And my sins, they watched me leave
And in my heart I so believed
The love you felt for me was more than
The love I'd wished for all this time
And when the doors were closed
I heard no I told so's
I said the words I knew you knew
Oh God, Oh God I needed you
God all this time I needed you, I needed you"
Thank you for taking the time to read this article! I really appreciate it :)
