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The Stories Behind the Songs on Our Ninth Single
Fri., Jun. 18. 2021 6:41pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our ninth single:
CHANGE YOUR TONE
Jeremiah prophesied during the reigns of five kings of Judah — guys we discussed in our parody "Good King." Unfortunately, only the first, Josiah (640-609 B.C), was good. The next four were awful: Jehoahaz (609), Jehoiakim (609-598), Jehoiachin (598-597), and Zedekiah (597-586).
Although he wrote the longest book of the Bible (the most words, not the most chapters), Jeremiah never had the desire to be Top Gun. In fact, when the LORD first called him to be a prophet, he said, "Alas, Sovereign Lord, I do not know how to speak; I am too young" (Jeremiah 1:6).
Nevertheless, most of the people in the land still branded him a maverick, because he wasn't a sycophant to royalty like the false prophets and he rebuked the kings and the people of the land for their ungodly ways.
He even counseled them to surrender to Babylon, the nation that was attacking them, and he advised them to accept God's punishment for their actions and trust in His mercy at the hands of their captors.
Consequently, he frequently found himself in the danger zone, threatened by people who literally wanted to take his breath way (Jeremiah 11:18-23, 18:18-23, 26:7-11, 36:19-26, 38:6-13). We allude to that last passage (38:6-13) in the bridge of this parody, with the line "Jeremiah knows the ropes."
"Change Your Tone" is sort of a prequel to "Lamentations Song." Like "Boy to the World," I could easily see this song being sung by Jeremiah's wingman, Baruch (Jeremiah 32:12-16, 36:4-32, 43:3-6, 45:1-5).
TWO SPIES
"Two Spies" is a prequel to the old ApX parody "Lawful Woman in a Bad Place." Whereas "Lawful Woman" is told in retrospect, "Two Spies" happens in real time. Both are first-person accounts. Let's just say one of the spies is singing "Lawful Woman" and the other is singing "Two Spies."
The Bible lists the names and tribes of all 12 spies in Numbers 13 — even though 10 turned out to be cowards — but doesn't specifically say who the two spies in Joshua 2 were. I've read in numerous places that Jewish tradition identifies them as Phinehas and Caleb.
Since the Bible is silent on the matter, I don't know for sure about that, but I can tell you the line "Midasize" refers to a series of old commercials for Midas mufflers, in which people would hear noisy vehicles and yell, "Midasize it!" In effect, the spies are saying, "Keep it quiet!"
George Elliott played the guitar and two basses (slap bass and fretless) on "Two Spies." There's a lot of bass there; Rich Mannion played a synth bass part, too.
I'm tickled that we can now say we've spoofed songs by Hoobastank, Chumbawamba, and Kajagoogoo. I won't say I was gaga for Googoo, but I did buy the "Two Shy" 45 in '82. ApX has also spoofed two tunes by The Goo Goo Dolls (no relation). Goo goo g'joob!
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