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The Stories Behind The Songs on This Single
Thu., Jul. 13. 2023 10:52pm EDT
J. Jackson, lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX here again.
Here are the stories behind the songs on our 14th single of 2023:
SADDUCEES
Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Sadducees didn't believe in the resurrection .... that's why they were sad, you see?
They also denied the existence of the afterlife, angels, and demons. I've heard preachers point out previously that, although Jesus often rebuked the Pharisees, He still engaged them in conversation, but He didn't waste time with the Sadducees. The most they got out of Him was:
"Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God? When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven. Now about the dead rising —have you not read in the Book of Moses, in the account of the burning bush, how God said to him, 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!" (Mark 12:24-27).
Unfortunately, the Sadducees included people in powerful positions — the high priest, Caiaphas; the chief priests; and the majority of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. Something had to give.
I got the title and idea for "Sadducees" on February 17, 2022, but almost all of the lyrics came to me from June 27-30, 2023. My nephew Nick King played flute on this one. It was his second Marshall Tucker Band parody with us; he'd also done two Jethro Tull parodies. As I told Nick, I'd like to give him more variety, but there aren't a lot of flute-totin' rock bands out there for us to spoof.
JUST A BIG GALOOT/I AIN'T GOT NO BUDDIES
Early in our marriage, Lisa and I rented the movie Girl, Interrupted, starring Wynona Rider and Angelina Jolie. The plot synopsis described Jolie's character as a "lovable sociopath." We thought that was an amusing combination of words. This particular parody portrays Samson as such a person.
Although his life ended tragically, we didn't want to just end our Samsonian rock opera with the double downer of "Someone Shaved My Locks Tonight" and "Enter Samson." We needed what Broadway people call an "11 o'clock number" — a tune that sets the audience's toes a-tappin' and sends them out into the streets singing. Well, here you have it.
After pushing the pillars and literally bringing the house down, Samson tops it off by "breaking the fourth wall" in an effort to convince the audience that he's really just a fun-lovin' guy in need of some friends.
Despite his moral failings, Samson's last recorded words on earth were a prayer (Judges 16:28-30), and he's included among the heroes mentioned in Hebrews 11, the famous "Hall of Faith" chapter in the New Testament. Pay specific attention to verses 32-34 and 39-40.
Moreover, in verse four, a curious statement is made about another one of those heroes: "And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead." Hebrews 12:1 refers to the faithful who have gone on before us as "a great cloud of witnesses." Samson alludes to that near the end of this song when he says, "Gonna see you all over there."
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