The Script's "Science & Faith"

 

In Lecture 7 when we were discussing Christianity and music, Professor Harris spoke about three different types of Christian bands:

1. separationists

2. intergrationists

3. transformationists

Last month I bought The Script's (an Irish alternative rock band) album Science & Faith. I had never identified The Script as a Christian band. Their first album did not have any religious undertones. The Script skyrocketed into success after their single We Cry became a hit on the UK Singles Chart and their first album The Script became a multi-platinum hit. They've had many hit singles since.

When asked about the inspiration behind the album Science & Faith, vocalist Danny O'Donoghue mentioned the economic crisis in Ireland and called it "a microcosm for the rest of the world" and that people being stripped of everything that they own inspired the album . He went on to say, "we're dealing with complex emotions in the simplest of ways, that's we we battle with in these songs." He also notes that although the album may seem bleak at first, it's an album about optimism and that the album is about how "no matter how bad things get, you always pick yourself up and carry on."

Though the majority of the songs on the album do not seem to have religious or Christian undertones, the songs You Won't Feel A Thing and Science & Faith really evoke religious themes. Some of the lyrics of You Won't Feel A Thing are:

"I've been kicked right down
I've been spat in the face
I've been pulled, weighed down
To the lowest place
I've been lied to, shamed
I have been disgraced
Been ex-communicated from every holy place
I've been beat up and robbed
I've been left for dead
For the way I look
For the things I said."

Some lyrics of Science & Faith have even stronger religious undertones to them. For example:

"As I watched her growing weary
I pulled her apart
Having heavy conversations
About the furthest constellations of our souls, oh
We're just trying to find some meaning
In the things that we believe in
But we got some ways to go.
Of all of the things that she's ever said
She goes and says something that just knocks me dead.

You won't find faith or hope down a telescope
You won't find heart and soul in the stars
You can break everything down to chemicals
But you can't explain a love like ours."

*---*

In regards to the three different types of Christian bands, I would definitely categorize The Script as integrationist. Though they've never out-right listed religion as inspiration for their music, the lyrics in their latest album hint at religion and spirituality. I speculate that now they have established themselves as a popular, successful band they are more comfortable with having songs and lyrics that express their spirituality and how faith in today's society can be a tough thing to maintain. As I noted in my blog entry about Switchfoot, I think many lyrics with religious undertones can still be relate-able to people of all faiths as they can be interpreted as simply spiritual or motivational. I feel the same way about The Script's lyrics. One thing I really liked about Science & Faith is how relevant it is to the society we live in today and how it is easy to get lost and distracted by consumerism, and how easy it is to feel like an outsider. I found much comfort in the songs You Won't Feel A Thing and Science & Faith. As I've said, I find them really relevant to the world we live in and I like how such a mainstream band has included songs with more depth and spirituality than most pop songs.

I  don't think it's necessary for a band to explicitly say which faith they belong to, and I think bands should have the freedom to sing about whatever they want without worrying about having to appeal to a certain target audience or being labelled as a Christian band, Jewish band, and so forth. I agree with Professor Harris' notion that "it's a faith, not a genre"--- music shouldn't be written for particular groups of people, but for everyone...it should be about the music itself, not the religion tied to it.