Politics in “Christian” Songs: Part II

Last post, I began writing about “Christian” bands who address political and social issues in their music. They go against, in many ways, the Contemporary Christian Music which wants squeaky clean songs that don’t challenge the status-quo. Squad Five-O’s “Our State Flag” and Five Iron Frenzy’s “Zen and the Art of Xenophobia” challenge the church’s positions. Today, I want to continue this discussion by looking at two songs from Stavesacre’s How to Live With A Curse (2006), songs that over the course of the past few years, have really resonated with me during our current political moment.

Stavesacre “We Say” and “Future History of the Broken Hearted” (2006)

I’ve always been a fan of Stavesacre, ever since I first heard Friction (1996), for various reasons. Songs like “At the Moment,” “Burning Clean,” “Wither/Ascend” stood out to me as worship songs, similar in ways to Five Iron Frenzy’s “A Flowery Song.” For me, Stavesacre’s music focused on the spiritual and existential, not really delving into social commentary or politics. However, over the past few years, I have returned, again and again, to two songs from their fourth album, How To Live With A Curse. “Future History of the Broken Hearted” and “We Say” both stand out because they address, not as directly as Five Iron Frenzy’s or Squad Five-O’s songs that I discussed in the last post, politics and…