Public Punditry

When I was growing up, my father indoctrinated my siblings and I in the study of his favorite bands and artists like Stevie Wonder, Duran Duran, Peter Gabriel, Van Halen and others. All the previously mentioned musicians are great, incredible even, but none got more David Sanders carplay than U2 and Coldplay.  Riding in the back seat shoulder-to-shoulder on the black cloth seats, my siblings (Abigail, Isaac, and Elijah soon after) and I would sing along to the lyrics of Bono and Chris Martin as if we were on stage with them, instead of just riding back home from school. The car was electric. We would have clapping motions down to the T for Coldplay's "Viva la Vida." Our beloved "Pat Song," otherwise known as U2's "City of Blinding Lights" would start a frenzy. We were the superfans, U2 and Coldplay were the players, and Dad was the DJ. What a life. But as the years went on, I found new bands and artists that would take up greater percentages of my ...

This afternoon, I was re-introduced to one of my favorite albums of 2019, Kanye West’s “Jesus is King.” There is much to say about Mr. West’s high profile political choices, marriage and/or divorce, and creative decisions. I have been a Kanye fan for a while now, and when he said he was a musical genius, I was in full support. But at this time, I’m not going to bore you with a history of Kanye West’s relevance in music history and how he turned the rap game upside down. No, I’m writing about one of my favorite albums of 2019 and a specific song that has brought a new amount of weight and relevance in my Christian walk even today. The song is “Use this Gospel.” Why has this song played an important part in my life? That’s the million-dollar question isn’t it. Some of you may be hoping to hear me rattle off point after point of West’s lyricism. Now, Am I going to walk lyric by lyric exegeting the original language of West’s masterpiece?     No, because all I have to do, after th...