Month of Music Day 1 Jars of Clay He (Acoustic Version) Drummer Boy Don't try to reach me, I'm already dead The pain when it grips me, for things that I've done Well I try to make you proud, but for crying out loud Just give me a chance to hide away Exhaustion takes over, will this someday be over? [Chorus:] Fearful tears are running down The pain you've laid don't speak a sound Don't take my heart away from me And they think I fell down Daddy, don't you love me? Then why do you hit me? And Momma don't you love me Then why do you hurt me? Well I try to make you proud, but for crying out loud Just give me a chance to hide away Exhaustion takes over, will this someday be over? [Chorus:] A teardrop falls from up in the heavens Drowning the sorrow of angels on high For the least of the helpless, the hopeless, the loveless My Jesus, His children, He holds in His eyes

My Take:

If it wasn't for this song, I wouldn't be a music expert today. This was the first disc that was released nationally for Jars of Clay, and it was a teaser to what was to come when the self-titled debut album was released. But that isn't really why it was so important to me. It was because it was Christian that made it important. The timing on this one is important. Jars of Clay was released in 1995, and it was distributed in the regular shipping channels for music.It doesn't sound like much, but until 1995, and Jars of Clay in particular, anything "religious" was distributed only through Word or other smaller market distribution chains. Because of the popularity of Jars of Clay's Flood, it was played in regular rotation on MTV. People didn't realize they were listening to Christian music (insert your own fundamentalist joke here). People were buying a great album, and were into the positive vibe, and wondering why it was so feel-good. I was watching a friend's TV and say the Flood video, and I had to make sure it was MTV. That's when I got on the Internet (yes, it existed back then, all 15 pages), and found out the story. Since it was being distributed through the same channel as everybody else, they didn't put it in the Christian music section. It was there in-between, um, two bands that started with J. Without knowing that they were all that popular, I bought the CD through my regular outlet, a mail-order service. After eight months (yes, 8), I finally got my back-ordered Jars of Clay CD. It wasn't like I didn't have the chance to get it elsewhere, I just had no idea how popular this disc was. But I wasn't without something from them. Before they found out they were getting Mega-Popular, they signed up to be the opening act for a couple of tours, for PFR, then Michael W. Smith. Looking back, I don't know how blessed I was to catch them both in Mississippi. When they came to Mississippi College, I got their Christmas album, Little Drummer Boy. It came with four songs: Little Drummer Boy, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Little Drummer Boy (Grinch Mix), and He (Acoustic Version). Besides seeing an awesome show with PFR's greatest hits, I got to see Jars young and hungry to please. I wore out the groves on those four songs. Back in the day we couldn't make CDs, so I had to just hit random and listen to the same thing over and over. Luckily, this song was so awesome, that it lasted for the 8 months of waiting to get the whole CD. It was that good. In retrospect, I think I might be overstating the importance of this one song, but it still holds meaning for me, because it was the first.

status: published
lastmod: '2006-10-30T20:47:50.000Z'
author: John Stansbury
cms: wordpress
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  similarterms: jars clay music drummer make back album important chance distributed regular song released christian acoustic version holds disc love found