As we hop on into March and things start hopefully warming up for good, I’ve been enjoying the crispness in the air that we still have. The slight chill allows you to style clothes in layers, which is something I’ve always embraced about a little bit of chill to the air.
“When I need a small reminder
When my legs cannot find the road”
Every once in a while, I like to review songs that capture an analog tape recording type-of-feel to them. There’s something about the sound of analog tape that transports people to the 70’s – a time when some of us had not even been born – but a sound we appreciate as being warm-toned and welcoming. In the 1970s to 1980s, when recording to tape was popular, it was usually to a two inch tape on a reel to reel recorder. When studios utilized this recording process you had to do many of the same processes you would do presently: getting the mics in proper positioning of the talent, arming the track by lining it up where your engineer wanted it to start, etc., but the biggest difference was that it was literally recorded to tape, so cutting precision needed to be exact when editing or else when your engineer goes to line up a track, you may hear a skip in the playback – or worse; your engineer clipped too far into the recording you wanted to keep. Luckily for many studio engineers of today, there has been the advancement in recording technology to the ways of digital recording, which is much more forgiving! However, it also sounds cleaner – unlike recording to tape; a double-edged sword indeed! Unless you happen to have an engineer who has some tricks up their sleeve!
“When all these questions are collected
He brings the answers to my ears because”
This song, which was released in 2017, must’ve had one of those engineers that had one of those tricks up their sleeve! We’re about to dial in to “My God Has A Telephone” by The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY & Aaron Frazer! From the initial start of the song, the analog-feel of the song is prominent. One thing I thought was clever about the lyrics of this song is that they’re full of phone lines -I mean, lines about phones! The lyrics tell the story of someone who is full of questions and in need of a word to help redirect their steps. In the pre-chorus we find out that God is the one to answer Frazers call for the reason being the title of the song!
“My God has a telephone
Hear it ringing in the morning”
In the second verse Frazer sings about how to get on the line with God, even mentioning that God could even “make a deaf man begin to hear”. God can do a lot for us in our lives, but we have to allow God to do His work in our lives. I like how the idea of God having a phone worked with us having to answer God’s call; it’s a choice. We can decide to answer or not; however, that works two ways, as God does not need to answer our call either. Sometimes we only call God when we need a favor or a quick ‘miracle’ performed in our lives, but we forget to build a relationship with God. If someone only reached out to you to do favors for them, imagine how it would make you feel. It is important that our love for God isn’t temporary or only in hopes to get something out of it, but that it is purely genuine and of our own choice. Let’s be honest, even when we give what we feel is adequate for God in our lives, He still won’t answer every call! If that love we have for God is genuine then our hearts will be able to understand that sometimes our plan or timing may not align with God’s, and just maybe, that’ll be in our favor too!
“It may be long-distance
But you know there ain’t no fee
Only takes just persistence
And He’s on the line with me”
One last note I wanted to point out in this song is that the idea of God having a telephone works with us reaching out to God and us being able to answer God’s call. However it does miss out on the omnipresence of God; which is God being in all places, at all times, always. God’s Holy Mighty-ness can’t really be confined to a phone – no matter which brand! God’s presence can be much closer to us than what would make a phone necessary, but we still need to foster that loving
relationship between us and God.
“Whether spring or fall, I hear His call
To put my faith over fear”
At the end of this month we’ll also be celebrating Easter, which is a little earlier than expected! I hope you have a great month of March, and hopefully you think of this song next time your teacher catches you on your phone in class!
References:
“The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY | Music Gateway.” MusicGateway.Com. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.
LourdesWasTaken. “The Flying Stars of Brooklyn NY – My God Has a Telephone.” Genius, 20 Oct. 2017. Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.
“Tape Recorder.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Feb. 2024 . Accessed 28 Feb. 2024.