“This Is Heaven” by Nick Jonas, Saturday, March 6, 2021
Get link
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Chasing Happinessis a documentary telling the story of the ups and downs of the Jonas Brothers' career. Even though I was not a fan of the Disney Channel stars, CH was a telling human story about faith, family, and fame. Debuting in 2006, Kevin, Joe, and Nick took tween girl's hearts by storm. I was, however, within almost the right demographic to completely ignore the band's existence. While I was off at college listening to MGMT and Fleet Foxes, the Jonas Brothers meant a whole lot to the younger millennials. I say almost the perfect demographic because the band gave a lot of press to their Christian upbringing. Some of the Christian publications I read praised the young men as they wore their purity rings and kept a squeaky clean image. But there was a lot more to that story.
IF YOU TOLD ME THAT MY FATE WAS ON YOUR FINGERTIPS, THEN, I WOULDN'T BELIEVE YOU. Last week Nick Jonas hosted and performed two songs on Saturday Night Live. After being introduced by his older brother, Kevin, Nick premiered this late '80s/early '90s song, complete with a saxophone solo. Lyrically this is a love song for his wife, actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas; however, I found the use of religious imagery in this song fascinating and totally on brand of what my blog has become: processing religious trauma. One of the most powerful scenes in Chasing Happiness is when the brother go to visit their home in Wyckoff, New Jersey. The brothers' father was a minister in a small town Assembly's of God church. Their parents did everything they could to help the boys succeed in their musical career, which caused tension between the church and their minister. The brothers had a successful first album only to be dropped by their label, and to make matters worse the church fired their father and evicted them from their family home. The scene in the documentary shows that moment as pivotal in how each one of the brothers started to splinter with Christianity, even if it was still present in their careers.
Nick Jonas posing for Calvin Klein.
YOUR BODY, MY MOTIVATION. After the Jonas Brothers' hiatus starting in 2013, Nick Jonas's career began to blow up. Like many other Disney stars, he stopped making G-rated music, and he also shook off the Christian following. I mentioned the Jonas Brothers last month when I talked about purity culture. The band has talked about these rings a lot because they were asked about them throughout their career. Nick spent his early 20s embracing his role as a sex symbol. Whether it was Calvin Klein ads or shirtless photo shoots, Nick Jonas was no longer the 13-year-old star. In 2018, Nick married Bollywood actress Priyanaka Chopra, and the two have been media darlings since then. As a love song to his wife, "This Is Heaven" focuses on the here-and-now of love, rather than the heaven his father preached about. Instead of focusing on what many believe will be the soon-coming tribulation before the return of Christ, Nick focuses on how every moment in love gets better and better to the point where you can't comprehend it getting any better. And a love ballad with a saxophone solo, how could it get better?
When I was a Christian teenager, a book started circulating in my church youth group. Joshua Harris wrote about youth with wisdom and authority that seemed logical and categorical for every situation to the young women who read I Kissed Dating Goodbye . The book’s thesis argued that dating was a worldly alternative to the more purposeful Christian concept of courtship. Dating fueled erotic passions, which must be saved for a heterosexual marriage. Dating is casual, even preteens dates. Courtship was about vetting a marriage partner and would happen in the late teen years or early adulthood. YOU THINK I'M PRETTY WITHOUT ANY MAKEUP ON . Josh Harris’s I Kissed Dating Goodbye was part of a movement I’ve written about a lot: purity culture. How much this movement influenced young Katy Hudson, a pastor’s daughter in Southern California, touring with a slew of Christian rockers on the heels of her debut, self-titled album , I can only speculate what went through the 17-year-old star’s
On April 8th, people from around the world crowded the path of a rare total solar eclipse that spanned from central Mexico to Newfoundland. The celestial event lasted at most 4 minutes and 28 seconds. In the eclipse's direct path, businesses charged excessive rates for tourists to stay, dine, and enjoy themselves before and after the short main event. Many recall the 2017 total eclipse when then-President Trump looked directly at the sun without protective glasses, leaving experts aghast. As the 2017 and 2024 total solar eclipses were less than seven years apart, why the hype and international travel? While the two solar eclipses happened only seven years apart, the last total eclipse before 2017 in the contiguous fifty states was on March 7, 1970, and the next total solar eclipse after 2024 is not until 2044, but only be visible in the north-midwestern states around sunset. I SEE THE NIGHT SLIPPING OVER. The cosmic phenomenon of the sun being blocked by the sun’s light being block
Capitalizing on the pop-punk sound of the time Tooth & Nail signed Search the City , and they released their first album A Fire So Big the Heavens Can See It in 2008. The band played at Tooth & Nail Day at Cornerstone that year and produced several radio singles from the radio-friendly album. Tongue-in-cheek lyrics in songs like " Son of a Gun " and " Ambulance Chaser " lyrically could connect this Detroit-based band with the likes of a clean-lyriced Blink-182 , Angels or Airwaves , or Relient K . Five years after Fire , the band reformed with a new drummer, bassist, and vocalist, 21-year-old Travis Bobier , who was much younger than the other band members. The 2012 album Flight was very similar to Fire, with Bobier's vocal performance on the album of high-register, energetic emo sound like original singer Josh Frost . YOU HAVE A PLACE TO CALL YOUR OWN THAT NO ONE CAN EVERY TAKE FROM YOU. The opening track of Flight , " My Secrets Have Secr
Comments
Post a Comment