“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer, Monday, February 27, 2023

In 1997 Christian Rock band Sixpence None the Richer released their third, self-titled record. Founded by singer Leigh Nash and guitarist/songwriter Matt Slocum, the band took their name from C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity from an anecdote in which a child buys his mother a gift from his allowance. Lewis said that the mother was sixpence none the richer. The band signed with Christian Rock legend Steve Taylor's record label Squint Entertainment to release the band's runaway successful third record. The record two inescapable singles, "Kiss Me" and a cover of The La's' "There She Goes." 

KISS ME UNDER THE BEARDED BARLEY. Last year, Good Christian Fun talked about the legacy of Steve Taylor. In the '80s Taylor was for his radical songwriting that occasionally got him banned from both mainstream and Christian retailers. His songs often call out the hypocrisies in evangelical culture, using satire on songs like "I Blew Up the Clinic Real Good" pointing out the irony of pro-life Christian terrorists preventing abortions by killing the doctors who provide them but also the mothers and unborn children he was believes the government has the right to save. Of course, Taylor was no hero of the left. Songs like "Whatever Happened to Sin?" and his song and video for "Meltdown" featuring The Facts of Life's actress Lisa Welchel, show that Taylor is unflinching in his traditional theology. The latter song is a not-so-subtle theological statement of how everyone is condemned to hell unless saved by Jesus Christ. In the '90s, Taylor wasn't concerned about updating his personal musical styles to stay relevant. Rather, he began investing in other artists. He wrote some of the more bizarre Newsboys tracks on Take Me to Your Leader. Squint Entertainment kickstarted some big names in Christian music including Waterdeep and Burlap to Cashmere. 

LEAD ME OUT ON THE MOONLIT FLOOR. But Christian music wasn't the biggest thing to come out of Squint Entertainment. In 1999 two morbid music videos aired on TVU by a band called Chevelle. After signing with Sony, the band lost their connection with the Christian Rock scene. However, the label's other success story, Sixpence None the Richer put the band in the spotlight as a faith-based pop group. "Kiss Me" reached #2 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1999 partly due to its inclusion on the film She's All That. And while you couldn't hear the song on most Christian radio stations, Sixpence None the Richer appeared on many CCM compilation albums, singing original songs which charted on Christian radio. The band's impact on Christian radio continued even after mainstream success dried up. "Kiss Me" is a timeless acoustic ballad in the style of a French Riviera tune. There's nothing particularly risqué about the lyrics, but certainly non-church kids were shocked when youth group hipsters informed them that they were in fact listening to a Christian band. If only they would just listen to their other songs on the Streams compilation or City on the Hill records! You might get that spirituality from the parent album, but I haven't been able to make it through. It's one of those turn of the millennium records that feel like they were constructed to pad the single and have little purpose on its own. Anyway, spring is just around the corner. Romance is in the air. How about a spring walk?
 
 


She's All That scene:



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