“Maps” by Falling Up, Tuesday, February 7, 2023

 


Today we have another offering from Falling Up’s Captiva, the transitional record between their mainstream Christian Rock career and their dive into pure lyrical experimentation. I believe that “Maps” was one of the last Christian Hit Radio (CHR) singles for the band. Christian Hit Radio was perhaps the least successful Christian music genre. The genre tried to parallel Top 40 pop stations, offering a mix of Christian hip hop, pop, adult contemporary, and rock. One of the best examples of the Christian Hit Radio stations was Air1. While Air1 still around, it now claims to be a “Worship Radio station.”


ONE LAST HOUR BEFORE THIS PLACE IS ON FIRE.  In the early ‘00s, Christian Hit Radio stations, such as Air1, served as a place where listeners could hear the heavier Michael W. Smith and Rebecca St. James songs and the calmer P.O.D. and Anberlin songs. Air1 also played pop stars like early Jonas Brothers and Jordin Sparks as well as publicly Christian general market artists such as The Fray and Daughtry. Unlike the harder station, RadioU, Air1 didn’t do well with the “ambiguously Christian” bands that started springing up in the ‘00s. While the station played four singles from Anberlin’s Blueprints for the Black Market, the station skipped the singles from Never Take Friendship Personal and only played “The Unwinding Cable Car” from Cities, which was the last they played Anberlin. 


THE FURTHER I’M FROM YOU, THE HARDER I TRY TO EXIST. Falling Up’s first record, Crashings, contained three number 1 singles on Air1. I don’t remember Dawn Escapes being a hit on Air1 as it was on RadioU. “Maps” seemed like a last attempt at Christian pop music. The lyrics are vaguely spiritual, possibly interpreted as trying find direction, being led back to God. Falling Up’s lead singer Jessy Ribordy started to steer away from overtly Christian lyrics, with Captiva being the last time mentioning “Jesus” in the lyrics directly. While there were certainly overtly Christian Rock bands after 2007, I think that Captiva serves as a kind of musical divorce from the “Christians Rock band” and “Christians in a band.” The Christian Rock band put their message first, and the sound of the music often suffered and sounded generic. Then the “Christians in a band” started writing more abstract music, sometimes started cursing, and little by little drifted away from the genre of Christian Rock. Of course this is an oversimplification, but 2007 seems like an interesting year on the cusp of a break up.  



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