I love the Chatham Rabbits’ new album. While I am not a music critic, I recognize the lyrical brilliance of Sarah and Austin McCombie.

As the album title, “Be Real with Me,” suggests, these songs explore authentic emotions. Authenticity often entails vulnerability. The first track, “Facing 29,” addresses the theme of becoming an adult, the age of 29 being described as “the last year of our youth.” Clearly, these songwriters are millennials.

While age may serve as an arbitrary measure of maturity, many of the subsequent songs highlight the complexity and tension inherent in life’s transitions. “Collateral Damage” begins with the striking and profound paradox, “I want my freedom / I want a baby.” The apparent contradiction of a profound truth may, in fact, reveal another profound truth.

(photo via chathamrabbits.com)

“Did I Really Know Him” suggests that we are all strangers, even to ourselves. Like the singer, one might know whom you love and what you are most proud of, yet still feel like an imposter when gazing into the mirror. The depth of this truth is far older than the millennial generation: “For now we see as through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). We know ourselves, including our desires and motivations, only in part.

I’m a pastor, which means I often find myself making connections between modern art and ancient texts—call it an occupational hazard. I do not mean to insinuate that the Chatham Rabbits are evangelistic; rather, I believe they tap into the spiritual wells of truth that emerge when vulnerability fosters community through empathy. What we can know of one another, we learn through open, honest sharing.

“Be Real with Me” grapples with fundamental spiritual struggles related to vocation and identity. Like all great writers, these talented lyricists understand that to glimpse the universal, even if only faintly, such revelations must emerge from the particular—a little big moment. “One Little Orange” tells the story of Sarah McCombie’s grandfather, whose larger-than-life personality was known to her only by reputation, as he died from addiction when she was very young. She holds onto one core memory of sharing an orange with him. In the hands of a lesser writer, this narrative could easily become saccharine or trite. However, the lyrics are nourishing: “That one little orange has fed me forever.”

Likewise, much of the material on this album prompts me to reflect on my impact on others and how people have influenced my life in small, delicious ways through simple and profound connections. Such memories are like a tiny mustard seed that grows and flourishes until the birds of the air find shelter in its branches (Luke 13:18–19). If that sounds too preachy, listen to the Chatham Rabbits. As any preacher knows, music moves our hearts, even more than words.

Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of the book with Wipf and Stock Publishers titled This Is the Day: A Year of Observing Unofficial Holidays about Ampersands, Bobbleheads, Buttons, Cousins, Hairball Awareness, Humbugs, Serendipity, Star Wars, Teenagers, Tenderness, Walking to School, Yo-Yos, and More. He lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina where he is a student of joy.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.

 

Related Stories
None