“Grey in L.A.” by Loudon Wainwright

— Friday, June 3rd, 2011 —
The Cross and the Jukebox

When I sat down to record this episode, it had been pounding, drizzling, or threatening rain for weeks. The greyness and wetness of it all prompted me to spend some time with a song many of you might not be familiar with, “Grey in L.A.” by Loudon Wainwright III (yeah, Rufus’ dad).

The song, about how cloudiness in Los Angeles is preferable to sunshine, seems nonsensical at first. Who could get sick of blue skies? But there’s a deeper question here, about the illusions of happiness and the dark side of every utopia.

Let’s listen to Wainwright’s song, and then reflect on how our artificial vision of happiness can wreck our witness and discipleship.

Download MP3 Audio (10.6 MB)
Tags:

This entry was posted on Friday, June 3rd, 2011 at 10:24 am and is filedunder Blog, The Cross and the Jukebox. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

4 Responses to ““Grey in L.A.” by Loudon Wainwright”

  1. Michael Beck June 3rd, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Dr. Moore, can you pack up some of that rain and send it to South central TX. We’ve only had 2 inches so far this year.

  2. Bob Salee June 4th, 2011 at 1:21 pm

    This week is and excellent Cross and the Jukebox. It is relevant on so many levels. Country music lover or not.

  3. Matt Rawlings June 4th, 2011 at 2:32 pm

    Nice! BTW, I just uploaded a review of “Tempted and Tried” on my blog. Blessings.

  4. Mimi Boheme June 6th, 2011 at 12:52 am

    Awesome to see Loudon Wainwright get some play and even better to have a series on Music & Religion on your blog.

    I wonder if you’ve listened to much Gillian Welch. She sang on Oh Brother, and has albums titled “Revival” and “Soul Journey”. I love “Orphan Girl” off “Hell Among the Yearlings” and “Revelator” off “Time (the Revelator)”.