The sifting through weak songs may not be worth fighting for
Posted December 24, 2008
By Nathan,
Martin Luther King Jr. once said: "If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live". That phrase is the one that drives the title of Warren Barfield’s latest album Worth Fighting For his third studio release, but the real theme of the album is Barfields statement "True Christianity is about being Christ to others,".
Leading the way for Worth Fighting for is anthem for the album, “love is not a fight”, a guitar driven ballad, which was used in the film Fireproof that projects a strong adult contemporary album. What lies behind the emotional vocals and inspirational beat is a dull and almost joyless album. For those who would argue the joyless point and state that the album has many upbeat song would be correct, however few songs leave any lasting impression except for the daring the “singer not the song” and the “the one thing”.
It apparently is difficult to keep success moving from song to song since “drop the world” sorely lacked the music and inspiration of the title track and “As it is in heaven” is rather generic with its lyrics and the twangy music. The hooks and riffs just do not stand out on the light pop song “Say it with your life”, and “reflect you” lacks the distinction between other light rock/pop tunes on the album. Kudos to Barfield for giving “I belong to you” a little something extra to save the cliché worship song.
The lyrics also excel in simplicity as Barfield’s messages mostly dwell on milk as shown on “the one thing” where the theme is simply ‘That your love is the one thing that I can’t run out of’. “this road” and “say it with your life” both offer insights to walking the Christian faith but the complexity is low with lines like: ‘On this road together leaving the past in a cloud of smoke/Headed on to forever as we follow the One who knows this road’. Most of the album follows suit and it would be easy to cross Worth Fighting For as merely a feel good album.
But that’s not true. While “love is not a fight” is directed at marriages and not jumping ship at the time of trouble (If we try to leave; /May God send angels to guard the door /No, Love is not a fight /but its something worth fighting for’) it would be folly to divide it into one category. “The singer not the song” offers some good insights and asks good questions (“we have abused grace and reduced grace to a tune… we have mad worship cheap… Maybe worship is more about reaching out than reaching up.”) but Barfield doesn’t elaborate much farther.
With Strong albums by Big Daddy Weave, Downhere, and Jeremy Camp it’s unlikely that Worth Fighting For will be among the top favorite of the year, though “love is not a fight” will be. So is that where getting Warren Barfields album comes down too? One song? Well since there are two different versions of the song it’s likely that “love is not a fight” will be the only thing worth remembering here.
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