In finally trying to catch up on what’s going on around me I was digging around in my Bloglines account and found an article about Derek Webb’s new release running into an obstacle allegedly because of the language he uses in the song.
I’ve become a huge fan of Derek’s and absolutely love his razor sharp lyrics in his songs. He doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to addressing challenging issues or topics.
In his latest album he may have gone too far for his label, INO Records, to release to market his newest album.
Here’s a bit from the Patrol Mag website on what’s happening:
Well! Frustrating as it must be for Derek, this may be the best Christian music censorship story we’ve had in a long time. Judging by our inbox, this kind of thing happens on an almost weekly basis in the industry, but leave it to Derek Webb to make all the details public. Not exactly, as his email has next to zero details ("because of various legal/publishing issues"). Apparently most of the controversy surrounds one song, the most important on his most important record, he says. Given the name of his new charity/activism website (not active yet), it’s reasonable to guess that it might be the first Christian song ever to feature the s-word. (Update, May 14: We have confirmed, via someone who has heard the song, that it deals with Christian treatment of gay people, and, sure enough, includes the word "shit.")
As I said, I love Derek’s music, lyrics and his method. I’m still trying to decide if this recent method is over the edge though. Personally I’m not really bothered by it, but I know it might be a stumbling point for others that like his music.
What do you think?
