Having a subscription to Spotify has completely changed the way I listen to music. Obviously, I haven’t bought a CD in a long time and I can stream music from my smartphone, iPad, and/or any internet-connected desktop. In a broader way, it’s allowed me to diversify what I listen to. No longer do I listen to the same album over and over again – like I did with whatever exciting new CD (or cassette tape before that) I bought. Instead, I do much more exploring of genres I like rather than just playing bands or singers with whom I am already familiar.
A still very “Indy” duo I found recently via Spotify is Flannel Graph. According to the rather limited info about them on the web (no Wikipedia page yet – I just checked) it’s a young woman singer and young guy guitar player both of whom are from a small town in Montana. By far their most popular song on Spotify is “Five Foot Three” with about 197,500 plays so far. It’s a cute song about how the singer is “small, but mighty” with a video worth watching.
It seems that while Flannel Graph are not explicitly a Christian band (as this word doesn’t seem to appear anywhere on their home page), biblical stories inform a number of their songs. Their first full album is entitled “Ribs of Adam” and it contains a few songs with clear connections to the Bible. This focus is even more apparent on their 2013 EP “Five Foot Three” which includes a thoughtful reimagining of Psalm 23 entitled Saints Out of Sailors.
The song to know, which I find simultaneously clever, creative and moving, is Apple Pie – a modern adaptation of the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke’s gospel. The lyrics are poetic and the pairing with the playful, folksy melody is inspired.
Apple Pie
by Flannel Graph
I told my dad I didn’t love him anymore
And I grabbed all the cashAnd I ran and slammed the door
And I spent it like
Yea, I spent it like a movie star
Yea, I spent it right
I spent it right in all bars
And I was so hungry
So thirsty
The ladies, they adored me
And the men all wished to be me
They burned with all their jealousy
I had everything that a man like me should buy
And I lived like a King in America with Apple Pie
But my heart was small
And my world was smaller than before
And my fence was tall
To keep out the people who were wanting more
I knew a girl
Oh, Katie was her name
She was quite the whirlwind
And she wanted to state my claim
And she said
Oh baby
Oh maybe
You and me could get married
And we’ll settle down and bury all the warrants in our history
But all the party lights went out
And I was left alone
And the amount of money that I had
Was the amount of love I was shown
And I had nothing
Oh nothing
Yea, I had nothing
Yea, I had nothing
No
But I had something
Oh, I had something
Oh something
Oh, I had something
Oh, I had something
Oh, I had something
Oh, I had something
Somebody
So I gathered up all of my pride
And I hitchhiked to a town where my dignity had died
And he was waiting
Yea, he was waiting
And he ran and kissed me
I love the last line. That’s the heart of the parable, right?
In the spirit of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, I’m planning on playing this for my students when we talk about grace, forgiveness, mercy – especially during the upcoming season of Lent. Perhaps you might as well?
2 thoughts on “A Song and A Band to Know – “Apple Pie” by Flannel Graph”