Life in a Wooden House

As Coldplay gains more popularity, continues to get compared with U2 and produces amazing albums I began to ask myself what it is about their music that makes me sit in the car long after I have pulled into the driveway and stare into space until I either get cotton mouth or begin to smell the exhaust of my own car coming into the air vents. At least for me, their music has this possessing ability to it - which I think is the defining characteristic for quality music and also a testimony to the overall affection our minds simply have for the strange yet beautiful practice we call music - and as I thought about it I came to the conclusion that Coldplay's music has a haunting simplicity to it. They are able in their lyrics to capture grandiose images and emotions in simple, concise yet lingering statements.

One such statement is found in the song entitled, "We Never Change" and it says,

So I wanna live in a wooden house,
I wanna live life, always be true,
I wanna live life, and be good to you,
I wanna fly, and never come down,
And I live my life, and have friends around.

The melancholy tune of the song adds to the effect but it is the simplicity of the lyrics that I appreciate so much. The author of the song expresses the most basic of desires: to live in a secure dwelling with the one whom he cherishes, surrounded by people who care for him. And I truly believe that in that short unimpressive paragraph Chris Martin sums up a desire which resides in the heart of every man - to live, love, and be loved.

(Click here for discussion on another great Coldplay song - Politik)

In the very first few pages of Scripture, after God has made the world and made Adam He makes a simple yet resonating statement:

It is not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18).

We have been ingrained and created intentionally to need the fellowship of other people, to need the community of friends and lovers. And in a day and in a society that has so heralded the prominence of the individual the words of Chris Martin and more importantly of God are needed now more than ever. As members of a Western, suburban, self-help culture we have been saturated with the doctrines of individuality and led to believe that any need we have for another only evidences weakness in ourselves. But the cry of Scripture is that such a desire and such a need is not weakness but design. That we are a people of whom being alone does not always, but can lead to trouble, temptation, loneliness and despair. We have been created to reach our true identity as an individual only within the confines of community.

And I think it is for this very reason that when it is all said and done, after the music fades and the lights go out, after every one loses the pretense and is honest our deepest longing is that of Chris Martin's - to live in a wooden house (simplicity), to live life and be good to a beloved, and to have friends around (community).

Furthermore, I think it is for this reason that you rarely see bars go out of business and why a bartender can be one of the most liked people in a community. A bar is a place where everybody knows your name and I think people crave and thrive off of that - the bar offers community that so many places, including a lot of churches, simply do not for whatever reason.

I struggle to end this article poignantly, but just am haunted by that lyric and verse. We don't need more money, more technology, faster cars or computers, bigger houses or success - people just need other people to love them, live with them, and be there for them.

We never change, do we?