For the last couple weeks at my church, we’ve been having an unofficial sermon series. I call it unofficial, because it’s only been in my head. However, the title of this imaginary series has been “Led Zeppelin Sucks.” It’s been quite controversial, but hey, I’m a renegade. (Not to back pedal, but I could listen to “Fool in the Rain” all day long. But when Robert Plant starts the whine, he sounds like Caillou backed by a blues band. And no matter how you slice it, Caillou’s annoying.)
However, I know you can only talk about what you’re against for so long. At some point, you need to talk about what you stand for. So I thought I should do just that and give some time to the greatest rock and roll band of all time.
AC/DC!
That’s right. The boys from down under who have been bringing it and bringing it hard for the last 40 years.
What makes these guys so awesome? Let me tell you. They have been recording the same album over and over again for four decades, and it rocks harder every time.
They sound great like this. They sound great introducing the Blackhawks. Hell, they even rock bluegrass! And if that’s not enough, they even made a Stephen King movie about homicidal semi trucks kind of cool. Kind of.
Remember when they did that duet with Taylor Swift? Darn right you don’t! Have fond memories of slow dancing with your prom date to an AC/DC power ballad? No, you don’t. Because there isn’t one!
Now, you could argue that they’re one dimensional, afraid to branch out and experiment. You could argue that if you wanted to be wrong. Because here’s what’s right. They know who they are, and they know who they’re not. Instead of worrying about thinking outside the box, they have built a box that is strong enough to still be rocking long after you and I are tapping our velcro Rockports and humming along with Aerosmith in the elevator on our way to the Doctor’s office.
AC/DC knows who they are, and they are AWESOME!
Here’s the thing: God created you to be you. Not to be the person next to you, not the person you are always comparing yourself to. Not the person you think has everything you don’t or has it all figured out. If God meant for you to be them you would be.
God created you to be you. So don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. Be you. Know who you are and then bring all the heavy metal, hard rocking intensity you can to that.
Do that, and I salute you!
Patrick Day 
Caillou definitely sucks!! Actually forbade my kids from watching him!! Too much whining. He actually made good points at the end but my kids never got there bc they got sucked up by the whining..
Martha Zeeman President, Spirit of 67 Foundation http://www.spiritof67foundation.org Proud Supporter of Caring For Cambodia http://www.caringforcambodia.org
Agreed about Caillou!
Love the post Patrick.
Side bar: Phil Rudd is staring at possible jail time for death threats he made. Might be on his own highway to hell….
And Malcom had to retire, suffering from dementia. They recruited their nephew to take his place, but even that cat is 53 years old.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tGCkmEFed5w
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tGCkmEFed5w
You nailed it. I never let my kids watch Caillou because I told them that we don’t support whiny punks. And I’m not sure I’ve read a more fitting tribute to AC/DC. Gonna have to rock out a little later today.
On a more personal note, I was watching our beloved Deacs take on UNCW in a men’s charity soccer game last weekend when I ran into some alumni from our years there, one of them being Jenna Freuktinexhdeh (never could spell or even pronounce her name, but you know who I’m talking about – red head, SOPH, really cool girl).
Anyway, we were catching up on where we are now and where we’ve been and, or course, there were lots of “Hey, whatever happened to _________________?” questions. When I told her that I was now a pastor, she mentioned your name and wanted to know if I knew that you were too. I acknowledged that I did and then we all chuckled about the Pat from our WFU days. Brother, you were and are an original, even though I am sure you are fully other in public more ow than you were then. Grateful for you and your love for the Lord.
Jenn says hey.
Oh, and I’ll never wear Velcro shoes. Ever.
Freuchtenicht
Agree about AC/DC and another group like that is ZZ Top – they are what they are and it is impossible to drive a car while listening to them without the right foot steadily increasing the pressure on the accelerator!
I think that I would debate you on the use of the phrase “think outside the box” here; I believe that a better phrase would be “don’t try to reinvent yourself” – just be who you are. Thinking outside the box is what leads us to grow, discover new things, and test our limitations. Reinventing yourself is just applying a veneer on one’s self – something that politicians just love to do. AC/DC never did that; ZZ Top never did that; Chicago did when they were forced to become a “ballad band” by their record company and in interviews Robert Lamm has said that they despised themselves for what they had made to be – it was not who they were. Who cannot say that Dialogue (Part I & II) wasn’t one of the hardest-hitting commentaries on the human condition back in the early 70s.
Now, on a much more serious note – I saw the video of Thunderstruck. I think that we should do that – I can play the spoons and I know that you have an accordion. Or if we really want to be avant garde, we can find someone else to play the spoons and I can introduce my hammer dulcimer into the arrangement!!