Through a strange series of events today I wound up with a copy of a sampler disc for Christian band Apologetix. Normally I’m not exactly a member of the core target market for Christian music, but Apologetix has a clever gimmick — they do Christian parodies of hit pop songs.
I’d say they’re a lot like an evangelical Christian version of Weird Al Yankovic, but the production values and song writing aren’t quite that high. A better description is that this is Christian filk.
The style of music is all over the place from parodies of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence” which becomes “Paul and Silas” to “Enter Sampson”, a takeoff on Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
Some of the songs are genuinely clever; many of them are outright groaners. Just like filk. But it’s still much more interesting even at its worst than much of the prefab safe music it parodies.
The group’s website is also a blast. I imagine, for example, that few bands have to include the following on their website faq,
Is the ApologetiX logo a pagan symbol?
Sometimes people inquire about the Trinity symbol we often use, which is prominently displayed on the cover of our “Jesus Christ Morningstar” CD and seen elsewhere on our CDs, t-shirts and other materials.
That symbol is called the “Triquetra” and has long been a symbol of the Trinity — a foundational doctrine of Christianity. That is the main reason we chose this symbol; it reminds us of the Trinity and the deity of Jesus Christ.
The Triquetra is actually printed on the spine of all New King James Version (NKJV) Bibles, and you can also find it in the architecture and stained glass windows of many historical churches. Although that symbol may have had Celtic origins as some New Agers claim, it was assimilated and converted to Christianity in Great Britain about 1000 years ago, in the early 1100’s, and has been primarily a symbol of the Trinity for the last 800 years. In a similar way that the feast days that became Christmas and Easter were originally assimilated and converted from pagan rituals so they now celebrate the birth and bodily resurrection of Christ.
Though it may have been “borrowed” by others, to us and to the church of the last 1,000 years, the Triquetra symbolizes the divine mystery of the Trinity — one God in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Translation: of course it is a pagan symbol, but we’ll pretend it isn’t anyway!
Or this mini-essay on whether or not Christian parodies of pop songs are evil,
Is Christian rock music evil?
We get asked this question frequently, and since our name “ApologetiX” comes from the word “apologetics” which means to give a Christian defense (with gentleness and respect), we had better have an answer!
As a band, we realize that rock and roll is a very powerful tool and can be used for good or evil — just as a gun can be used to enforce or break the law. The Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from God, and I’m sure we agree that music belonged to God before Satan altered it for his purposes.
. . .As the lyricist for our songs, I know without a doubt that our parodies are a gift from God. I realize that they are not products of my own talents or imagination, but come from Him.
Man, I gotta go to a concert with these guys.