Today is “Discernment in Music” (DiM) day here at Faithful Stewardship (2 Corinthians 10:4-6 (ESV)).
February 13, 2015. You don’t want to hear this song, watch this video, or read its lyrics. I haven’t heard it on the radio, and I cannot find it on any of the charts I frequent (speaking of which, I’m clearly not checking the most relevant charts based on what won a Grammy).
My wife volunteered at the local Winter Jam concert. She only really got to see/hear Jeremy Camp’s segment, and was happy to report that in between songs he held up a Bible and declared to the large crowed that God’s Word is the only source of Truth, that His Word is the standard. I smiled as she shared that with me because we recently reviewed his song “He Knows” and it was pretty good.
However, there was one band that kept singing “crank it like a chain saw” and they were doing a chainsaw dance motion. While my wife was trying to figure out what the song was about, she over heard one of the other volunteers say, “I hope Jesus is in this place”. So we looked it up. ::sigh::
Music Videos
Lyrics (via SongLyrics.com)
Family Force 5 – Chainsaw [feat. Tedashii] Lyrics
Artist: Family Force 5
Album: ReanimatedYeah, they like the way I do this
When I crank it like a (chainsaw)
Yeah, they like the way I do this
When I crank it like a (chainsaw)
Full throttle heavy metal
Set the bar next level
Wasteland gettin’ all danky
Soul Glow (chainsaw)
Let it go with them elbows back
Engine smokin’ like this track
Shirt’s soakin’ from all this sweat
Catch my breath (chainsaw)Now hear me roar
I’m an apex predator
From the sycamores, let’s get skeletor (Chainsaw)
Watch and learn, watch and learn
Get that thang crankin’ baby, slash slash burnBows to the knees yeah crank it like a chainsaw
Crank it crank it crank it back
Crank it like a chain, crank it like a chainsawFresh flannel shirt, country bumpkin
Lumberjackin your moves, a.k.a. Paul Bunyan
Run yun yun-yun-yun yun-yun-yun yun-yun
I make it run I make it run I make it run run (Chainsaw)
Drop it drop it drop it down low
Chop it chop chop it chop, here we here we go
Teeth so sharp that they’re callin’ me Jaws
I’m your boss, baby, crank it like a chainsawChained out, head hunter
Cyberpunk yeah I’m a blade runner
Turned up automatic
Full tank, you ain’t gotta think about it (chainsaw)
Drop it drop it drop it down low
Chop it chop chop it chop, here we here we go
Vroom vroom and you know it’s goin’ off
I’m yellin’ timber, crank it like a (chainsaw)
Positive Elements
None. This song is stupid even by secular standards. In many ways, the video reminded me of a Weird Al Yankovic parody… only the object of this parody is the Christian music scene.
Concerns
The Christian youth will gravitate toward this nonsense. You want to know why we (the Church) lose so many of our youth before they leave High School? Mislabeling garbage like this as “Christian” or claiming it is even remotely God-honoring sets our youth up for false teaching and false doctrine.
Conclusion
Please help me find better charts/lists of emerging music passing itself (or being labeled) as Christian music. If this is getting threaded into major Christian concert events, we may need to increase our DiM coverage. Please help. Also, talk to your kids about what they watch and what they hear. Teach your children discernment. Pray for our youth, and pray for the Christian Music Industry.
To God be the glory, Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge
Faithful Stewardship 
is this Christian or Christian doing a secular cover. I have not problem with the later, a step above soldier boy, if it the former (face-palm) we got big problems.
That is indeed the question. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. God Bless.
I know you wrote this blog over a year ago, but I just stumbled across it because I just stumbled across the video. I seem to be missing the problem with the song, other than you think it’s a stupid song. The song is not non-Christian, it’s just not explicitly Christian. It’s a silly song. Maybe you like it, maybe you don’t, but I’m not sure how this would lead someone astray from Christianity.
The problem is in calling this a Christian song, or letting people assume its a Christian song simply because it’s playing on a CCM radio station or a feature in a CCM Concert like WinterJam. Yes, it’s a stupid song, and sometimes it is fun to just listen to something stupid. Our DiM series isn’t about whether a song is evil; rather, it is about whether a song conveys a Christian message. This one doesn’t. There is no middle-ground between not being Christian and not being “explicitly Christian”. Christianity is a narrow path, there are no shoulders on the road. If the message isn’t explicitly Christian, it is a secular/human message.
The comment about our kids being led astray was pointed more to our loose standards for what we are willing to baptize as “Christian”. Does this one stupid song run the risk of tossing a child into apostacy? I don’t think so. But if we keep labeling things “Christian” that aren’t, we are derelict in our duties as parents to teach our children sound doctrine and Biblical discernment. That was the point. This was the shortest DiM review I’ve written thus far.
Thank you for your response. I do understand where you’re going with your statement and I agree that we shouldn’t label it as “Christian”. The Christian label, sometimes is too narrow in my opinion. Family Force 5 is a band of people who claim to be Christian, and while not many of their songs discuss their faith, that shouldn’t diminish what they offer nor prevent them from playing their music at a Christian festival such as Winter Jam. Their music may not be explicitly Christian, but it is clean and that’s something worth offering to kids who may be turned off by something more explicitly Christian, like Jeremy Camp.
Also, you stated that if a message isn’t explicitly Christian, it is a secular/human message. To me, for something to have a secular message, it would have to be something that would have the chance of leading someone astray from the truth of Christ. For instance, the song Happy Birthday, while not explicitly Christian is not going to make me question my faith in Christ and start following the ways of the world. Family Force 5 falls into that category for me.
Thank you again for your response.
Here’s another big problem most who have no discernment will miss. In order to listen to any song/single it will inevitably take you to the next song/single of the same artist. Your interest is now hooked. It’s the record labels intention to bait you, then keep you on the line. Is the next song by a particular artist going to be pure, wholesome, serving the body or worldly, fleshly, sin inducing chaos? Family Force Five is a major problem. Don’t even give the appearance of evil is what my bible says…..These guys are wolfs in sheep clothing and so many youth will defend them to the hilt. That’s why immaturity is described as lacking discernment and not looking ahead to the cost of actions. BTW I’m in the music business…..I’m speaking from experience…..
FF5 has to be one of the worst bands in CCM, even just from a creative/musical standpoint.