When the Romantics played at MetroJam in Manitowoc (June 17, 2006), perhaps people only thought it was a rock concert with people dancing to an 80’s chart-topping band singing their hits “Talking in Your Sleep,” “One in a Million,” and “What I Like About You.” However, there was something spiritual going on in the concert.
The title track of their 2003 album, 61/49, is named for the crossroads where bluesman Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his incredible guitar skills. The Romantics’ song is a punk-fast, jump blues that delves into the dark tale as they sing on the chorus, “It’s been a long, long ride/Down the crossroads of time,/He gave his soul on 61/49.”
No one knows whether Johnson really met Satan at those crossroads. The legend comes to haunt us causing people to say the blues and rock ‘n’ roll are the devil’s music.
History has focused on whether Johnson was devilish, but we forget that because of our sinfulness, we’re all devilish from the beginning. As the Romantics jammed in a blues rock style, I didn’t hear a glorification of Johnson’s deal with the devil. I heard the great struggle we all face between good and evil, between God and the devil.
In conversation after the show, Romantics bassist/guitarist Mike Skill said “the blues is music of faith.” It takes faith to face your doubts and struggles, and it would seem to take faith to keep singing the blues. In the blues, I hear sinful men and women singing about trying to get the hell hounds off their tail. A blues song is a prayer for deliverance.
Skill talked about how a renewed Christian faith in recent years has changed his outlook on life, family, and the life of a rock ‘n’ roll star. It’s less about the party now. Perhaps that’s why on another 61/49 track the Romantics sing, “When the angels hear me callin’,/I get the answer that I need,/When the devil sees me fallin’,/He takes advantage of me.” It’s a prayer for deliverance from Satan’s wily tricks. The song’s bridge says, “Well, I thought I had a lot of nerve,/Now I know, I know I’ve got a lot to learn.” We act as if we can conquer demons on our own, but then we realize we don’t have that kind of power, wisdom, or strength.
And so while I really enjoyed watching the Romantics last Saturday as their brand of rock ‘n’ roll paid tribute to the Kinks, the Who, the Rolling Stones, Robert Johnson, and all the great bluesmen, I found that I was praying. I was asking the Lord to send His angels to deliver me from my struggles against evil and sin.
This article is reprinted with kind permission from the Manitowoc Herald-Times Reporter, Saturday, June 24, 2006. www.htrnews.com
