The Rez Band was the ground breaking effort to enter into hard rock and make a definitive statement. They pulled this off, quite exceptionally. This particular song is called “Rainbow’s End,” and it’s done live in 1979.
Lyrics to “Rainbow’s End”
Weave the rainbow in your eyes, Quiet evening lullaby, Cross your heart to never die, Broken on the wood.
Hey.
Silenced by the deafening roar, Driven from the nether shore, Violent tremors, wars, and more, No, not one is good.
Forty days and forty nights Noah sailed a sea of tears, And the lesson of the flood shouts across the years.
Now he will destroy the dark, Jesus is the living ark, Oh, nothing in the world, nothing in the world, Nothing in the world compares with him, No one ever loved you more, He alone is Heaven’s door, He is the promise, he is the promise, He’s the rainbow’s end.
GLAD is one of the pioneers of Christian pop/rock and a cappella music, having formed as a progressive rock group in 1972 and discovered a large audience for their a cappella music in 1988.
Today, with over 1.5 million albums sold, they continue to perform concerts and release occasional recordings. As Contemporary Christian Music (CCM Magazine) described it, “GLAD’s elegant vocals helped set them apart from other pioneers of Contemporary Christian music. That vocal sound has since evolved into a complex, self-sustaining life form of its own…” The GLAD sound is known for its tight harmonies and intricate arrangements with classical and jazz overtones. Some of their hits over the years have included “Be Ye Glad,” “Maker of My Heart,” “God is My Rock,” “The Easter Song,” “You Put This Love in My Heart,” and “Color Outside the Lines.
In these days of confused situations.
In these nights of a restless remorse,
When the heart and the soul of the nation,
lay wounded and cold as a corpse.
From the grave of the innocent Adam,
comes a song bringing joy to the sad.
Oh your cry has been heard and the ransom,
has been paid up in full, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)
Oh, Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad,
Every debt that you ever had
Has been paid up in full by the grace of the Lord,
Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad, Be Ye Glad.
From the dungeon a rumor is stirring.
You have heard it again and again.
But this time the cell keys are turning,
and outside there are faces of friends.
And though your body lay weary from wasting,
and your eyes show the sorrow they’ve had.
Oh the love that your heart is now tasting
has opened the gate, Be Ye Glad.
(Chorus)
So be like lights on the rim of the water,
giving hope in a storm sea of night.
Be a refuge amidst the slaughter,
for these fugitives in their flight.
For you are timeless and part of a puzzle.
You are winsome and young as a lad.
And there is no disease or no struggle,
that can pull you from God, Be Ye Glad.
Like anyone, the idea of “perpetual motion” (PM) mildly intrigues me (emphasis on “mildly.) PM inventors are a strange lot. They are kind of like “flat-earthers.” They deeply and sincerely believe they have invented something that runs off its own productive energy, requiring nothing to keep it working. However, there is undisputed scientific consensus that perpetual motion would violate the first law of thermodynamics.
There is a great deal of manipulating and posturing among those who believe in PM. Their inventions somehow require secrecy, and than a real “step-of-faith” on investors and supporters. I have seen blueprints and illustrations of PM machines, and I can see the attraction. But it seems that there is also an ingrained arrogance among the inventors. They believe they have accomplished the ultimate. They have invented something so awesome that everything pales in significance.
Among believers there can exist a belief in a “faith” that cannot contain a deep sense of what is true and real. Yielding to PM and its variations delivers us into a mistaken and tricky reality. What we think and feel cannot be verified or supported. I guess that’s one of the reasons a lot of significance is put on illustrations, and blueprints. A picture of a PM apparatus has a deeper “wow factor.”
Within a disciple’s life, there can be a profound quest for perpetual motion. We come to the place where we start imagining a spiritual walk that is always going forward. We feel we can fly on auto-pilot of the Spirit, we switch it on and than we leave the cockpit to visit with the passengers. There are no conflicts, sin, issues or hardships. We are living the “victorious Christian life” after all.
But the stark realities say otherwise. No matter how positive we try to become, we face situations that threaten to dismantle our faith. There comes a realization over time, that there is no yellow brick road. The song birds don’t serenade us, and everything doesn’t click into place and fit nicely. Life does not come with a teflon coating. It is a struggle, a wrestling match. We would be wise to understand this.
“El Shaddai” is a wonderful song. Amy has represented our Lord God in a wonderfully sincere way. The Church owes her a deep debt and a considerable degree of blessing. This song was recorded in 2004, at a live concert. “She has been referred to as “The Queen of Christian Pop”. As of 2009, Grant remains the best-selling contemporary Christian music singer ever, having sold over 30 million units worldwide.”
“Grant has won six Grammy Awards, 25 Gospel Music AssociationDove Awards, and had the first Christian album ever to go Platinum. Heart in Motion is her highest selling album, with over five million copies sold in the United States alone. She was honored with a star on Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2005 for her contributions to the entertainment industry.”
During an interview with CBN.com [in 2010,] Grant says, “…my hope is just for those songs to provide companionship, remind myself and whoever else is listening what’s important. I feel like songs have the ability to connect us to ourselves and to each other, and to our faith, to the love of Jesus, in a way that conversation doesn’t do. Songs kind of slip in and move you before you realize it.”
In 2007, Amy was inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame.
Broken Believers 