TIS: One Republic – Counting Stars
‘I wanna dance with somebody!’, blurted a young Whitney Houston to an even younger Phill Marsh. I thought about getting in touch, but I feared that my dancing skills would only lead to a disappointed diva, and, worse still, a future musical shaming as she retold the tale through the crushing art of the revenge song. Now, years later, seeing the video for One Republic’s latest effort ‘Counting Stars’, the odd gyrations of front-man Ryan Tedder leave me thinking that I should, perhaps, have given it a go; For I too can flail around wildly and awkwardly.
Despite the odd movement, Counting Stars is a catchy tune, evidenced by its ability recently to knock a mostly naked Miley Cyrus from the number one spot. So here it is:
In this strange video, we witness an odd gathering, with the near worship of some charismatic leader as Tedder sings:
‘Lately I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be’
Video and song come together declaring the desire for something more, something grander and more meaningful, whilst, at the same time, seemingly mocking the attempts to find ‘this’, whatever it may be. And, for sure, there is something more, and there are attempts to grasp at it, that are tragic in their futility.
Tedder, eschewing the pursuit of material wealth, or perhaps dreaming of obtaining so much of it that counting becomes redundant, sings:
‘No more counting dollars; We’ll be counting stars’
Abraham was told to count the stars.
This forefather of many nations was told, as God recounted his promises to him, that his offspring would be ‘as the stars of heaven’ and that ‘In [his] offspring, all the nations of the world [would] be blessed’ (Genesis 26:4). I wonder how many times he stopped and gazed at the night sky, recalling the numerous promises of God. Promises of something more. Something better to come.
Nearly two thousand years later, one of those stars came into focus. It shone more brightly that the rest. Wise men saw it and came to worship the One that it spoke of (Matthew 2:20). This descendant of Abraham, this offspring through whom all the nations of the world would be blessed, was Jesus; God in the flesh. God with us – the promise of something more.
It’s why the Shepherds were told by the Angels that they had good news, that they could stop grasping at and counting on anything and everything that might lead them to the something more they dreamed of. He was here. And He called them to draw near.
And He calls us to draw near.
–
(You can catch the previous Truth in Sound here).