Hello everyone! Stereoreel is proud to present to you a series of mix tapes (or mix iTunes playlists) from the minds of our beautiful members! This first “tape” is from Me, Ethan, and has a wonderful mix of Post Rock, Industrial, Hip-Hop and good old fashioned 90′s rock! Have a song you think should be added to the next “tape”? Email Stereoreel@gmail.com.
Order yours today! While you order your cassette deck...
A song about struggle. A song about overcoming by God’s gift of grace the lie that we need to be good enough on our own before we can be forgiven.
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! -Romans 7:18-25a
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. -Ephesians 2:8-9
Pray for Grace
You know what I say
You know what I’m really like
I’ve been in a bad way
Stayed there way too long
I battle my mind
I battle my secret life
My spirit is abhorred
My flesh is way too strong
Please hear what I say
I know you’re the only right
But I’m stuck in these bad ways
And all I write is wrong
Please shatter my mind
‘Cause I am worldly wise
Please teach me to love
‘Cause I’m just a clanging gong
I’m tired of trying
I can do no good on my own
Teach me of love; teach me of grace
And please save my soul!
Save my soul!
Once guilty as sin
Now free from its deadly price
My serpentine exploits
all start to come undone
I know you as mine
And I am finally yours
Resplendent redemption
I’m free and death is gone!
I’m tired of trying
I can do no good on my own
Teach me of love; teach me of grace
And please save my soul!
Save my soul!
Don’t know how long I’d spent just scratching at the surface of love
Failing at trying to impress the world to get to my goal
Your grace and mercy taught me that you’d take me with all my flaws
You choose to love my worst disgusting when you save my soul!
Save my soul!
Ethan Dean and Seth Dean
This song is part of an exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes We need you! If like one of these songs, please comment. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album. Copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
…any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. -Jesus, quoted in Luke 14:33
A few lines of a Tolkien poem + the words of Jesus + a dark, distorted piano + a 100-year blizzard + Caleb, Seth and Ethan + a heartfelt desire = Nothing. It’s this week’s song.
Download the mp3, Nothing, here.
Nothing
All that’s gold does not glitter
All who wander aren’t lost
And saints before me endeavored
Even though it cost them
Everything, everything
Though it cost them everything they owned
When I find a true treasure
Worth a significant price
I don’t have much to offer you
So I’m willing giving
Everything, everything
I will give You everything I am
Everything, everything
I will give You everything I am
Crowning thorns may be glorious
A splendor worth every pain
Jesus, you’ve been victorious
Trusting You I will gain
Everything, everything
Surely I’ll gain everything I need
Everything, everything
I know that I’ll gain everything I need
Everything, everything
Jesus you are everything I need
There is nothing I shouldn’t give
Caleb Nei and Seth Dean
This song is part of an exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes We need you! If like one of these songs, please comment. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album. Copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
A bit of a bonus this week! Audio and video versions. Twofer! Heaven’s Fire is inspired by a recent reading of the book of Acts. Simply listen to the song or watch the video to hear Seth talk more about what he was thinking when he wrote it.
With Heaven’s fire on the ceiling
And the air as thick as violence loud
There’s amalgamated breathing
In foreign voices that address a crowd.
Drunken foolishness, look how they talk so!
Old men seers and the young men dream?
How a cloud could be a miracle
Things aren’t always as they always seemed
Sound good news
In joyful jubilation
Everything now new
The rooftop revelations
Resounding through hearts’ darkened halls
Greek and Jew: God’s son can save us all
Save us all!
Now Prison doors are shaking fearless
Static bodies move again to life
Useless legs no longer needless
Simple men now unafraid to die
I don’t know what we’re not doing anymore
That our faith is less than great renown.
Are we shamed to name our Savior?
Do we love our power more than God’s?
This song is part of an exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes .
We need you! If like one of these songs, please comment on our blog at Stereoreel.com. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album.
Copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
Today’s celebration: A catchy piano riff marries thoughts on God’s grace. With the right producer and a sufficiently auto-tuned voice we’re pretty sure this could be the next Christian pop radio hit. (Watch out Owl City.)
We’re also pretty sure we have no idea what we’re talking about.
This song marks an important milestone in our 52 weeks. We’re 21.1538% done. Check it out! 1/5 of the way there.
The word “selah” often shows up between sections in the Psalms. Scholars debate whether it means the listener should pause and consider what they’ve just heard, or enjoy a musical interlude. Either way we think it’s appropriate.
This song is part of a Songwriting Exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes .
We need you! If like one of these songs, please comment on our blog at Stereoreel.com. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album. Even if you just want to make a suggestion, or accuse us of cryptomnesia we’d love to hear from you. (Don’t necessarily expect songwriting credit or royalties though. Sorry.)
All songs copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
There’s an ancient Greet lyric that I’ve been considering for awhile. I found it somewhere and loved the words, but consider the tune pretty uninspiring. Not only that, but our modern musical sensibilities require a chorus. So here you are: some old words with a new melody and a new chorus…perfectly timed, given the fact that we’re in the middle of Advent. Enjoy.
HERE’S THE SONG!
Here’s the chord chart.
Here’s the skinny on the original song.
This song is part of a Songwriting Exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes .
We need you! If like one of these songs, please comment on our blog at Stereoreel.com. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album. Even if you just want to make a suggestion, or accuse us of cryptomnesia we’d love to hear from you. (Don’t necessarily expect songwriting credit or royalties though. Sorry.)
All songs copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
There’s a tangerine glow on the skyline
An indistinct morning horizon
And still I am waiting for you
Still I am waiting for you…
HERE’S THE SONG!
And the chord chart…
This song is part of a Songwriting Exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes .
We need you! If like one of these songs, please comment on our blog at Stereoreel.com. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album. Even if you just want to make a suggestion, or accuse us of cryptomnesia we’d love to hear from you. (Don’t necessarily expect songwriting credit or royalties though. Sorry.)
All songs copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
Okay. I admit week three was a bit of a cheater. It’s a song I found on my laptop from last year. This week: something fresh:
I need God the way I need to drink water. Without either I’ll die. (Though the death that comes from being without God is worse than the death that comes from being without H2O.) In the book of John, Jesus several times says that His water brings life. One of those times he’s in the middle of the temple yelling after a feast. Funny. It’s the last and greatest day of the feast and Jesus says to the gorged crowd,” If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.” (Jesus has a history of saving the best food for last. Remember the wine at the wedding?) I’m sure people were looking at him strangely. “What?” they wondered. (John 7:37-39)
On another occasion, Jesus meets a woman who has come to a well to draw water. She’s coming for a drink just like she has every other day of her life. This time though, everything changes. Jesus tells her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:1-32)
Here’s the song: All Who Are Thirsty.
This song is part of a Songwriting Exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. Check in next Friday for yet another song. Listen and let us know what you think, and be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes .
We need you! If like one of these songa, please comment on our blog at Stereoreel.com. Your opinions will help us decide what’s on the next album.
All songs copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
Week 3. So far so good! I even have week 4 done. Look for that in a few days. Meanwhile enjoy:
This song is part of a Songwriting Exercise we’re calling 52 Weeks. For the next year, we’ll write a song every Friday. Listen and let us know what you think.
Like it? (Or not?) Leave a comment at Stereoreel.com. Your opinions will help us decide what songs actually make it to the next album. We’d love to hear from you.
PS- We’re the proud parents of a baby iTunes podcast! Subscribe here.
All songs copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC.
Ladies, gentlemen, boys, girls, aliens, pets, and music-loving house plants. We offer this offering: A song. Written just for you. But it’s not just the song, but the promise of more. Fresh. Each week. For a long time. Yes, we plan on writing a song every week for the next year. It’s a Herculean undertaking, but we, being descendants of Hercules (and you though he was a Myth), think we’re up to it.
In fact, we relish the challenge (though we might rather say “pudding” since that’s what our brains sometimes feel like after writing an entire song in a single day). So, we offer to you this: SONG NUMBER ONE. It’s a song inspired by the heart of King David, a certain Hummingbird guitar, the God who protects and sustains, and the key of Bb (including a very cool Em7(b5) chord.
We’d love this project to be a conversation with you so…leave a comment. Let us know how we did. If you’ve got ideas for improvements, we’re open to hearing them. Your opinions will help us decide what songs actually make it to the next album and which ones end up on the studio floor. Even if you just want to accuse us of cryptomnesia we’d love to hear from you. (Don’t necessarily expect songwriting credit or royalties though. Sorry.)
Coming soon: an iTunes podcast.
Don’t feel like watching the video? Love this song so much you want to download it to you iPod? Here’s the audio:
All songs copyright 2009-2010 Stereoreel Music, LLC. (Legalese for “Don’t steal our stuff.” …though really we’d be honored if you liked it enough to steal it… We know, it’s a weird schizophrenia.)
Want to play along? Here’s the chord chart. And the capo chart.