Marie Bellet - Ordinary Time
Marie Bellet's Ordinary Time is her second CD, and like the first, it is a gem.
The title song (video) is guaranteed to mist the eyes of any parent. At the beginning of the song, the singer focuses on how difficult it is to have young children and all the things she'll be able to do once the kids are grown. ("But for now I trip on the backpacks in the hallway. Scrub the crayon from the wall that marks this ordinary time.") The clincher comes at the end as she admits that some day her heart will "leap to find one backpack in the hallway." It is something we all know. Children don't stay small forever. But Marie knows how to make it really hit home.
What I Wouldn't Give showcases something common in Marie Bellet's music. She likes to take a phrase, use it, and then change the meaning. The phrase in this song is "What I wouldn't give." The song is about a couple who is struggling to stay together, and she sings several times, "What I wouldn't give to see those silly eyes, daring me to laugh, no, I never realized. There would come a day, so serious and small. What I wouldn't give is what's hurt me most of all." It just stops me in my tracks to hear the reversal of the phrase. It goes from something that's a passing desire to a realization that "what I wouldn't give" is what is destroying her marriage.
The Man of the House helps me to remember that following Christ is always worth it. The song begins by reflecting on the selfishness and sinfullness of man. "They wandered into the "New Age/Self Help" section and lost ten years chasing self-absorbed perfection. What else could they do in a world gone wild? That looks for hope in horoscopes, then kills the unborn child?" The second verse contains more gloom, but then the chorus restores right reason. "But the man of the house was waiting for them at the door. Noble and wise, he exposes their lies on the floor. And he fights the good fight 'cause there's wrong and there's right. There are things worth losing for." I absolutely love that line. "There are things worth losing for." God does not make us responsible for "winning" the battles, only for fighting them.
If you like the sound of what I've written, tune into the sound of what Marie Bellet wrote for this CD!