Twila Paris...Yes! Rich Mullins...Yes! I loved your description of punk music. I never really "got" the whole punk thing myself. Jacob did. Oh did he ever! Out of sheer love, I decided to try to like punk music. Eventually, I kind of liked ska-ish punk cause it was good for swing dancing. But I really only liked it if it was performed live AND there was a stand-up bass involved. Hey, speaking of good music. Ever hear of Regina Spektor? I really have been into her lately.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=3071484

You may like her. If not her videos are pretty interesting.

Thanks, Heidi. Yes, ska was a happy kind of music, wasn't it? And, skanking seemed like a begruding concession by hard core kids in the mosh pit to some type of actual dancing.

I like Regina.

Cheers to you for restraining your impulse to name-drop! Remember, today's trend is out of date tomorrow!

When people get too interested in appearing "cool" it usually shows, and quickly becomes irrelevant!

Neil, just a few things:

I think a better metaphor than "classic European ghetto" may be a planned community like New Town at St Charles. It's an attempt to right all the wrongs of the real world by starting clean and anew with the mantra of doing things "the way things ought to be." (parallel ideology of your choice) It tries to portray and create the picture of a perfect world, but in reality, that isn't and will not be the case, and in turn kind of misses the mark. (Feel free to throw in "sin nature of man" anywhere, it applies)

Not all CCM is quite like that, although if you never heard the "originals" -ie the style and timbres to which the songwriter based his or her music on, the you'd think it was the best thing ever. (or "How D.C. Talk was able to sell so many records to a comparatively small but focused fanbase") Another case in point, I like Matt Redman as much as the next guy, but you know he's listened to his share of U2 and Dave Matthews Band... (I don't have a problem with name dropping...)

As for the ska bands, it's from Jamaica, so it's going to be upbeat with a sort of an ooompa-ooompa sound, with a walking bassline and a horn section. 90's ska-punk bands like the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sublime, MU330, and to a lesser extent, No Doubt's first album were able to reach the mainstream, or at least the alternative mainstream (if that makes any sense) Brings back some memories...

HV - Are you sure you're not thinking of rockabilly / big band revival like the Squirrel Nut Zippers, and the Brian Setzer Orchestra? That was great to swing dance to.

HH - Still getting your two hundredths of a dollar in, I see...

I enjoyed your article, Neil. you touched upon some of the tensions that i feel when listening to music (ex.: lyrics vs. the beauty/spirit of a song).