Behind the Scenes: "Further Up, Further In"

Here's another peek behind the curtain into the VH1-style drama that was Jacob's Trouble. I thought with all the hype around the Narnia movies I would give a little insight into our own C.S. Lewis inspired tune,"Further Up, Further In" from our second record, Knock,Breathe Shine (1990):

FURTHER UP AND FURTHER IN
I am a big fan of C.S. Lewis. Mere Christianity is second only to the Bible in terms of spiritual influence in my life. During the time between Door Into Summer and Knock Breathe Shine, I had been reading a lot of Lewis. My wife and I, both fans of fantasy literature, had bought a set of the Narnia books and were reading them to each other. The Last Battle became a favorite of ours, particularly the last few chapters where Lewis deals with the Narnian concept of heaven.

The characters in the book, having all died in the Last Battle of Narnia, discovered they were in Aslan’s Country (Heaven). What I love most is that he doesn’t waste time trying to describe what Heaven looks like, so much as what we will be like when we get there. His description of the changes that come over the characters is moving and produces a longing for God every time I read it.

At one point, one of the characters calls out “Come! Let’s go further up and further in!” It becomes a sort of cry that encourages them to explore the glory of God deeper and deeper. The further up and in they go, the bigger it becomes.

As with most things that touch me deeply, it squeezed a song out of me. I wrote it down and sang it to the band one night at rehearsal. They all liked it but didn’t really know what to do with it in terms of arrangement. So we didn’t really develop it further until we took it in the studio and recorded it with Terry.

The drum loop is actually Dave Raven’s drum machine. He programmed the loop for us to rehearse with but we liked the groove so much we used it on the recording. Greg played the accordion part, I think. Randy Stonehill came in and sang harmonies. It turned out quite nicely.

Now that full theatrical versions of The Chronicles of Narnia are being made, I’d like to see if they would use “Further Up and Further In” in the soundtrack to The Last Battle. Hey, maybe I could get Third Day to record it and pitch it to Walden Media!

Out of the blue...

...comes a letter of encouragement from a JT fan. I never ceased to be amazed that God continues to use a bunch of goofballs like us even long after we stop being a band. This one's from Skip in Saskatchewan:

Hi there, I was wondering if you could pass this along to Jerry:

It is the day before Canada Day, and being a Monday before a holiday, no one is here at work and I was putting some songs on my computer to listen to while I typed away. My diggin’ up bones cd didn’t have any album art coming up and so I went on line to find it and read a little article on where you and the band are now. It was really neat to hear about what went on, and what you are doing now.

I just wanted to say thanks for making the music that you did. I don’t have a ton of music in my collection. I tend to find things that I like and just listen to them over the years, and your stuff has been some of my favourite. I have the self titled one and diggin’ up bones, and I have really loved listening to those songs. You had some good words to say (sing) and I have really appreciated it. They have had an influence. I still listen to them.

When I wrote back to Skip to tell him thanks for the kind words, he responded...

You know, there was one more thing that I was going to tell you as well. Sometimes, when I am listening to those certain bands that I really like, I think “wow, these guys may have only made x number of albums (or one even), and they didn’t really go very far – from the world of music’s perspective anyway. But am I ever glad that they did what they did. And I wonder if they will ever know what a difference they made.”

So I really thank God for people like you who did (and are doing J) what they are called to. I don’t believe any art or work is done in vain if we are doing what we are called to do at that time and place. I guess I am starting to see that our job is to do what we are supposed to, and Jesus will take care of the impact of it – and most of it we will probably never realize. Even simple things, like a smile, or a prayer, or just treating our kids or wife well, let alone the “big” things. This helps me to realize that nothing is wasted when we are faithful.

Keep up your good work!

Skip

Keep them cards and letters and emails and blogposts and whatever else they come up with comin' Troublemakers. If you've got a story of how God has used the music we made to effect your life, we want to share it with the rest of our fans... all 27 of them!

New JT page on facebook

Good news, all you social networking geeks who also happen to like old Christian bands with bad mullets (and I know there are a lot of you!): My brilliant and talented son set up an official JT page on facebook. Go sign up and let your Troublemakin' colors fly high for the world to see! First 100 fans to join get a free Steve Atwell bobblehead doll (Just kidding... but wouldn't that be awesome? I'd buy one!).