The Many Adventures of a Thede

I discovered a new song recently that I find really intriguing. It's the song "You Found Me" by The Fray. I've been a fan of the band since their last album (How to Save a Life), and this is the first single off their new self-titled album, I believe. I actually had heard it a few times in the background, but never really took notice until a contestant sang it on American Idol last week. Since I realized it was a Fray song, I downloaded the album and started listening on my iPod. I don't know about you guys, but I listen to songs really carefully when I listen on my iPod, much more than when I listen to music out loud. I think it has something to do with the ear buds.

Anyway, as I've been listening to this song, I've been really, really disecting the lyrics. It would be easy to listen at first and just think it is the story of one human being helping and encouraging another, but then when I listened to the verses, I discovered that the song is actually a conversation with God. Now, this is when I got really interested. Because The Fray is not a Christian band and this is not a typical, feel-good Christian song. Actually, one of the reasons I've kind of gotten away from listening to much Christian music the last few years is because all the music started sounding sort of the same to me. But this song is about a very real part of not only the Christian experience, but the human experience. Here's a few lines from the song:

I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad

I said, "Where've you been?" He said, "Ask anything."

How many of us have been at a difficult time in our lives, been crying out prayers that we feel like aren't being heard, and wished to find God just hanging out on a street corner? And would you run into his arms and cry? Or would you yell at him for seemingly ignoring your problems? Or both? Well, here's the song-writer's answer to that "ask anything" from God:

Where were you, when everything was falling apart
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad

I know the "Christian" answer is that God has a plan and we just have to be patient, and the most over quoted verse ever, all things work together for good. But sometimes don't you just want to yell at God and say, "You could have done something! This could have gone differently! Where have you been?"

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor, surrounded, surrounded

And this is the line that gets me the most. I think everyone has prayed, "Where are you, God?" at some point:

Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me.

Yeah, definitely not your typical Christian rock, but I can relate, and I'm pretty sure most other people can too. It's a powerful song and it makes me think. If you haven't heard it yet, take a listen below. It's a good song for the music as well as the lyrics.