Bob Mader Music
SONG STORIES
He is Risen Indeed
I wrote this song with Ann on Easter morning of 2018, inspired by the rather painful, yet comical events of the previous weeks. A couple of weeks before Easter, Ann and I made a day trip to Frozen Head State Park north of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We were enjoying the outdoors, and I decided to cross the creek. She warned me to be careful, to which I replied, "I am a grown man, I can cross a creek without hurting myself" Welllll.... the final jump of the return trip was a bit of a challenge, but I made the leap of faith and I MADE IT! My triumph lasted just a fraction of a second as I heard a crunch come from my ankle and I slid back into the water in a great amount of pain. I knew right then that my ankle would heal, but the "I told you so, you grown man" would last the rest of my life. While caring for me, my sweet wife's back gave out 2 days before Easter, and we were both bed ridden. So, I suggested we write an Easter song together. We wanted it to be upbeat, and happy, like the good news of the empty grave. He is Risen! He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!!
PS. The ankle is just fine, the "I told you so" lives on.
I came up for the idea for this song after hearing some good natured banter between my brother and wife about radio stations playing Christmas music 24/7. I thought there needed to be a Christmas song for those who, while they don't like the hype of Christmas, still like the Baby Jesus. So it had to be more anti hype. Who is the epitome of Christmas hype? Santa of course! This is the story of a man whose wife left him because he didn't like all the Christmas hype and she ran off with Santa. So now he spends his Christmas Eve at the bar drinking away his sorrows and singing BEER HUMBUG! Just like an M Night Shyamalan movie, this one has a plot twist.
BEER HUMBUG!
STILL SO GOOD TO ME
I wrote the music while in Ann's hometown of Plymouth, Indiana for her Celebration of Life service. I put the music on a loop and on my drive back home to Tennessee, I came up with the lyrics. "Trusting God is easy, until you really have to do it", is something I've been known to say, and this was one of those times. I intentionally made the music ebb and flow like the waves of grief. Modeling the structure after the Psalms, which often are "woe is me, but I trust God". Also intentionally left out the final chord so it doesn't resolve musically, like our grief doesn't ever fully resolve this side of heaven.
B-O-Y
I was describing on of my son's habits to a friend of ours and she said "Oh, that is classic ADD", and I thought "No, that's just B-O-Y" and I thought that would be a great theme for a country song. So I got to it and composed this song. Now, I know I will catch some flack from many, but it is my contention that it is not a disorder itself, but more a symptom. And while, I am sure some young men can benefit from better focus, not everything that is wild about little boys needs to be tamed and medicated. I also never thought the most controversial line might just be "Let the boy be a boy" Seems that is considered toxic these days.