ApologetiX/What is a Christian Parody Band?

"ApologetiX, That Christian Parody Band" is the band's trademark phrase. This is somewhat ambiguous and dangerous; most people when they hear (without any other background info on the band) probably wonder if the band isn't making fun of the Christian faith. Well, rest assured, just the opposite - they live up to the root of their name and are staunch defenders of the faith.

ApologetiX "parodies" are generally secular songs to which they've rewritten the lyrics to give them a biblical flavor. They'll take a song like Bryan Adam's "Summer of '69" and change it to "969" (the age of the oldest man in the Bible, Methuselah) and tell the associated Bible story.

ApologetiX' parodies are not music parodies in the traditional sense. Generally, when one creates a parody of a song the lyricist is poking fun at the original song or at the artist who performed that song. Weird Al's "Achy Breaky Song" and "This Song Has Just Six Words" are good examples of what we could consider traditional parodies. Furthermore, most parodies are usually funny whereas ApologetiX' lyrics are usually quite serious. There is a certain amount of humor associated with the way these Bible stories flow to the tune of secular songs, but the stories themselves are not humorous. So those who are offended by the fact that, somehow, ApologetiX is making fun of the Bible or Christianity needn't worry; this stuff is mostly tame. By the way, there are some funny tunes on their CD's, but the treatment is usually safe by even the most conservative (though rational) standards.

Some call ApologetiX a "Christian cover band." (A "cover" band is one that plays/covers the tunes that other bands have popularized.) I won't get into the semantics here other than to say that most cover bands don't change the words (often the music, but not the words) of the songs they play. ApologetiX does the converse, so I guess we could call them an "uncover" band! I'd call them a "wrapper" band, but that obviously has a different meaning (at least when spoken, rather than written).

So are these guys parodists? Gee, I don't know. Legally, they probably need to make that claim but only a few of their songs fall into the category of traditional parodies. Perhaps one could argue that their whole genre (taking secular songs and rewriting the lyrics) is a parody in and on itself. However, J. Jackson (lead singer and lyricist for ApologetiX) applies this title to himself and the band, so who am I to argue?

The bottom line is that, as their name implies, this band defends the Christian faith, they don't make fun of it. While there is lots of covert humor in their work (and overt humor in certain cases), the band is firmly committed to spreading the Gospel and see their efforts as an evangelical ministry.

What Music Do They Play?

Mostly good stuff; to me, anyway. ApologetiX reworks a lot of classic songs (dare I say, oldies?) and, for the most part, their musical tastes correspond to the stuff I would normally listen to (okay, the disco tune "Stayin Alive" on the "Keep the Change" CD is out of the question, but I do enjoy the majority of the tunes on which they base their parodies). They've also done some alternative stuff and several modern rock and pop tunes. Their selection is not as eclectic as Weird Al's (and I hope they never go that way), but their stuff does span several genres. They do some classic Rock 'n Roll (e.g., Elvis, Del Shannon, and the Hollies), Rock, Hard Rock, and Heavy Metal (e.g., Kiss, Led Zepplin, Metallica, the Stones, Def Lepard, and Three Doors Down), Alternative and Grunge (e.g., Nirvana and Hootie and the Blowfish), Pop (e.g., Three Dog Night, Beach Boys, the Monkees, and the Backstreet Boys), Country (e.g., Buck Owens, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Garth Brooks), and even (Lord help us) Disco (e.g., the Bee-Gees).

Chances are pretty good they play something you'll like. Chances are also pretty good that they will parody a song from some genre you hate! Overall, if you're a baby boomer you're probably gonna love this band. If you're older, you'll probably hate them, and if you're younger, you'll probably like a large percentage of their stuff.

Is it Sacrilegious?

Apologetix deals with this issue on their website so I won't go into depth here. Some people are offended by the fact that ApologetiX takes music from "Devil Worshipping Bands" like Led Zepplin and Kiss, rewrites the lyrics, and produces a Christian version. If you feel strongly this way, you may decide that you don't like ApologetiX or, at least, there will be several songs you certainly won't like. Personally, I believe that music by itself (that is, void of lyrics or performance) is neither holy nor unholy. It is only the performance by a human being that makes it acceptable or unacceptable to God. If the original artist wants to bash God and ApologetiX rewrites the lyrics to praise God, I seriously doubt that God is going to hold the sins of the original artists against the members of ApologetiX. I find it very hard to believe that God will accuse ApologetiX of blasphemy because of their work.

Now I've read in several places that many old hymns were once tavern songs. "Amazing Grace" is an example that comes up frequently. Personally I have not done the research to convince myself that this is true, but it was a common practice (in general, not just with hymns) prior to the creation of copyright laws for musicians to copy an existing tune and apply new words to it (e.g., "Greensleeves" vs. "What Child is This?" and "America the Beautiful" vs. "God Save the Queen"). Therefore, it's perfectly believable that many of our "traditional and sacred" hymns started out as bar songs; not unlike what ApologetiX is doing with today's music. The interesting thing is that the hymns have lived on while you don't hear too many of those old bar songs today. Maybe in 200 years people will still be singing "Narrow Way to Heaven" and they will have forgotten completely about "Stairway to Heaven."

A popular phrase I've seen used to describe ApologetiX' work is that they "redeem" secular music. I don't agree with this. First of all, despite what some R&B artists may think, music does not have a soul that can be redeemed or damned. So the analogy is off a bit. Furthermore, when ApologetiX takes the tune to a secular song and changes the words, they, in no way, change anything offensive about the original song's lyrics or performance. What they've done is to create a new song and it needs to be judged on its own merits. Some might argue that the new song would remind listeners of the old song and that this is a reason why ApologetiX shouldn't do this. If this kind of stuff offends you, then certainly you should shy away from it. But you should be careful about "speaking for God" by admonishing others for praising God in this fashion; remember, the Pharisees did a lot of this and how holy did they appear in Christ's eyes?

Consider the case where someone takes a religious hymn and rewrites the lyrics to produce a secular or even blasphemous song (e.g., I once read a parody of "Onward Christian Soldiers" rewritten as "Retreat Christian Soldiers" that I found somewhat offensive). Does this rewrite somehow inherit the goodness and holiness of the hymn on which it's based? Does the rewrite somehow make the original hymn less holy or praiseworthy? No, of course not. It's different and it must stand alone (or fall) on its own merit. I believe this same philosophy must apply to the work that ApologetiX has done on their parodies.

Certainly, it would be hard to find clear evidence in the Bible that applying Biblical lyrics to secular music is sacrilegious. I think ApologetiX is on safe ground here.

For J. Jackson's spin on what their band does, click here.