things with kind of American western artwork and I thought that was odd if Alex is Australian . You don ’ t see that . But okay , now that all makes sense .
[ Alex ] Actually , when I was a little kid , my dream was to be a cowboy . My grandpa , who was an immigrant from Argentina , loved Westerns . We would go over to his house . He was a scientist and worked for NASA , but he was retired , and he was my hero . He loved John Wayne movies , Clint Eastwood movies . Every day I ’ d go to his house and just watch westerns . So I ’ ve always loved that . And then I think being in Australia made me think I ’ m going more American .
[ WM ] You can ’ t get much more American than that . I still watch Gunsmoke every day and multiple episodes too . It ’ s so good . There ’ s just something about , right and wrong and seeing justice done , and it ’ s satisfying .
[ Alex ] Absolutely . Good and evil arc and the hero wins every time . We love it .
[ WM ] That ’ s right . So you ’ re quite a prolific songwriter . So much of what I hear today draws from the same lyrical and musical pool . I realize that ’ s my opinion , but at least I would like to believe that it ’ s more than an opinion , it ’ s my perspective . How do you refrain from drawing from that familiar pool ? I don ’ t think you do . That ’ s why I ’ m asking you the question .
[ Alex ] Oh man , that is a tough question . I appreciate that and I think for every one song that I find something in a different , well there ’ s 20 songs that drew from the other well . I mean I think it is crazy when you consider how worship music has changed , how it has grown in the last decade alone . Just since I think Young and Free started . It has grown profoundly . And I think with that there is a language to worship music . And with that I think it makes people … I don ’ t know if it ’ s fear or I don ’ t know if I couldn ’ t answer that for every other person … but there is this conversation that I hope to have every time I ’ m writing a song with people is the , “ I ’ ve
never heard this in a worship song before . Is it good ? Or has it never been in a song because it shouldn ’ t be in a song ?” ( laughing ) But I do think that is something that I personally have strived to accomplish . And that doesn ’ t mean all the language in a song is completely flip flopped to anything familiar and to what people would experience in their churches on a Sunday morning . But I ’ m mindful to ask myself , “ What am I saying here ?” That it starts with just being genuine and asking who have I experienced God to be , because of the beauty of who He is and His nature . We could search our entire lifetimes and barely even have a glimpse of who He is . Therefore , it stands to reason that my experience of who He is and what I can pen about who He is should frame something that is ever so slightly a different vantage point of the same truth .
And so therefore , yeah , I just try to write what new vantage point can we pursue in this ? And I ’ m ever striving , ever trying to find that . And some days it works and some days no one should ever hear this song . ( laughing )
[ WM ] Well , so I want you to tell us about your new single just released called “ A Great Awakening ”. As a product of the Southern California Jesus movement in January of 1970 . I long to see those days of expectation , excitement , life-changing miracles . What say you ?
[ Alex ] Man , you actually just gave me chills legitimately , and if I can honor you as well , is that what happened in those tents 50 years ago ? I ’ m the product of , because my mother got saved in one of those tents , my Dad also
Alexander Pappas - A Great Awakening ( Official Lyric Video ) would drive down from Pasadena to Orange County to worship . And so , I grew up in a household of faith because of what happened there . And I took my Mom to see the Jesus Revolution movie in cinemas about 12 months ago . And I ’ m thinking this ’ ll be something nice for her . And I think I spent half the film in tears because I felt the Lord knocking on my heart . He wants to do again a church that is well intended , that needs a little bit of a shakeup in how to reach a lost generation .
And the other side of the coin is being people , a generation of people that are looking everywhere for God in all the wrong places . They just don ’ t know it . And so , I left the film saying , “ Lord , I feel like you ’ re about to do it again and I don ’ t know what or how , and I know it won ’ t look the same way , but Lord , all I ’ ll say is you have my yes ! Whatever my songs , whatever my life , whatever my ministry could be , that ’ s good . Jesus , you have my yes .”
So that was about 12 months ago and then I started to write again for the church as an artist , I started , it ’ s maybe a story for another time , but I ’ ve always felt really passionate about writing songs that speak to people ’ s Mondays as well as their Sundays if you will . Songs about the wrestle of faith and all that .
But in this prayer 12 months ago , I felt really inspired to write songs for Sundays for the church again . And then I found myself writing this song “ A Great Awakening ”. And I mean the long and short of it was my co-writer , a guy named Locklin Holmes , had been reading a book that talked about all the great revivals throughout history . He said , what if we wrote a song that referenced some of those and then stirred us up for now that He would do it again ? And I don ’ t know anyone else can relate to this , but I think a buzzword in worship music has been revival for a decade nearly . And it ’ s an amazing thing to pray for , an amazing thing to strive for . But for me personally , I think I ’ m fatigued of praying for it and not seeing it and singing about it and not experiencing it . And I said to my co-writer , “ I would love for us not to
12 May 2024 Subscribe for Free ...