"Just Look at You"
Recorded version https://www.soundclick.com/music/songInfo.cfm?songID=12340162
Live version https://www.soundclick.com/music/songInfo.cfm?songID=13772872
Looking at our big, beautiful blue and green planet it is tragic how she is abused. The devastating war in Ukraine continues, and it breaks your heart. Elsewhere there is much suffering. There are deep scars. It's messy. For sure there are places of tremendous beauty. There are also wastelands that humanity has created through greed and lust for power. I'm not convinced that creation cannot truly be healed unless a connection with the Creator is also restored.
This was one of the first songs I wrote after taking the Christian message on board my life. It in part reflects on my own sense of alienation and the foolishness I felt at having tried to live without reference to the 'other' for many years... not realizing the mess I was making. But it's mostly a prayer for our world... that our alienation from each other can be overcome. The New Testament speaks of "All creation straining" to see God's Kingdom come into being. Yet so often we seem to be pulling away, rather than towards.
Maybe it is arrogant to declare 'I know I have found the right road'. Yet all these years later I'm still feel that the driving force of my existence needs to be something other than me! That without the dynamic of God's Spirit, I'm up the creek without a paddle. And yet... so many times... I "Keep on, keep on, keep on, trying to go it alone.'
Consider it a prayer for our world addressed through a memo to myself. I know not everybody shares my perspective (or my religious beliefs) but most agree that we should protect and nourish our environment rather than exploit and destroy it. Likewise, the desire for peace is a universal hunger.
The "Live" version was recorded at a concert back in the eighties, with the wonderful Kevin Mercer on the second vocal and guitar. Kevin is not only a great musician but a wonderful restorer of musical instruments. He was a major source of support back in the day and such an inspiring person to play alongside.
I originally called the song "What a Miss World" then changed it to "Miss World" ... which was meant to indicate that the beautiful 'world' in which we live was 'missing' its connection to its Creator and hence becoming messed up. If you need to spend a whole lot of time explaining the title, before you get around to singing it... 'give it a better title!'
So, it became the first line of the chorus, which reflects the words my parents used to say if I came home from playing outside covered in mud... "Just look at You!"
Though an oldie, it's a song I've often used at open mics and retreats. This past November I was up at Bluestone Camp in West Virginia, and it fitted right in with one of the sessions I was leading. Strange how some songs manage to do that! They are never going to be huge hits, but they fit a slot that other songs fail to fill.
Let us continue to keep the Ukraine situation in our thoughts and prayers. "Lord, have mercy."
Just Look at You.
So you think you're heading down the right road
You're quite complacent going it alone
You say you don't need anybody, and you're happy as you are
I'm all right, I can manage, I don't need you anymore
That's what you're saying.
But just look at you, You're really in a state
You're crying and you’re hungry,
There's dirt all over your face
Do yourself a favor and think again
You can't manage without Him,
So why keep on, keep on, keep on, trying to go it alone.
You've tried so many times before to live without
I thought by now you would have realized that there' only one road
Instead, you say I'm all right and I can look after myself
You insist on having your own way, going it alone,
You must be blind.
Because just look at you, You're really in a state
You're crying and you’re hungry,
There's dirt all over your face
Do yourself a favor and think again
You can't manage without Him,
So why keep on, keep on, keep on, trying to go it alone.
(Guitar)
Well, I know that I have found the right road
Oh, Oh my driver He keeps proving that's so,
And what's more He's got room for, oh, so many more
If only, you'll come knocking on His door.
But just look at you, You're really in a state
You're crying and you’re hungry,
There's dirt all over your face
Do yourself a favor and think again
You can't manage without Him,
So why keep on, keep on, keep on, trying to go it alone.
Oh...just look at you, You're really in a state
You're crying and you’re hungry,
There's dirt all over your face
Do yourself a favor and think again
You can't manage without Him,
So why keep on, keep on, keep on, trying to go it alone.
Ah... Look at you.