Hilarity in Parody: Redemption of Music

Running a couple errands with my 8-yr-old and 2-yr-old sons, scanning through the minivan's radio, searching for some fun songs, a popular song (to some) from a while back came on the heavy metal. Before the singer (if you wanna call him that) began, my 2-yr-old was already boppin' his head. (Frankly, I was enjoyin' it, too.) But before long, the singer was saying something about "a fast machine ... with those American thighs" who was "working double time on the seduction line."* Um, I'm pretty sure my sons weren't quite catchin' it all; but neither did I want my sons runnin' around the house all the next day, singing, "YOU -- shook me ALL - night - long ...."

I also happen to enjoy some of the music performed by a few other ungodly professionals. Douglas Wilson has said, if I understood correctly, that we'll likely still be singing Handel's Messiah even after the resurrection. -- Now that's a song that doesn't need redemption: no accompanying "ahem" or guilt. -- Douglas Wilson has also said that "whatever the world can do, the church can do, five years later and worse," which, if I understood correctly, means the world can do some things better, including making music that's fun to sing very loud and bop your head to while riding in an automobile. But when the lyrics are shameful, one finds himself wondering how this song might be redeemed so as to be enjoyed ... perhaps even after the resurrection.

Enter ApologetiX. These Christian musicians do a great job rewriting, reproducing, reforming, redeeming, ... well, just check out for yourselves these parodies of
AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" or
The Everly Brothers' "Wake Up Little Susie" or
Great White's "Once Bitten Twice Shy" or
Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" or
... a whole bunch of others ...
and have fun.

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* - "You Shook Me All Night Long," AC/DC. (Back in Black, 1980.)