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It's like a case of deja vu. You find yourself in a circumstance or a situation and realize that you've been there before - but a nagging feeling tells you that something's different. After playing the memories and the details over and over in your mind, you finally realize what has changed.
It's you.
Of course, if you are Bryan Duncan and have recorded ten solo albums, sold more than one million records, and charted a dozen number one singles while garnering a myriad of prestigious awards and nominations along the way - you have a number of milestones upon which to look back and reflect on that journey. More often than not, viewing the past through the eyes of the present brings a shift in perspective. And according to Bryan Duncan, it's true in all areas of life.
"When I was a kid, the front door to my house looked huge," says Duncan. "But when I go back and look at it now, it looks a lot smaller. It's not that the door has changed at all - it's that I have grown." Bryan continues, "I have found the same to be true in my spiritual life. I return to places and recognize that I am not the same person that I was then. And more often than not," he adds with a wide grin, "I find that to be a good thing."
On his eleventh solo album, The Last Time I Was Here, Bryan has taken many such musings and dropped them into rich, soulful music. Eleven new songs capture the very essence of such changes in perspective, giving voice to the joys, the questions, the trials and the triumphs of life. It's a view that is fully honest and fully alive. And from a voice that is arguably the most familiar and distinctive in Christian music.
Perhaps that's precisely what thousands love about Bryan Duncan. He is both familiar and at the same time delightfully unpredictable. Refreshingly candid. Unapologetically unconventional.
"Sometimes I think we don't listen to what Christian artists have to say because we think they are saying things they are supposed to be saying," he explains. "That probably explains why my lyrics are more opaque a lot of the time. I want my convictions to stand out, and if I say things simply in the way that people expect a Christian artist to say them, they lose their power. We usually talk about what's wonderful and nifty about our relationships and our faith. But we fail to realize what it's the weaknesses and the peculiarities of those things that often make them the most powerful and enduring."
One fresh example of Duncan's unique ability to mix the issues of real life with eternal hope is "I Still Love You - Simple As That," a love song he wrote for his wife. While the tune definitely has a romantic tone, it also reveals the heart of a man who recognizes his own frailty.
"I think in some ways this song is saying that there are many deep feelings that I have for my wife that I don't express well. My inability to articulate what I feel is not indicative of my love and appreciation for her. I think often times it takes a man forever just to get in touch with what he is feeling. And it takes him another forever to put it into words. I guess this is my attempt to both set the record straight regarding my continual love for this woman and my confession that I am often inadequate in my expression of this either verbally or practically."
It is wonderfully ironic that Bryan's confession of inadequacy becomes the most articulate voice for a marital love on behalf of husbands everywhere. Of course it doesn't hurt that the vehicle delivering that message is one of the most gifted voices on the planet and that its sound and texture seems to be made for the sole purpose of conveying emotion effortlessly.
This singer, who has long been known as the king of "blue-eyed soul" in Christian circles, is relentless in his search for the right sound for each song. That pursuit has taken on new meaning, as The Last Time I Was Here is the first album on which Duncan has officially shared the production credit. Working with co-producer Dan Garcia, Duncan was able to draw the heart of a song out through unusual arrangements and unconventional sound effects. For instance, on "Strollin' On The Water," they employed the sound of a roaring sea and a computer-generated voice narrating scripture at the song's introduction. And while these two small additions to the song's arrangement may seem inconsequential, in this case they capture the very essence of its message.
"When I wrote this song sitting on Laguna Beach I was captivated by how big the ocean was, and how it seemed to draw me away from my problems," remembers Duncan. "The whisper of the sea almost seemed like God telling me to be quiet. I can see Jesus putting his index finger over his mouth, as if to say, "Shhhh." It's a presence that makes you want to drop everything you're doing and wander off with Him."
Bryan Duncan's adventuresome production can be heard on two other remarkable arrangements on the album. "Yes I Will" contains a driving beat with street-wise percussive vocals, making it an immediate sing-along anthem of encouragement. On "The Preaching is Easy," Bryan combines the rhythm of a passionate preacher with soulful vocals in order to challenge and impact the listener with the reality of daily Christian living.
Bryan Duncan uses rich word pictures and poignant stories to convey what it means to re-visit the important places in our lives. And while some things are crystal clear in retrospect, some of the questions remain. In the song "Glad Morning" Duncan acknowledges that our perspective informs our attitude toward any situation, but ultimately it is only from God's perspective that the truth of that situation can be known.
"Glad Morning" is a song about how it might feel to be there on the second day after the crucifixion," says Duncan. "The apostles had been convinced that they were going to be a part of the new kingdom but instead they end up in the dark for three days. I can picture one of the apostles sitting up all night in that little middle-eastern town, trying to make sense of what has happened. There's one light on in the entire town. I can imagine him asking himself, "Have I just wasted my entire life?" Which, of course, from our perspective seems a little silly - just wait another day we want to say. But from where they sat on that night the apostles didn't have the luxury of that perspective.
"That's something that I pray a lot about - that I'll have a bigger and fresher perspective," he continues. "I want to keep going back to the things that are familiar and look a them again. More often than not, I realize that they look quite a bit different than the last time I was here."
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