Nov. 18, 2024

We Built This City 1985

We Built This City 1985

A discussion about a popular song and hermeneutics

A discussion about a popular song and hermeneutics

WEBVTT

1
00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:05.960
Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

2
00:00:05.960 --> 00:00:13.039
the Theology Central podcast, Making Theology Central, September the tenth,

3
00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:21.760
nineteen eighty five. September the tenth, nineteen eighty five? Where

4
00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:24.839
were you? What were you doing? Were you even alive?

5
00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.719
Some of you weren't alive on September the tenth, nineteen

6
00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:29.800
eighty five, So you're going to be like, well, I

7
00:00:29.920 --> 00:00:32.359
was nowhere. But for those of you who were alive

8
00:00:32.520 --> 00:00:35.920
on September the tenth, nineteen eighty five, where were you

9
00:00:37.479 --> 00:00:59.119
when you heard this? This? Do you remember that We

10
00:00:59.240 --> 00:01:04.519
Built This City? By Starship from their album Knee Deep

11
00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.239
in Hooplaw. Knee Deep in Hooplaw. It was released on

12
00:01:08.280 --> 00:01:11.280
September the tenth, nineteen eighty five, and the first track

13
00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:16.719
was we Built this City? Do you remember that? Well,

14
00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:20.280
we're gonna be talking about that song and maybe how

15
00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:24.719
it connects to Biblical hermeneutics. Maybe do you think we

16
00:01:24.719 --> 00:01:27.400
should try? We're going to try. We're gonna do that,

17
00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.280
but first I have to tell everyone, good afternoon, Welcome.

18
00:01:31.560 --> 00:01:35.200
It is Monday, November the eighteenth, twenty twenty four, not

19
00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:39.319
nineteen eighty five anymore. It is November the eighteenth, twenty

20
00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:43.480
twenty four. It is currently three eleven pm Central Time,

21
00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:46.439
and I am coming to you live from the Theology

22
00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:52.640
Central Studio located right here in Abilene, Texas. Now. I

23
00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:56.480
was in Abilene, Texas on September the tenth, nineteen eighty five.

24
00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:00.239
In fact, I was at a record store and I

25
00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:04.799
purchased Knee Deep in Hooplah by Starship. I had heard

26
00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:07.120
a little bit about it, and I was more curious

27
00:02:07.120 --> 00:02:10.879
because wait a minute, we see their name has changed. Wait, wait,

28
00:02:11.000 --> 00:02:13.240
what has happened? I looked at the cover, I'm like, wait,

29
00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:16.439
this does not look at like the Wait what happened

30
00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:18.879
to this band? Why was the name changed? What is

31
00:02:18.919 --> 00:02:23.560
going on? Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship? Wait Starship? Well what

32
00:02:23.719 --> 00:02:26.599
is happening? Okay, all right? And so then I'm like, well,

33
00:02:26.639 --> 00:02:29.360
you know, let's get it. Let's get it, let's get it.

34
00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:33.120
So I purchased the album, and I can't remember, I

35
00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:35.719
don't care. I don't remember which format I purchased it in.

36
00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:37.719
I can't remember. I think it was CD. I think

37
00:02:37.759 --> 00:02:40.919
I think I purchased it on CD. But I remember

38
00:02:41.000 --> 00:02:43.520
as soon as I hit play and I heard we

39
00:02:43.560 --> 00:02:47.199
built this city. Okay, we built this city on rock

40
00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.199
and roll. And then as soon as basically the drum

41
00:02:50.240 --> 00:02:53.240
machine kicks in, I can't play anymore for copyright reasons,

42
00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:55.560
all right. As soon as the drum machine kicked in,

43
00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:58.520
I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa? What happened?

44
00:02:59.120 --> 00:03:02.919
We're not in CA anymore? This is not the band

45
00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:07.800
I remember this. The psychedelic rock is gone. This is

46
00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:14.599
pure eighties pop. This is electronic drum machine. What has happened?

47
00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:18.719
And well? I then started listening to the song and

48
00:03:18.719 --> 00:03:20.400
then I hit repeat, and then I listened to the

49
00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:22.280
song and I hit repeat, and I listened to the

50
00:03:22.319 --> 00:03:24.199
song and then I just kept repeating it over and

51
00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:25.919
over and over and over and over. I'm like, what

52
00:03:26.120 --> 00:03:29.039
is going on here? First I was just because something

53
00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:34.039
had changed. The band was not what they were. Something

54
00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:38.000
had changed, and it was catchy. It was like an earworm, right,

55
00:03:38.039 --> 00:03:41.280
It gets into your head. You can't get away from it.

56
00:03:41.680 --> 00:03:43.960
But then I started trying to figure out what the

57
00:03:44.039 --> 00:03:49.800
song was about, and I came to a conclusion about

58
00:03:49.800 --> 00:03:52.319
what it was about. And then I kind of found

59
00:03:52.319 --> 00:03:59.280
myself nobody agrees with me. Nobody agrees and year after

60
00:03:59.439 --> 00:04:02.439
year after year, we'd hear people talk about this. We

61
00:04:02.599 --> 00:04:05.400
Built This City by Starship, released on September the tenth,

62
00:04:05.520 --> 00:04:08.560
nineteen eighty five. If you don't know, it has been

63
00:04:08.759 --> 00:04:14.919
voted on many lists as the worst song of all time.

64
00:04:15.039 --> 00:04:17.120
It's been voted one of the worst songs of all

65
00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:20.560
time or the worst song of all times. I mean,

66
00:04:20.839 --> 00:04:26.680
the song is despised and hated by music critics. They

67
00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:29.519
loathe it. Now many fans kind of look back on

68
00:04:29.639 --> 00:04:32.600
it with kind of a nostalgic view and they're like, oh,

69
00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:36.000
that was the eighties. That was so much fun. Music

70
00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:39.600
was so happy. But even when they start talking about it,

71
00:04:39.639 --> 00:04:43.759
I'm like, when the critics give their interpretation, I'm kind

72
00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:46.959
of like, no, disagree. When the average person talks about it,

73
00:04:47.000 --> 00:04:48.639
I'm like, did you even listen to what the song

74
00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:50.959
was about? So I find myself kind of on the

75
00:04:51.040 --> 00:04:55.240
outside and well, I don't agree with anyone, And so

76
00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.839
it makes me think in some ways of my reviewing

77
00:04:58.920 --> 00:05:03.160
sermons and biblical hermaeutics, because so many times I'm like, wait, well,

78
00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:05.759
what is the what are you talking about? Some people

79
00:05:05.839 --> 00:05:08.000
just look at the text of scriptures such a shallow

80
00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:10.199
way and I'm like, that's that's not what the text

81
00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:12.800
is about. Others try to give an interpretation, and I'm like,

82
00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.560
that's not what the text is about. So in some ways,

83
00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:20.680
when I whenever I hear we built this city by starship,

84
00:05:20.800 --> 00:05:25.480
I immediately now think about my never ending frustration with

85
00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:28.800
Christianity and with biblical hermaeutics. I know it's kind of

86
00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:32.920
you may feel like that's a weird, weird connection, but

87
00:05:33.040 --> 00:05:35.000
I think it's all going to make sense before we

88
00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:38.800
done so. So we're gonna just just for those who,

89
00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:41.000
just just so that you remember, I've got to at

90
00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:50.079
least do it one more time, right this what this city?

91
00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:52.240
I mean? Come on, I mean, don't you remember that?

92
00:05:52.279 --> 00:05:54.040
I mean some of you. If you don't, just look

93
00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:56.319
it up. We built this city by starship on your

94
00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:59.680
favorite music streaming app. Go listen to it now, right

95
00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:02.399
because you'll know what I'm talking about. And you may

96
00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:04.920
want to pull up the lyrics because we may need

97
00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:07.040
those lyrics. I have all the lyrics right here. We

98
00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:09.160
may have to look at them. But let me try

99
00:06:09.199 --> 00:06:12.480
to explain what is going on. Let me try to explain.

100
00:06:12.519 --> 00:06:15.920
I gotta pull up here all of my notes because

101
00:06:15.920 --> 00:06:18.079
I have a lot of notes. Here's what was happening.

102
00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:24.600
I was having a conversation with AI. What That's how

103
00:06:24.639 --> 00:06:27.920
I ended up here, right, I started having a conversation

104
00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:30.839
with AI, and here's what was going on. I was

105
00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:35.639
trying to see how AI works and creating basically a

106
00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:39.759
playlist of music. Right. I was just looking around, going Okay,

107
00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:43.800
how could AI be utilized to bring up music? And

108
00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.040
there's some things that can do pretty well, other things

109
00:06:46.040 --> 00:06:50.639
that can't. But it's really good at saying hey, November.

110
00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.079
And this is what I said. I said, AI, please

111
00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:58.079
give me the top thirty songs of November the eighteenth,

112
00:06:58.639 --> 00:07:04.120
nineteen eighty five. Give me the top thirty songs of

113
00:07:04.480 --> 00:07:07.720
November the eighteenth, nineteen eighty five, because today is November

114
00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.439
the eighteenth. I just randomly chose eighty five. There was

115
00:07:10.480 --> 00:07:14.399
no reason I prefer. I typically prefer more modern music

116
00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:17.279
than older music because I hate nostalgia. I hate that

117
00:07:17.319 --> 00:07:20.000
whole thing. Right, I listen to older music, but I

118
00:07:20.040 --> 00:07:22.399
prefer to be listening to what came out, you know,

119
00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.439
well on Friday, I want to I want to be

120
00:07:25.480 --> 00:07:27.839
listening to all the new albums, not so much the old.

121
00:07:28.079 --> 00:07:30.920
But AI is not really good at getting me the

122
00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:33.839
what's current on the charts. Now, if I can ask

123
00:07:33.959 --> 00:07:37.360
just the top songs of the top thirty songs of

124
00:07:37.399 --> 00:07:42.319
November eighteenth, twenty twenty four, it will give me the

125
00:07:42.360 --> 00:07:45.079
top Billboard. I think I can't say November the eighteenth,

126
00:07:45.160 --> 00:07:48.079
I just have to say November twenty twenty four, and

127
00:07:48.120 --> 00:07:50.040
then it will pull the top thirty songs from the

128
00:07:50.040 --> 00:07:54.120
Billboard Billboard Top one hundred and so that works really well.

129
00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:56.279
I can keep up with what's going on on the

130
00:07:56.279 --> 00:07:58.680
current chart because I think the current Billboard chart is

131
00:07:58.759 --> 00:08:01.879
dated November the second. I believe I'd have to would

132
00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.439
have to verify that or aless that's the most current information.

133
00:08:04.600 --> 00:08:07.600
AI will, we'll, we'll get so so I but if

134
00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:09.920
I go back to older I can get to a

135
00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:13.839
very specific date, and AI is perfect at that. So

136
00:08:13.959 --> 00:08:16.399
I pulled up thirty songs. There were some songs on

137
00:08:16.439 --> 00:08:19.439
there that I knew. Glenn Fry was on there from

138
00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:22.399
I think the album All Nighter, and then there was

139
00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:27.600
We Built This City by Starship, and I was like, huh, okay.

140
00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:30.839
So I just started listening to the song and I

141
00:08:30.879 --> 00:08:34.120
listened to it a couple of times, and I was like, Hmmm,

142
00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.200
I wonder if AI has anything to say about the song.

143
00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.600
I wonder if AI will say anything about all of

144
00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:46.720
the controversy that I've had to argue about basically my end,

145
00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:49.200
and ever since September the tenth, nineteen eighty five, I've

146
00:08:49.240 --> 00:08:51.639
been arguing about this song. I feel like from the

147
00:08:51.759 --> 00:08:54.639
day I purchased the album, all right, so I'm like,

148
00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:56.879
I wonder, I wonder. So the name of the album

149
00:08:56.919 --> 00:08:59.559
is Knee Deep in Hoopla, and this is what AI

150
00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:02.679
had to say say. Knee Deep in Hooplaw is the

151
00:09:02.759 --> 00:09:06.120
debut studio album by the American rock band Starship, which

152
00:09:06.159 --> 00:09:08.120
is just crazy to hear them. It refers to them

153
00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:11.440
as the debut studio album, but because the band had changed,

154
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:14.639
there was lawsuits, there was issues over So this is

155
00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:17.639
kind of the reformation of I guess we'll call them

156
00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.600
Starship and their debut album. I won't get into an

157
00:09:20.720 --> 00:09:23.399
entire long history of you know, rock and roll, but

158
00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:26.519
here we go. So this was their debut studio album

159
00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:29.080
by the American rock band Starship, released on September of

160
00:09:29.080 --> 00:09:35.799
the tenth, nineteen eighty five. The album marked a significant

161
00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:43.440
shift from the band's earlier psychedelic rock roots, embracing a

162
00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:50.879
more polished pop rock sound characteristic of the mid nineteen eighties.

163
00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:55.759
So the release an album that shows a major transition,

164
00:09:56.559 --> 00:10:01.960
a major move away from the past and embracing the

165
00:10:02.120 --> 00:10:08.240
sounds of nineteen eighty five drum machines, synthesizers. Some may

166
00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:11.960
say way over produced, all of the studio effects that

167
00:10:12.360 --> 00:10:16.240
so characterize nineteen eighties music. You hear nineteen eighties music,

168
00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:19.840
you know it because of the studio production. Now, there

169
00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:23.240
were some bands in the eighties who kind of rejected

170
00:10:23.240 --> 00:10:26.480
that sound and rejected that production, and they kept a

171
00:10:26.480 --> 00:10:32.559
more raw sound and more organic, not so overly produced.

172
00:10:32.679 --> 00:10:35.919
But the sound of the album Knee Deep in Hooplah

173
00:10:36.080 --> 00:10:43.159
is clearly right smack in the middle of nineteen eighties

174
00:10:43.240 --> 00:10:47.320
pop music. Now, the key tracks on the album is obviously,

175
00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.320
we Built this City. This was the lead single, and

176
00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:52.879
it became a number one hit on the Billboard Hot

177
00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:56.120
one hundred chart. Now, remember it was popular. Even though

178
00:10:56.120 --> 00:10:58.759
it's been voted the worst song of all time, it

179
00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:02.879
was popular. It made it to number one. Obviously, the

180
00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.440
second song that was so popular in the album, everyone

181
00:11:05.480 --> 00:11:09.519
knows what was her name? Come on, everyone, what was

182
00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:12.919
her name. Her name was Sarah Right. That was the

183
00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:16.200
name of the song. It's called se ok. It was

184
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:21.080
another chart topping single, showcasing the bands the band's softer,

185
00:11:21.399 --> 00:11:26.399
more melodic side right Now the album details it was

186
00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:30.440
labeled pop rock. That was the genre. Okay, our album

187
00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:33.960
oriented rock AOAR, as it's often referred to in the

188
00:11:34.039 --> 00:11:37.960
music industry. The album was about forty minutes long, and

189
00:11:38.039 --> 00:11:40.679
Peter Wolfe, interesting enough, was one of the producers. But

190
00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.000
I won't get into his significance or anything. See. I

191
00:11:44.120 --> 00:11:45.759
was one of those people who spent all my time

192
00:11:45.799 --> 00:11:48.960
reading every bit of the liner notes in an album. Right,

193
00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:51.480
I wanted to read everything. I want to go, Oh,

194
00:11:52.000 --> 00:11:54.679
who is the studio musicians? If they used them? Use them?

195
00:11:54.759 --> 00:11:57.919
Who was the songwriters? Who was the producer? All right Now.

196
00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:02.679
Upon its release, Knee Deep in Hooplaw received mixed reviews.

197
00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:07.879
While some critics praised its catchy melodies and production qualities,

198
00:12:08.679 --> 00:12:13.120
others criticized it for straying too far from the band's

199
00:12:13.279 --> 00:12:16.240
original sound. Now a lot of people do that they

200
00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:18.879
love a band and they want that band to sound

201
00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:22.480
the same five years from now, ten years from now,

202
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:26.759
thirty years from now. It's typically older people. I don't

203
00:12:26.799 --> 00:12:29.240
know what's wrong with music today because they want everything

204
00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.240
to sound like it did fifty years ago. I don't

205
00:12:31.240 --> 00:12:34.320
know why they. I don't want music to ever change.

206
00:12:34.600 --> 00:12:37.200
Just keep giving me the hits, and it's like, come on,

207
00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:39.639
music is supposed to change. It's supposed to evolve, and

208
00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:43.919
bands should evolve. If a band doesn't evolve, that's a

209
00:12:43.960 --> 00:12:48.159
negative thing. But people criticized it. Now I was confused

210
00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:51.200
by it. I didn't criticize it. I was like, wait,

211
00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:53.919
what happened to the band? This is not this is

212
00:12:53.960 --> 00:12:57.799
not the Starship the Jefferson Airplane of the past. What happened? Right?

213
00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:01.080
But wait, Grace Slickett, Okay, get all the discussions I

214
00:13:01.120 --> 00:13:05.039
was having with myself about music. But I was like, huh,

215
00:13:05.080 --> 00:13:06.799
what's going on? So I kept listening to the song

216
00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:08.679
over and over and over, and I think it took

217
00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:10.799
me forever to get to Sarah because I just kept

218
00:13:10.799 --> 00:13:12.639
listening to We Built the City, We Built the City,

219
00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:17.039
because I was like, what is going on here? But

220
00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:22.519
even though it received mixed reviews, the album achieved commercial success,

221
00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:28.080
being certified platinum by the RIAA. The recording industry of

222
00:13:28.120 --> 00:13:30.440
whatever it is America. Well, I don't remember what all

223
00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.960
the acronym stands for, but the Association of America something

224
00:13:33.960 --> 00:13:38.039
along those lines. But it was certified platinum, all right,

225
00:13:38.480 --> 00:13:41.039
So it was a hit. It was a hit ladies

226
00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:43.960
and gentlemen. It was a hit. Now people later on. Now,

227
00:13:44.039 --> 00:13:46.240
the critics hated it. And that happens all the times

228
00:13:46.600 --> 00:13:51.440
in music, right, Sometimes the albums the critics love, the

229
00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:55.759
people hate, and sometimes the albums that the people love

230
00:13:56.279 --> 00:13:59.679
the critics hate. That's kind of the way it works. Now.

231
00:13:59.720 --> 00:14:04.519
Over the years, Knee Deep in Hoopla has been both

232
00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:11.960
celebrated for its mainstream appeal, but it's also been critiqued

233
00:14:12.279 --> 00:14:15.879
for its departure from the band's earlier, more experimental work.

234
00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.879
The track We Built This City has been particularly polarizing,

235
00:14:23.480 --> 00:14:30.039
often cided in discussions about nineteen eighties pop music. So

236
00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:39.120
the song has been criticized and debated. Now, I don't

237
00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:41.159
know if you were ever a part of the debates.

238
00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:45.360
I don't know what side you may be in on

239
00:14:45.480 --> 00:14:49.840
the debates about the song, but I had strong opinions

240
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.440
about it. So I was like, well, okay Ai at

241
00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:57.559
least acknowledges that the song was polarizing and it was

242
00:14:57.639 --> 00:15:01.279
often cited in discussions about nineteen eighties pop music. Yes,

243
00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:05.679
it's cited, it's debated, it's argued, and people tend to

244
00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.960
have strong emotions about it. I mean, look, if the

245
00:15:08.039 --> 00:15:10.639
song is voted one of the worst songs ever written,

246
00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:18.600
then clearly there are strong emotions about it. So I

247
00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:23.679
had to ask Ai why I think I asked it

248
00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:28.360
this way? What was what was these or what was

249
00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.960
there so much debated about we Built the City? I

250
00:15:31.000 --> 00:15:32.759
think I worded it incorrectly. Hey, I knew what I

251
00:15:32.840 --> 00:15:34.200
was trying to say. I think of what I was

252
00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.759
asking or trying to ask us? What was so debated

253
00:15:36.759 --> 00:15:39.879
about the song? Why was the song so debated about?

254
00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:44.399
What was the issue with the song? So Ai responded,

255
00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.240
The song We Built a City by Starship has been

256
00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:55.919
one of the most polarizing songs and music history, sparking debate, debates,

257
00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:02.879
debates among critics and listeners, and even the band members themselves.

258
00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.799
Everyone has an opinion about the band members aren't happy

259
00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:09.960
with it, critics hated, Fans either love it or hated.

260
00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:15.639
Everyone has strong opinions and my estimation, everyone misinterprets the song.

261
00:16:15.799 --> 00:16:22.039
That's my own interpretation. So here is AI's explanation for

262
00:16:22.120 --> 00:16:28.039
why this song is the most polarizing song in music history.

263
00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:31.960
What is it about? We built this city? We built

264
00:16:31.960 --> 00:16:35.120
this city on rock and roll? How could that spark

265
00:16:36.039 --> 00:16:41.519
so much debate? How could that lead to all of this? Well?

266
00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:48.120
Number one, AI points out that many feel that there

267
00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:53.200
is a disconnect between the theme of the song and

268
00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:57.480
the execution of the song. They feel that there's a disconnect. Hey,

269
00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:00.519
here's the theme, but here's how we're going to execute it,

270
00:17:00.559 --> 00:17:04.319
And people's like these these are contradicting, and I disagree

271
00:17:04.319 --> 00:17:07.720
with this estimation, But here's what they say. The song

272
00:17:08.000 --> 00:17:14.279
was intended to criticize the corporate idea of the music industry,

273
00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:18.440
that the music industry had become so corporate, with lyrics

274
00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:23.400
reflecting a yearning for the authenticity of rock and roll.

275
00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:26.000
So the song is supposed to be like, what happened

276
00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:31.440
to music? It's become corporate, it's become mainstream. Don't you

277
00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:35.039
remember that we built this city on rock and roll?

278
00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.559
Don't you remember how music was? Don't you long for

279
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.839
how it was? They say that's what the song was about,

280
00:17:43.559 --> 00:17:45.960
but they felt that there was a disconnect between that

281
00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:51.839
theme and the execution because critics would point out that

282
00:17:52.000 --> 00:18:00.759
the polished production, the synthesized sound, the drum machines, had

283
00:18:00.799 --> 00:18:04.559
a corporate feel for the song and that it clashed

284
00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:10.400
with its anti corporate message. To some, it symbolized the

285
00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:15.680
very thing it criticized. So for many critics there would

286
00:18:15.680 --> 00:18:19.200
be like, this song is the very thing it's criticizing.

287
00:18:19.559 --> 00:18:24.359
It's criticizing what music is. Well, it's the very thing

288
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:27.920
it's criticizing, and everyone like, there's a disconnect. And I

289
00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:33.359
wanted to scream, there's not a disconnect. It's supposed to

290
00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:37.400
be what it's criticizing. How are you not catching on?

291
00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.720
I will explain my interpretation in a minute. But everyone

292
00:18:40.759 --> 00:18:43.440
felt that there was a disconnect. That the theme was

293
00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:48.920
what happened to music became so corporate, seem become so commercialized,

294
00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:53.119
so mainstream, we've it's lost the reality of what rock

295
00:18:53.160 --> 00:18:56.799
and roll was. And then the lyrics are don't you

296
00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:59.880
remember we built this city on rock and roll? Don't

297
00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:05.319
you remember that? Don't you long for that? And people say, well,

298
00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:09.440
there's a disconnect because the song musically is exactly what

299
00:19:09.559 --> 00:19:13.400
it's criticizing. I think that's the whole point. Most people

300
00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:18.640
did not see that. A second criticism, it was a

301
00:19:18.720 --> 00:19:26.200
departure from Jefferson Airplane's roots. Starship was an evolution of

302
00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:31.200
Jefferson Airplane, a band famous for its nineteen sixties counterculture

303
00:19:31.240 --> 00:19:35.240
and psychedelic rock. Fans of Jefferson Airplane viewed the We

304
00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:39.240
Built This City as a betrayal of the band's rebellious roots,

305
00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:44.079
embracing mainstream, commercialized pop instead of their earlier experimental style.

306
00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:47.839
So people like back in the day, they weren't sellouts,

307
00:19:48.160 --> 00:19:51.759
they stayed true. I don't want and I can't stand that.

308
00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:57.359
Oh I hate people. Look if something changes and becomes

309
00:19:57.359 --> 00:20:00.440
more commercialized or more mainstream, you don't I hate it

310
00:20:00.599 --> 00:20:04.720
just because it's commercialized or mainstream. That's just ridiculous, Right,

311
00:20:05.200 --> 00:20:07.559
you like it, It doesn't matter if it's popular. It doesn't

312
00:20:07.559 --> 00:20:11.799
matter if it's unpopular. Don't allow unpopularity to control you

313
00:20:12.039 --> 00:20:16.119
or popularity to control you. Let the song control you. Okay,

314
00:20:16.359 --> 00:20:19.680
So did the band change? Absolutely? And I think it

315
00:20:19.720 --> 00:20:22.519
was Jefferson air I think it went jeff Jefferson Airplane,

316
00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:25.920
Starship then Jefferson Starship, Or did it go Jefferson Airplane,

317
00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:29.079
Jefferson Starship then just Starship. I can't remember. I think

318
00:20:29.079 --> 00:20:31.759
there was three different names at some point. You can

319
00:20:31.880 --> 00:20:34.359
verify that. I'm going from memory here. I could look

320
00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.400
it up, but I'm going from memory. But on September

321
00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.880
the tenth, nineteen eighty five, they were simply called Starship,

322
00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:44.400
and that was their debut album as Starship. So, in

323
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:48.440
a roundabout way, why are we connecting them to their

324
00:20:48.480 --> 00:20:52.240
previous work? They're really different now, right, and so the

325
00:20:52.359 --> 00:20:55.440
name is different and it's a different era, it's a

326
00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:59.440
different sound. Now, let's base it off that. But okay,

327
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:04.400
so some people had criticism there. Number three. Some people

328
00:21:04.440 --> 00:21:09.799
criticized the song because of its polarizing production style. The

329
00:21:09.920 --> 00:21:13.440
nineteen eighties production was characterized by heavy use of synthesizers

330
00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:15.039
and drum machines. And all you have to do is

331
00:21:15.039 --> 00:21:17.000
listen to we Built this City. As soon as they're

332
00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:19.799
done with that a cappella, we built this City, boom,

333
00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:23.000
the drum machine comes in heavy. While this was popular

334
00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:25.319
at the time, some critics felt it made the song

335
00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:30.279
overly artificial and generic. Well, again, I think you're missing

336
00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.200
the point. It's supposed to be overly artificial, it's supposed

337
00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.839
to be generic. It's supposed to be the very thing

338
00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:42.680
that you're complaining about, because that's the whole point of

339
00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:45.279
the song. All right, but okay, all right, I'll give

340
00:21:45.279 --> 00:21:51.079
you my interpretition in a minute. Now. There were criticisms.

341
00:21:53.319 --> 00:21:57.640
There was criticisms about the lyrics. One lyric was Marconi

342
00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:02.720
plays the mamba. This somehow confused listeners and was seen

343
00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:08.160
as nonsensical or overly abstract. How could you not understand

344
00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.759
Marconi plays the mamba? How do you not understand Marconi

345
00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:15.680
plays the mamba? Marconi is the guy who created radio.

346
00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:20.880
Radio plays the mamba. It's the idea that radio was created,

347
00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:25.039
and well, over time, it gave us different sounds and

348
00:22:25.079 --> 00:22:29.000
we explored and discovered music. Marconi plays the mamba is

349
00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:32.559
about radio. How do you not get that? Right? Like,

350
00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:36.200
come on, people, right, okay, But once again, this is

351
00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:39.880
how why I connect this to biblical hermeneutics. People couldn't.

352
00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:43.160
Now I do agree, and September tenth, nineteen eighty five,

353
00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:46.359
to be fair, I will be fair here. When I

354
00:22:46.480 --> 00:22:49.160
first listened to the song, A lot I don't know

355
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:53.480
because I typically don't look at the lyrics at first, right,

356
00:22:53.519 --> 00:22:55.799
I typically don't look at the lyrics at first I

357
00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:58.519
just listened to the song, right, I listened to the music,

358
00:22:58.599 --> 00:23:00.400
the production, and then letter on and I get to

359
00:23:00.440 --> 00:23:03.759
the lyrics. So there was a period of time that

360
00:23:03.799 --> 00:23:06.839
Marconi plays the Mamba. I think I thought it was

361
00:23:06.839 --> 00:23:10.480
saying something like Macaroni plays the mamba, and I was like,

362
00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.079
what is this? What is it? And I think I

363
00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:16.200
heard a lot of people are interpreted Marconi plays the

364
00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:19.519
mamba as Macaroni, and I was like, no, it's Marconi.

365
00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:21.839
After I realized that it was Marconi, then I was

366
00:23:22.079 --> 00:23:26.559
And I don't think I initially knew. I think I

367
00:23:26.599 --> 00:23:29.279
had to go I read something trying to figure out

368
00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:31.839
what Marconi was about, and then realize I can't remember

369
00:23:31.920 --> 00:23:34.160
his first name started with a G. I don't have

370
00:23:34.200 --> 00:23:37.559
it in front of me, but Marconi something G. Marconi

371
00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:40.960
was like the creator of radio, of the radio, and

372
00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:43.200
so then well you can see what's going on here.

373
00:23:44.079 --> 00:23:46.880
But a lot of people criticize lyrics like that, but

374
00:23:46.920 --> 00:23:49.480
their criticism was based on them not understanding the lyric.

375
00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:52.480
Don't criticize the lyric if you don't understand the lyric.

376
00:23:52.759 --> 00:23:56.039
Don't say it's nonsensical. It's only nonsensical because you don't

377
00:23:56.119 --> 00:24:02.680
understand it now. Another reason it was criticized is overexposure.

378
00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:07.680
The song's immense popularity made it. I mean, you couldn't

379
00:24:07.799 --> 00:24:10.400
escape it. It was ubiquitous. You could not escape it

380
00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.839
in the eighties, so it led to listener fatigue. And

381
00:24:12.839 --> 00:24:16.480
guess what, anytime a song becomes overplayed, people are going

382
00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:19.079
to hate it. I hate this song because I've heard

383
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:22.359
it too many times. If I heard it fifteen times,

384
00:24:22.359 --> 00:24:24.359
I would like it. But I've heard it fifty, so

385
00:24:24.480 --> 00:24:27.680
now it's trash. What I guess if you hear a

386
00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:30.119
song too many times, it's not good. What's that number?

387
00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:32.960
Is it twenty times? Thirty times? Here's a novel idea.

388
00:24:33.160 --> 00:24:35.319
Instead of listening to a radio that only has a

389
00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:37.839
playlist of forty or fifty songs, you could just go

390
00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.599
listen to other things and still appreciate the song. Just

391
00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:43.839
because you heard it too much, that's your problem. That's

392
00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:45.599
not a problem with the song. That's a problem with you.

393
00:24:46.920 --> 00:24:49.920
Oh people of music drive me crazy? All right? But

394
00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:54.519
number six another criticism of the song as well. It's

395
00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:59.880
been voted the worst song ever all right. Blender magazine

396
00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:04.839
one named it the worst song of all time. Critics

397
00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:08.920
called it empty and vapid, accusing it of being emblematic

398
00:25:09.000 --> 00:25:12.519
of everything wrong with nineteen eighties pop, and it's like,

399
00:25:13.720 --> 00:25:17.079
that's the point of this song. What is wrong with

400
00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:20.799
you people? How do you not understand a pop song?

401
00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:23.960
If you can't understand a pop song, then by all means,

402
00:25:24.000 --> 00:25:27.519
don't try to interpret anything deeper. You're going to harm yourself.

403
00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:33.079
It's supposed to be empty, it's supposed to be vapid,

404
00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.160
it's supposed to be emblematic of everything wrong with them,

405
00:25:36.359 --> 00:25:43.240
because the song constantly says, do you remember? Do you remember? What?

406
00:25:43.279 --> 00:25:46.519
Are you remembering? You're remembering what music was, But this

407
00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:52.039
is what music is now. It's it's to be a contrast.

408
00:25:54.519 --> 00:25:57.160
Even the band members didn't necessarily like the song, and

409
00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:00.279
many of them saying that they had little creative control

410
00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:04.599
over the song's direction. So the band members don't like it.

411
00:26:04.640 --> 00:26:06.559
They didn't like it, but they felt that it was

412
00:26:06.599 --> 00:26:08.759
out of there. They didn't have any control. The producers

413
00:26:08.759 --> 00:26:10.519
are like, this is what we're doing now. I don't

414
00:26:10.559 --> 00:26:13.759
know if the producers had what I think should be

415
00:26:13.839 --> 00:26:16.880
the interpretation in mind, but whether it was the intended

416
00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:23.039
interpretation or the intended meaning, I think the meaning is well,

417
00:26:23.079 --> 00:26:27.839
I think it's really clear. So I then asked AI

418
00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.440
was like, because AI said all of that, So I

419
00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:34.880
was like, well, wait a minute here, I've got a

420
00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:39.160
problem here. So I was like, wait a minute. So

421
00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:41.759
I started having a debate with AI, and I was like,

422
00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:46.079
basically my argument was, I think everyone has misinterpreted the song.

423
00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:50.480
I think everyone is wrong here. So I wrote something

424
00:26:50.599 --> 00:26:54.279
like this, is it possible? I finally had to say

425
00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:56.960
is it possible? Because we were going back and forth,

426
00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:01.880
So finally I asked, Ai, is it possible everyone is

427
00:27:02.119 --> 00:27:08.960
missing how this song could be understood as being brilliant?

428
00:27:09.400 --> 00:27:13.200
The song mentions and then I quoted some lyrics you

429
00:27:13.319 --> 00:27:19.160
don't know me or recognize my face? Don't you remember?

430
00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:24.279
And then I stated the song seems to be calling

431
00:27:24.559 --> 00:27:29.799
to remember what music was, while giving the message using

432
00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:34.880
the music of the time as an example of how

433
00:27:34.920 --> 00:27:38.920
it changed. The whole point of the song is, Hey,

434
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:42.880
you don't even recognize my face. Don't you remember? The

435
00:27:43.039 --> 00:27:46.480
city was built on rock and roll? But it's changed,

436
00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.200
it's different. Well, what's the best way to communicate that change?

437
00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:54.839
By making a song utilizing the pop music of nineteen

438
00:27:54.880 --> 00:27:59.240
eighty five? In all of its overproduction, it's synthesizers, it's

439
00:27:59.319 --> 00:28:02.200
drum machine, and then using it in a way that

440
00:28:02.240 --> 00:28:06.880
may seem somewhat vapid or empty or meaningless to really

441
00:28:07.000 --> 00:28:13.240
capture what it's trying to say. So AI took a minute.

442
00:28:13.319 --> 00:28:16.519
AI kind of was like, huh, I'm not so sure.

443
00:28:16.559 --> 00:28:20.599
And then AI was like, well, that's an intriguing interpretation,

444
00:28:22.279 --> 00:28:26.759
and it's entirely possible that we built this city is

445
00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:33.000
more layered and intentional than it's often given credit for.

446
00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:38.599
Ai said this, your perspective speaking of me highlights a

447
00:28:38.640 --> 00:28:43.920
potential brilliance in the song that critiques the industry while

448
00:28:43.960 --> 00:28:51.839
also participating in it, serving as both a message and

449
00:28:51.839 --> 00:28:58.480
an example of its point. Here's how your interpretation could

450
00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:02.039
reshape the way we understand the song. And I almost like, oh,

451
00:29:02.119 --> 00:29:04.880
I wasn't expecting Ai to do this. I was like, oh, yes,

452
00:29:05.400 --> 00:29:09.160
So Ai decided to take my interpretation, apply it to

453
00:29:09.240 --> 00:29:11.480
the song and see if it works. And I was like,

454
00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:14.440
I can't wait. I've been debating this at September the

455
00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:18.400
tenth of nineteen eighty five. It's now November twenty twenty four.

456
00:29:19.000 --> 00:29:22.880
Finally maybe someone will agree with me. And I'm going

457
00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:25.440
to have to turn to a non human to get agreement. Okay,

458
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:28.680
So I'm like, come on, AI, come on, say something

459
00:29:28.799 --> 00:29:34.200
positive here. So AI broke down my interpretation into the

460
00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:44.839
following points. Number one a call to remember music's roots.

461
00:29:45.319 --> 00:29:47.720
So it takes my interpretation and says, maybe if we

462
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:50.960
go with my interpretation, the song is a call to

463
00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:58.039
remember music's roots. The lyrics you don't know me or

464
00:29:58.119 --> 00:30:02.160
recognize my face? And don't you remember we built this

465
00:30:02.240 --> 00:30:05.319
city on rock and roll could be interpreted as a

466
00:30:05.359 --> 00:30:10.119
plea for listeners to remember the origins of music, the role,

467
00:30:10.640 --> 00:30:16.640
rebellious and authentic energy of rock and roll. The song

468
00:30:16.759 --> 00:30:20.119
might be speaking as the voice of rock itself, lamenting

469
00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:27.200
how it has been forgotten or transformed by commercial interest.

470
00:30:27.960 --> 00:30:29.599
Now I think that there's a lot of truth today.

471
00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.880
In fact, let me go back to the song. Let

472
00:30:32.880 --> 00:30:35.880
me read the lyrics here, all right. It starts off,

473
00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:38.400
we built this city. We built this city on rock

474
00:30:38.440 --> 00:30:41.279
and roll. Built this city, We built this city on

475
00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:43.279
rock and roll. And then immediately look what it says,

476
00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:49.640
say you don't know me or recognize my face, say

477
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:52.599
you don't care? Who goes to that kind of place?

478
00:30:53.480 --> 00:30:58.559
Knee deep in hooplah, sinking in your fight. Too many

479
00:30:58.640 --> 00:31:05.119
runways the night. Marconi plays the mamba. Now listen, listen

480
00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:08.720
to the radio. See Marcona plays the mamba. Listen to

481
00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:11.640
the radio. Marcona is the inventor of radio. Listen to

482
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:13.720
the radio. And then it says, okay, so you've got

483
00:31:13.720 --> 00:31:18.839
Marconi plays the mamba. There's radio. Listen to the radio.

484
00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:26.960
And when you listen to the radio, don't you remember? Now? Why?

485
00:31:27.160 --> 00:31:31.000
What don't? It's almost asking don't you remember? Because if

486
00:31:31.039 --> 00:31:33.400
you listen now you may not hear it. In fact,

487
00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:36.799
the example is the song that's playing we built the

488
00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:41.559
City is using the very music of nineteen eighty five,

489
00:31:41.920 --> 00:31:44.240
and what it's saying is, hey, hey, hey, you listen

490
00:31:44.279 --> 00:31:46.319
to the radio. What you're gonna hear we built the city?

491
00:31:46.519 --> 00:31:53.279
But don't you remember? We built this city on rock

492
00:31:53.319 --> 00:31:56.759
and roll? We built this city. We built the city

493
00:31:56.799 --> 00:31:58.559
on rock and roll. Built this city. We built the

494
00:31:58.599 --> 00:32:02.359
city on rock and roll. Some one's always playing corporation games.

495
00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:06.680
Who cares? They're always changing corporation names. We just want

496
00:32:06.720 --> 00:32:09.920
to dance here. Someone stole the stage. They call us

497
00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:14.160
irresponsible and write us off the page. Macaroni plays the Mamba.

498
00:32:14.319 --> 00:32:16.839
Listen to the radio, don't you remember we built this city?

499
00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:19.720
See it constantly is saying, here's what's going on, but

500
00:32:19.920 --> 00:32:22.640
don't you remember, Well, guess what's the best way to

501
00:32:22.680 --> 00:32:27.759
communicate that with the very music that encapsulates the very

502
00:32:27.880 --> 00:32:32.440
thing they're wanting? Their their mourning, their mourning. What happened

503
00:32:32.440 --> 00:32:35.079
to music? By giving you the music of the time.

504
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:42.519
It's brilliant, but most people misunderstand it. Now back to

505
00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:47.440
Ai Ai goes back. If I can here, if I

506
00:32:47.480 --> 00:32:54.079
can go all the way back. So the song might

507
00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:56.279
be speaking as basically as the voice of rock and roll,

508
00:32:56.359 --> 00:32:59.559
lamenting how it had been forgotten or transformed by commercial interests.

509
00:32:59.680 --> 00:33:03.119
The music had been transformed, don't you remember? What's a

510
00:33:03.119 --> 00:33:05.480
good way to know that it's been transformed? Listen to

511
00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:09.079
We Built the City by Starship September the tenth, nineteen

512
00:33:09.119 --> 00:33:11.880
eighty five, and you'll hear how music had changed dramatically

513
00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:14.200
from the past. So it's a call to remember music

514
00:33:14.279 --> 00:33:18.359
roots Number two, using nineteen eighties pop music to make

515
00:33:18.400 --> 00:33:23.759
the point. The polished, synthesizer heavy production might not just

516
00:33:23.839 --> 00:33:28.279
be an unfortunate irony. It could be a deliberate choice

517
00:33:28.319 --> 00:33:32.359
to embody the very critique the song is making. That's

518
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:35.519
been my argument since September the tenth, nineteen eighty five.

519
00:33:36.799 --> 00:33:40.640
By using the mainstream, commercialized sound of the nineteen eighties,

520
00:33:40.960 --> 00:33:45.759
the song reflects how rock and roll has been rebranded

521
00:33:46.200 --> 00:33:50.400
and commodified turn into a commodity. So it uses the

522
00:33:50.519 --> 00:33:54.319
very sound of the eighties to reflect how rock and

523
00:33:54.400 --> 00:33:59.480
roll had been rebranded and commodified. This creates a meta

524
00:33:59.559 --> 00:34:07.359
narrative that the song sound is an example of the

525
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:14.400
very thing it is mourning, that's thinking brilliant, and I

526
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:18.239
don't know how people never cut on the sound. Everyone's

527
00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:23.199
like it's a disconnect. It's not a disconnect, it's it's brilliant.

528
00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:26.880
It's using the very sound to give you an example

529
00:34:26.920 --> 00:34:28.920
of the very thing it's critiquing, or the very thing

530
00:34:28.960 --> 00:34:34.519
it's morning, it's brilliant. A third thing. Then this is

531
00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:37.440
AI taking my interpretation and breaking it down that the

532
00:34:37.480 --> 00:34:41.239
song then becomes a self aware critique. If this interpretation

533
00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:43.840
is correct, speaking of mine we built this city could

534
00:34:43.880 --> 00:34:46.880
be seen as a self aware critique that blurs the

535
00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:52.360
line between message and medium. The lyrics point to the

536
00:34:52.400 --> 00:34:56.280
spirit of rock and roll being co opted the music

537
00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:01.559
demonstrates exactly what the lyrics criticize, creat an intentional tension

538
00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:06.039
that forces the listener to confront the contradiction. Hey, here's

539
00:35:06.039 --> 00:35:08.800
this hoppy Oh it so sounds so and just it.

540
00:35:08.920 --> 00:35:11.400
Just think there's a contradiction in the song, right, it's

541
00:35:11.440 --> 00:35:13.880
this upbeat we built this city. I mean, I mean

542
00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:16.639
I can't play it, but go listen to it. It's upbeat,

543
00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:19.400
it's happy. It almost puts a smile on your face.

544
00:35:19.719 --> 00:35:23.400
But it's a song mourning what had been lost. Don't

545
00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:28.679
you remember we built this city. See what it is

546
00:35:28.679 --> 00:35:34.079
isn't what it was. So the music demonstrates exactly what

547
00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:38.079
the lyrics criticize. It creates an intentional tension that forces

548
00:35:38.079 --> 00:35:41.800
the listener to confront the contradiction. Well, nobody confronted the contradiction.

549
00:35:41.840 --> 00:35:44.960
Everybody's just like it's supposed to be a contradiction there.

550
00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:47.320
We're just like, well, this just is a disconnect. It's

551
00:35:47.400 --> 00:35:49.800
just ironic. It just makes no sense. This is the

552
00:35:49.840 --> 00:35:52.000
worst song ever written. I'm like, you just don't get it.

553
00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:54.280
You don't get it. You don't get it, you don't

554
00:35:54.320 --> 00:36:01.480
get it. Number four Nostalgia meets the present. The line

555
00:36:01.920 --> 00:36:04.519
don't you remember we built the city on rock and roll?

556
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:08.920
Could be seen as addressing an audience that has become

557
00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:13.239
desensitized to music's history and emotional power due to the

558
00:36:13.360 --> 00:36:19.679
rise of commercialized pop. By putting these by just staposing

559
00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:23.239
nostalgia for the past, it's kind of putting these next

560
00:36:23.239 --> 00:36:27.280
to each other. Here's nostalgia for the past with the

561
00:36:27.320 --> 00:36:30.079
reality of nineteen eighties pop music. So you have nostalgia

562
00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:33.880
for the past put next to the reality of nineteen

563
00:36:33.920 --> 00:36:41.000
eighties pop music, the song might ask. Then listeners reflect

564
00:36:41.159 --> 00:36:44.000
on how far the industry has moved from its roots?

565
00:36:44.159 --> 00:36:46.679
Are you don't you remember we built the city on

566
00:36:46.760 --> 00:36:49.199
rock and roll? Now, listen to the song you're listening to.

567
00:36:49.519 --> 00:36:54.800
It's juxtaposing, it's putting them as a way to compare

568
00:36:54.840 --> 00:37:03.440
and contrast. That's brilliant Number five. According to my interpretation,

569
00:37:03.760 --> 00:37:10.239
the song has layers of irony and meaning. Surface irony

570
00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:13.199
on a superficial level, the song seems to embrace the

571
00:37:13.199 --> 00:37:17.199
commercial sound at critiques, making it easy to dismiss as hypocritical,

572
00:37:17.679 --> 00:37:20.360
but there could be a deeper meaning. On a deeper level,

573
00:37:20.599 --> 00:37:24.480
the song's ironic tone could be intentional, forcing listeners to

574
00:37:24.519 --> 00:37:30.559
think critically about the state of music. The upbeat and

575
00:37:30.920 --> 00:37:35.639
basic anthem like style might lord listeners in, only for

576
00:37:35.760 --> 00:37:38.480
the lyrics to remind them of what has been lost,

577
00:37:39.159 --> 00:37:42.039
Like we built this city. Oh this is so good?

578
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:45.320
Wait what am I remembering here? What am I remembering?

579
00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:49.519
We built a city on rock and roll? What a oh? Yeah?

580
00:37:49.559 --> 00:37:56.239
Things have changed? A lot that has changed. It's supposed

581
00:37:56.280 --> 00:37:59.440
to have you after you're kind of lured in with

582
00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:03.039
the anthem and the pop and the drum machines and

583
00:38:03.079 --> 00:38:08.639
the synthesizers, that you're confronted with, Wait, what has been lost?

584
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.000
Number six a deliberate ambiguity. By embracing both the sound

585
00:38:14.039 --> 00:38:17.639
of the times and a critique of the sound, the

586
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:19.719
song walks a fine line that allows it to be

587
00:38:19.719 --> 00:38:24.800
interpreted multiple ways. For fans of nineteen eighties pop, it's

588
00:38:24.840 --> 00:38:30.079
a celebratory anthem. For critics of the music industry, it's

589
00:38:30.119 --> 00:38:36.519
a lament disguised as a hit. That's been my argument

590
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:42.239
since nineteen eighty five. Instead of dismissing we built this

591
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:46.000
City as contradictory or shallow, it might be more accurate

592
00:38:46.039 --> 00:38:50.199
to see it as a brilliant paradox. It critiques the

593
00:38:50.360 --> 00:38:54.360
very system it participates in forcing listeners to wrestle with

594
00:38:54.400 --> 00:38:59.960
the complexities of music, art, and commerce. It's layered message

595
00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:03.280
challenges us to ask whether we've forgotten the true spirit

596
00:39:03.280 --> 00:39:06.599
of rock and roll even as we dance to the

597
00:39:06.639 --> 00:39:13.239
glossy nineteen eighties hit right Hey, have you forgotten the

598
00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:16.079
true meaning of the spirit of Well wait wait, I'll

599
00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:20.119
get back to contemplating the true meaning of the spirit

600
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:23.119
of rock. But I gotta dance right now because we

601
00:39:23.239 --> 00:39:29.199
built the cities on see. I love that contradiction, that conflict,

602
00:39:29.239 --> 00:39:35.079
that contrast. So this is what AI said that my

603
00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:39.199
interpretation offers a fresh and compelling way to view we

604
00:39:39.239 --> 00:39:41.760
built this city as a work of art that's far

605
00:39:41.840 --> 00:39:47.119
more thoughtful and intentional than its critics often acknowledge. By

606
00:39:47.239 --> 00:39:49.760
using the sound of its era to deliver a message

607
00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:52.760
about the transformation of music, it becomes both a time

608
00:39:52.840 --> 00:40:01.400
capsule and a critique, a layered, ironic masterpiece that continues

609
00:40:01.519 --> 00:40:08.440
to provoke discussion all the way to November twenty twenty four.

610
00:40:09.039 --> 00:40:11.840
Because we're still talking about people are still debating the song,

611
00:40:12.119 --> 00:40:17.280
and they just don't get it. They don't see it,

612
00:40:17.320 --> 00:40:20.400
they don't understand, They just hear the drum machine. They

613
00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:23.440
may get the lyrics, but they just miss They missed

614
00:40:23.480 --> 00:40:28.559
the entire point. Now, why have I spent forty minutes

615
00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:33.400
talking about we built this city and offering well the interpretation,

616
00:40:33.440 --> 00:40:35.639
Well one, because I just want everyone to hear my interpretation,

617
00:40:35.840 --> 00:40:37.440
because I've been trying to get people to listen to

618
00:40:37.440 --> 00:40:40.000
me since nineteen eighty five and no. In fact, my

619
00:40:40.119 --> 00:40:43.920
first argument about it was with my English teacher. My

620
00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:47.639
English teacher in high school. She realized that, well, I

621
00:40:47.639 --> 00:40:50.480
didn't fit in with anybody, but I loved music. So

622
00:40:50.960 --> 00:40:53.480
she just had this. She would talk to me about music.

623
00:40:53.760 --> 00:40:55.480
Sometimes at lunch we would go sit in her car

624
00:40:55.519 --> 00:40:58.719
and listen to music, all kinds of things. In fact,

625
00:40:59.000 --> 00:41:03.480
she she knew someone or was dating someone who worked

626
00:41:03.519 --> 00:41:06.360
at the local newspaper, and she let me write a

627
00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:11.360
review about a new Billy Squire album and had it

628
00:41:11.360 --> 00:41:16.440
published in the paper. So that was that was someone

629
00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:18.320
I could talk to music about. And I think I

630
00:41:18.559 --> 00:41:20.880
argued with her about the song. I'm like, what are

631
00:41:20.920 --> 00:41:24.239
you talking about? You're misinterpreting. You're an English teacher. You talk,

632
00:41:24.519 --> 00:41:28.360
you talk, you teach and talk about literature. You can't

633
00:41:28.360 --> 00:41:30.639
interpret a pop song for crying out loud, you need

634
00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:32.599
to quit your job. Okay, I probably said something along

635
00:41:32.599 --> 00:41:34.880
those lines, not probably somewhat in a joking way that

636
00:41:34.960 --> 00:41:38.880
typically my joking gets me in trouble. But I have

637
00:41:38.960 --> 00:41:44.159
always argued that the song is it's so brilliant, but

638
00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:47.519
you gotta see it, Like, if you're going to get

639
00:41:47.519 --> 00:41:50.280
the song, you got to see what it's trying to say. Now,

640
00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:52.719
what does that have to do with hermanutics Because in

641
00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:54.960
some ways, I feel like I've been yelling and screaming

642
00:41:55.360 --> 00:42:02.159
about the same problem with the Bible. Right, here's the Bible,

643
00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:08.719
and the Bible on each page has messages and words,

644
00:42:10.599 --> 00:42:15.480
but those words reflect the time in which they were written.

645
00:42:15.679 --> 00:42:19.760
They reflect a message that was originally given to those

646
00:42:19.800 --> 00:42:23.400
people at that time. And we can't just come in

647
00:42:24.320 --> 00:42:27.239
and just either miss the point or just make it

648
00:42:27.519 --> 00:42:29.719
be whatever we want it to be. You can't just

649
00:42:29.760 --> 00:42:32.159
take I know people love to do that with songs,

650
00:42:32.880 --> 00:42:34.559
just make them to be whatever they wanted to be.

651
00:42:34.800 --> 00:42:36.320
I mean, come on, how many times have you heard

652
00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:40.559
politicians you was born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen.

653
00:42:40.639 --> 00:42:43.840
I mean, come on, born in the USA by Bruce

654
00:42:43.840 --> 00:42:48.280
Springsteen is not a oh America is so good. It

655
00:42:48.519 --> 00:42:53.679
is a critique. It's almost a complaint about America, not

656
00:42:53.800 --> 00:42:56.519
a celebration of it. But because it's done in a

657
00:42:56.599 --> 00:42:59.320
kind of a catchy way, people can't see they can't

658
00:42:59.320 --> 00:43:01.679
see the words. They hear the music, and they miss it.

659
00:43:01.760 --> 00:43:05.880
So many people when they open the Bible, so many pastors,

660
00:43:06.000 --> 00:43:08.800
they don't see the text. They see a sermon. There's

661
00:43:08.840 --> 00:43:10.639
a sermon to be written. And I got to make

662
00:43:10.679 --> 00:43:12.480
it about us, and I gotta make it about me,

663
00:43:12.679 --> 00:43:14.199
and I got to make it about you. And I

664
00:43:14.239 --> 00:43:16.119
got to take these promises and give them to them,

665
00:43:16.480 --> 00:43:19.280
and we destroy the actual meaning of the text. So

666
00:43:19.320 --> 00:43:22.519
many times people destroy the actual meaning of songs because

667
00:43:22.880 --> 00:43:24.960
they just interpret it about them. Now, it's one thing

668
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:28.079
to do it with a pop song, right, you misunderstand

669
00:43:28.559 --> 00:43:31.199
every breath you take by the police. If you misinterpret,

670
00:43:31.559 --> 00:43:33.920
you know, Bruce Springstein born in the US. I could

671
00:43:33.960 --> 00:43:36.400
go on and on, song after song. If you misinterpret

672
00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:40.199
we built this city by Starship, nothing bad happens. I mean,

673
00:43:40.239 --> 00:43:42.239
you walk around claiming the song for this, and I

674
00:43:42.280 --> 00:43:43.880
may look at you like you're out of your mind.

675
00:43:43.920 --> 00:43:47.079
You don't even understand it, right, But when it happens

676
00:43:47.119 --> 00:43:51.599
to the Bible. See, we're very narcissistic. Whether it comes

677
00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:54.920
to poetry, whether it comes to literature, whether it comes

678
00:43:54.920 --> 00:43:57.840
to music. We want to make it about us. We

679
00:43:57.880 --> 00:44:02.719
interpret it through our lens, our emotions, our wants, our desires.

680
00:44:02.840 --> 00:44:11.119
We always make it about us when we come to

681
00:44:11.159 --> 00:44:13.360
the Bible. What we have to figure out is what

682
00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:18.239
is it saying in its time, in its culture, in

683
00:44:18.280 --> 00:44:21.960
its context, by the words that are used. Now, Preacher

684
00:44:22.000 --> 00:44:24.800
after preacher says that that's how they approach the scripture,

685
00:44:24.920 --> 00:44:27.159
and the next thing you know, they're in Isaiah forty

686
00:44:27.320 --> 00:44:30.000
verse one saying that comforts for you and that comforts

687
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:31.960
for me. How did we end up in Isaiah chapter

688
00:44:32.000 --> 00:44:34.480
forty verse one, Or we're in Deuteronomy chapter thirty two.

689
00:44:34.800 --> 00:44:36.480
This is what God does for us? No, this is

690
00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:38.599
what God did for them. Oh oh wait, we're in

691
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:41.639
Hebrew six. Wait, that's about us. Or it could be

692
00:44:41.679 --> 00:44:44.119
about the Jews getting ready to experience the destruction of

693
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:46.639
the temple in seventy a d. Maybe it has something

694
00:44:46.639 --> 00:44:50.000
more to do with them than Oh, it's us, it's us,

695
00:44:50.159 --> 00:44:52.159
and we just we just do whatever we want. And

696
00:44:52.199 --> 00:44:53.880
I think people have been going to we built the

697
00:44:53.960 --> 00:44:58.239
City by Starship since September the tenth, nineteen eighty five.

698
00:44:58.440 --> 00:45:01.440
And I think they kind of missed the point. Some

699
00:45:01.519 --> 00:45:03.920
of them understand what the lyrics are saying, but they

700
00:45:03.960 --> 00:45:06.920
don't understand the music. They don't understand the context. They

701
00:45:07.119 --> 00:45:14.880
they're missing, They're missing the entire point. And what I

702
00:45:14.920 --> 00:45:17.039
find interesting is a lot of people don't realize that

703
00:45:17.079 --> 00:45:19.239
when it comes to her hermoneutics is not just about

704
00:45:19.239 --> 00:45:23.440
the Bible. Hermanutics is how you interpret a movie, how

705
00:45:23.480 --> 00:45:27.719
you interpret a novel, how you interpret a pop song.

706
00:45:29.559 --> 00:45:35.920
The same interpretive skills needed for all of those different

707
00:45:36.119 --> 00:45:42.559
mediums music, art, poetry, those same skills. Oh there's there's

708
00:45:42.840 --> 00:45:45.000
more specialized. Like you know, if you're if you're trying

709
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:48.639
to interpret a movie, you need you know film analysis, right,

710
00:45:48.840 --> 00:45:51.599
and you got to know different things about camera angles,

711
00:45:51.960 --> 00:45:56.000
u delighting, the setting, you got to know something about

712
00:45:56.000 --> 00:45:58.000
the importance of the opening scene. You're gonna have to

713
00:45:58.039 --> 00:46:03.119
be learned some specialty, special information about it. But whether

714
00:46:03.159 --> 00:46:05.960
it's movies, whether it's a TV show, whatever, it is

715
00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:10.239
the same concept supply as far as this trying to

716
00:46:10.400 --> 00:46:13.760
understand what is being said beyond just a surface level.

717
00:46:13.920 --> 00:46:16.559
People go to the Bible like, well, there we go,

718
00:46:16.639 --> 00:46:18.800
make it about me. We saw that in Second Corinthians,

719
00:46:19.079 --> 00:46:23.920
Chapter ten, the last two messages stronghold, what stronghold is this?

720
00:46:23.960 --> 00:46:25.800
Who wha whoa whoa whoa wa Wait wait wait, you're

721
00:46:25.800 --> 00:46:28.679
gonna you're gonna interpret the stronghold that way. That's not there.

722
00:46:29.039 --> 00:46:31.960
That the text defines what the stronghold is. And then

723
00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:35.039
the context of First Corinthians Second Corinthians that probably tells

724
00:46:35.119 --> 00:46:37.559
us the very strongholds he's referring to because it refers

725
00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:39.840
to their wrong way. We can interpret it, but we

726
00:46:39.960 --> 00:46:42.559
have to dig into the text. But no, no, no

727
00:46:42.599 --> 00:46:47.480
surface level, insert whatever you want into it. Now, we

728
00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:50.000
built this city. I am not saying. Let me make

729
00:46:50.039 --> 00:46:52.880
it very clear that I don't know what the original

730
00:46:52.960 --> 00:46:56.039
idea was behind whoever was behind it, because even some

731
00:46:56.079 --> 00:46:59.559
of the original people behind it, they still seem somewhat

732
00:46:59.599 --> 00:47:02.679
confused and frustrated because they lost kind of control of

733
00:47:02.719 --> 00:47:04.719
the song and it was produced in the way it

734
00:47:04.800 --> 00:47:07.360
was produced right, and then maybe a different like the

735
00:47:07.400 --> 00:47:11.440
songwriter may have had one thing in mind, the producers

736
00:47:11.480 --> 00:47:13.960
may have had a musical vision, and there may have

737
00:47:13.960 --> 00:47:16.440
been conflict there. So there's going to be always debate

738
00:47:16.480 --> 00:47:18.960
about the song because I think even the original creators

739
00:47:18.960 --> 00:47:21.159
don't really know what exactly they were trying to do.

740
00:47:21.400 --> 00:47:24.320
But you take the music, you take the lyrics, you

741
00:47:24.400 --> 00:47:26.480
put them together, and you kind of like you got

742
00:47:26.480 --> 00:47:32.559
this brilliant, almost subversive Hey, don't you remember what music was?

743
00:47:33.159 --> 00:47:36.800
Don't you hate that it's become so corporate, it's lost something.

744
00:47:37.320 --> 00:47:39.679
Don't you remember we built this city on rock and roll?

745
00:47:39.800 --> 00:47:42.480
Don't you remember what it was? And how can I

746
00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:44.840
get you to remember what it was? Listen to what

747
00:47:44.960 --> 00:47:48.679
it is now? As you listen to this overly produced

748
00:47:49.119 --> 00:47:52.960
nineteen eighty five pop hit with synthesizers and drum machines,

749
00:47:53.159 --> 00:47:57.920
it's the very thing that shows you how it has changed.

750
00:47:58.239 --> 00:48:08.119
That's brilliant. Yet nobody caught on. Everyone missed the boat,

751
00:48:10.400 --> 00:48:12.679
And I wonder how many times? And just make sure

752
00:48:12.679 --> 00:48:19.119
you know, most people missed the boat. People missed it.

753
00:48:19.119 --> 00:48:21.400
It wasn't that the majority got it right. The majority

754
00:48:21.400 --> 00:48:24.079
got it wrong. It was only a few of us going,

755
00:48:24.159 --> 00:48:27.960
I think you've all missed the point. And I think

756
00:48:28.000 --> 00:48:32.039
so many times with biblical text, we interpret a passage

757
00:48:32.119 --> 00:48:34.480
just because that's the way it's always been interpreted. We

758
00:48:34.559 --> 00:48:36.840
don't know any different, and so when someone comes along

759
00:48:36.880 --> 00:48:38.679
going I don't think that's the way you should interpret it,

760
00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:41.760
everyone immediately like you're wrong, you're wrong, You're wrong. This

761
00:48:41.920 --> 00:48:43.760
is the way. And I think sometimes when it comes

762
00:48:43.800 --> 00:48:45.719
to songs, you're like, you do realize everyone's missed the

763
00:48:45.719 --> 00:48:49.320
point of this song? Oh whatever, whatever. We just like

764
00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:51.360
our interpretation and we don't ever like it to be

765
00:48:51.480 --> 00:48:54.079
challenged again. When it comes to pop music, you can

766
00:48:54.119 --> 00:48:56.280
interpret we built the city anyway you want. I don't

767
00:48:56.320 --> 00:48:59.039
really care now if we start talking about music, I'll

768
00:48:59.039 --> 00:49:01.400
care because then I'll get very passionate and going, you're

769
00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:04.039
out of your ever living mind. Listen to the song again,

770
00:49:04.119 --> 00:49:06.159
and then I will say, listen to how do you

771
00:49:06.360 --> 00:49:08.880
not get this right? I'll be like, what is wrong

772
00:49:08.920 --> 00:49:11.920
with you? But so I will probably be passionate about it.

773
00:49:11.960 --> 00:49:14.000
But when it comes to the Bible, then I lose

774
00:49:14.119 --> 00:49:18.559
my ever living mind. How many sermons have we listened

775
00:49:18.559 --> 00:49:20.480
to this year? And I'm just like, what is happening?

776
00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:23.599
That's not what the text says, that's not what the

777
00:49:23.639 --> 00:49:28.639
text mean, that nobody, that's what are you doing? But

778
00:49:29.079 --> 00:49:31.840
the majority of people may tend to go with these

779
00:49:31.880 --> 00:49:39.519
interpretations that I think miss the entire point. So I

780
00:49:39.559 --> 00:49:44.920
wanted to have a little fun, and I wanted everyone

781
00:49:44.960 --> 00:49:47.199
to remember. Now I'm going to go back here. I

782
00:49:47.199 --> 00:49:59.920
wanted everyone to remember this with this city. Next time

783
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:03.039
do you hear that song, you may go, wow, there's

784
00:50:03.079 --> 00:50:05.880
a lot more going on there than maybe I ever realized.

785
00:50:05.920 --> 00:50:07.639
Maybe there's more going on in that song that I

786
00:50:07.679 --> 00:50:11.159
ever even thought about. And the next time you open

787
00:50:11.239 --> 00:50:14.119
your Bible and some pastor gives you some surface level

788
00:50:14.519 --> 00:50:16.559
approach to the text and tells you what it means,

789
00:50:16.679 --> 00:50:19.280
you may want to stop and go, well, just maybe

790
00:50:20.119 --> 00:50:24.719
we built this city on something deeper than this superficial

791
00:50:25.320 --> 00:50:30.119
rendering and reading and interpretation. Maybe don't you remember we

792
00:50:30.199 --> 00:50:34.199
built this city on rock and roll. Wouldn't it be

793
00:50:34.480 --> 00:50:42.840
great that Christians remember that we built Christianity on the

794
00:50:42.920 --> 00:50:50.719
exegetical study of scripture. God bless