Coptic Mom Ruins the Song: Boulevard of Broken Dreams
For those readers who are not Coptic, you might not know that there's a big "anti-secular music" push in the Coptic church. Certainly, if you decide to derive your morals from Tyler the Creator, you're not going to be doing too well in a Christian environment. But I am not a big fan of Western Protestant worship music (Please put the rocks down. It's not that serious, y'all. You can like it all you want, no big deal.), and there aren't too many quality, original Coptic Orthodox spiritual songs in English (Some of us are working on it.).
I'm a student of English literature, and I believe that well-written lyrics can be just as valuable as classic poetry. The best lyric poetry is about describing the human experience.
Recently, my baby sister reminded me of Green Day's "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." (I am not going to tackle Green Day as a group, or punk rock as a genre, or marijuana, or whatever platform you expect me to take. I'm going to talk about the lyrics of THIS song and only this song.). This song is fantastic for teen angst or Tasoni drama or whatever ails you. Here's where Coptic Mom Ruins the Song (I wish I could start another blog all about my over-analysis of modern lyrics).
I walk a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known
Don't know where it goes
But it's home to me and I walk alone
I walk this empty street
On the Boulevard of Broken Dreams
When the city sleeps
And I'm the only one and I walk alone
I walk alone
I walk alone...
Who hasn't felt that way? Who hasn't felt alone and stuck? Who hasn't felt like his/her plans fell apart and dreams were crushed?
I'll tell you who has: David the King and Prophet.
How long, O LORD? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
(Psalm 13:1-2)
Was King David ever alone? Was he ever forgotten by God? Of course not. God never forgot him. God never left his side. But David was human and felt alone. I don't know how long he was on the run from Saul, but maybe he would've put a little "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" in his earbuds at night as he contemplated his lonely road.
The refrain of the song begins with "My shadow's the only one that walks beside me / My shallow heart's the only thing that's beating." I can't sing those lines without thinking of an Arabic children's spiritual song called (3andy 7ekaya -- "I Have a Story"). Abouna and I recently admitted to each other that the song gave us the heebie-jeebies as little kids. It's a beautiful song, but the first verse is like a horror movie to a five-year-old. This is a literal translation:
Walking in the dark one of these nights
The deceiver came to make friends with me.
He tried to tell me, "You're walking all alone,
And in the darkness you're frightened.
Quick! Give me your hand"
I told him, "Go away! I am not alone!
Jesus is holding my hand,
and He died for me!"
Can you imagine being five and thinking about a demon coming in the night to take your hand? Yeah. Not a happy thought. What can I say though? The devil still comes in times of darkness to draw us away from our Savior. He tells us we walk alone.
"Boulevard of Broken Dreams" is actually a sorrowful prayer, a cry for help. The second half of the refrain states, "Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me." The speaker wants to be found. "How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?"
The human condition makes us feel alone down here. The devil helps things along by claiming that we have been abandoned. But God is always there. Your shadow isn't the only thing that walks beside you. The angels are too. And Christ Himself holds your hand. Now, who's going to go tell Billie Joe Armstrong that?