From a commiserating fan
Then the Lord God formed Pedro the Lion from the evangelical dust of Phoenix, Arizona, and blessed Pedro the Lion and said, “Create beautiful songs. Your music will move the hearts of thousands, they will hear you sing of your love for the Lord God, and they will know of your relationship with Christ” And Pedro the Lion performed ‘Lullaby’ at Cornerstone Festival 1999 and God listened and heard that it was good.
Following his purpose, Pedro played his heart out, expressing his doubts, his anger, his logic, his frustration, all the compartments of love scattered on the highway. And it brought satisfaction and connection to thousands of fans who rejoiced in Control and simultaneously wondered if Pedro the Lion was saved or lost. So Pedro lived, and drove, and drank, and sang. And many fans said, “but Pedro, he just says it like it is you know, nobody does that like Pedro, and Nick ‘the Greek’ Kashairis said, “that’s just Pedro.”
I froze as I saw the notification on my phone, “New Album: Phoenix by Pedro the Lion.” Can’t be!? But yes, there it is, released as Pedro the Lion, not Bazan, not Headphones, not some other moniker I won’t remember but will always call Pedro, No, he’s Pedro the Lion again!
And here we go, Bazan and his ‘Yellow Bike,’ right off the bat, conjuring memories of my own first two-wheel bicycle standing by the Christmas tree, drums thumping in my chest, guitar riffs rushing past my cheeks as I remember what it was like, speeding downhill, my own memories blurring in between Bazan’s words, then comes the lonely heartache he knows so well. Hoping for that astonishing, blatant, emotional scalping of Christianity I’ve come to expect from Pedro I listen to him admonish us to ‘Clean Up’ and wonder if I’ll ever feel the same way I felt when I first heard ‘Rapture’ and ‘Magazine.’ Wonderfully throwing me from ‘Yellow Bike’ into reminiscence, and keeping me there, in that thoughtful, reflective frame of mind, I hear him sing “grown-up mess, I wish I’d….” and I smile at the best line on the album: “I tried eternity and a couple of other drugs."
In ‘Powerful Taboo,’ the ex-Evangelical Christian now turned agnostic listening to, and traveling on a similar path to Bazan’s can thoughtfully nod along, nursing the anger fueled by past repression of “wits” and “good vibrations,” reminding ourselves not to bow in ignorance or fear, that we can accept ourselves for who we are, what we think, and what we do. Reminding ourselves that the painful self-repression suffered for the sake of vicious evangelical dogma is man-made taboo, not eternal, not flawless, but banned by miscalculating simpletons sacrificing logic for the perception of unity with the divine.
A glimmer of oppositional hope rises in the lyrics of ‘Model Homes,’ looking forward, hoping if, not when, and then Pedro invites us to sit with him on the Church pew, in this row of reluctant attendee’s and consider the beauty on that Piano Bench, try to appreciate the good, quietly listen to a hymn and find that meditative mood before moving on.
Deep slow tones continue to hold childhood in mind and sadden us as we discover with Bazan that it was all spent at ‘Circle K,’ and still, then as now, and when our sons had their jail shoes on, the good Lord smiles and looks the other way.
I haven’t grasped the characters in the ‘Quietest Friend,’ but am quite leery of this “listening.” Are you wavering Pedro the Lion? I wonder if Bazan wanders back to his Christianity will I watch and feel the same as those Christians who watched him wander this way with us?
Another way home? Where are you going Bazan, the album now turns ominous. This mysterious “another way” home with someone calling, following and listening scares the calm reflective atheist.
Black Canyon is the standout song on the album, it has humor, depth of meaning, layered meanings and is open for interpretation. My take? The truck is my relationship with God, it killed me and compartmentalized me and through the entire struggle the gory details isolate me further and further, my feelings spread out here on this Hellish road, dead inside but still living alone with this on my back.
‘My Phoenix’ is a terrifying teaser. Will Bazan try his own version of Christianity? Does he really now think a Phoenix lies in those evangelical ashes? The dust of Phoenix whipped up inside of him, rising for another shot at love, Bazan teases us, just like the rumor of 5 albums, it piques curiosity. Are you emotionally prepared for another attempt my good singer friend? If so, let’s hear it. Good luck to you. Stay honest. Stay true.
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