This podcast episode presents a thorough examination of the musical selections that captivated Joshua Noel during the concluding months of 2025. The discourse encompasses an eclectic array of artists, including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Lecrae, Sabrina Carpenter, Jonas Brothers, and Switchfoot, reflecting a diverse musical landscape that transcends the confines of newly released tracks. Joshua articulates his personal resonance with these songs, elucidating their significance in shaping cultural and communal narratives. The conversation also delves into the broader implications of music as a vehicle for connection and expression within society, positing that music is not merely entertainment but a fundamental aspect of our collective identity.

As we embark on this auditory journey, we invite listeners to engage with the emotional and cultural threads woven throughout these noteworthy compositions. The podcast delves into the musical reflections of the host, Joshua Noel, as he shares his personal experiences with various artists and songs that have resonated with him towards the end of 2025. Emphasizing the role of music as a cultural touchstone, he highlights the works of prominent figures such as Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, Lecrae, and Sabrina Carpenter. The discussion is framed around the notion that music serves not only as entertainment but as a means of community building and cultural identity. Joshua articulates his ambivalence towards certain lyrical themes while expressing admiration for the artistry involved in the songs he enjoys. He encourages listeners to engage critically with music, suggesting that reflection on lyrical content can foster deeper connections to the artists and their messages. The podcast thus becomes a platform for exploring the intricate relationship between music and cultural dynamics, underscoring the importance of honest engagement in a rapidly evolving musical landscape. Exploring the intersection of music and personal narrative, this episode of the podcast features Joshua Noel as he recounts the songs that defined his listening experience at the close of 2025.

The discourse is rich with introspection as he evaluates tracks from Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Kendrick Lamar, and others, articulating the emotional and cultural significance behind each piece. Joshua's reflections reveal a deep appreciation for the storytelling aspect of music, particularly in how it can evoke shared memories and feelings of connection among listeners. He draws attention to the societal themes present in contemporary music, such as the struggles of authenticity and the critique of superficiality in fame. The conversation extends to the implications of these themes within the context of faith, community, and the evolving landscape of musical expression. By the end of the episode, Joshua not only highlights the intricate tapestry of his musical preferences but also emphasizes the importance of community engagement through music, inviting listeners to partake in this collective journey of exploration and appreciation.

Takeaways:

1. In this episode, I explored the eclectic array of music that resonated with me at the end of 2025, highlighting artists such as Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar.
2. I emphasized the significance of engaging with music not only as entertainment but as a cultural force that shapes our communities and identities.
3. We discussed the profound impact of Taylor Swift's music on listeners, illustrating how her artistry resonates deeply within our cultural landscape.
4. The conversation also delved into Lecrae's album 'Reconstruction', which addresses the complexities of faith and culture in contemporary society.
5. I reflected on personal experiences tied to songs, particularly how they evoke memories and sentiments related to friendships and life choices.
6. The episode served to underscore the importance of music in fostering community and personal connections amidst an ever-changing cultural backdrop.

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Songs sampled in this episode:

1. "Opalite" by Taylor Swift
2. "Ruin the Friendship" by Taylor Swift
3. "A Little More" by Ed Sheeran
4. "Espresso" by Sabrina Carpenter
5. "Watch the Party Die" by Kendrick Lamar
6. "Die for the Party" by Lecrae
7. "Reconstruction" by Lecrae
8. "Brick for Brick" by Lecrae and MEEZO!
9. "Beautiful Letdown" by Jonas Brothers / Switchfoot

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Check out merch for this podcast and discover other podcasts on the Anazao Podcast Network on our website:

https://anazao-podcasts-shop.fourthwall.com/

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Check out Joshua's recent guest spot on Kung Fu Pizza Party:

https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e672b00b-d28c-452d-a9bc-13a059d9adae/

Mentioned in this episode:

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This podcast is part of the Anazao Podcasts Network! Check out our other shows!

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Hey guys. Welcome to Some Joyful Noises, a music podcast with no rhyme, no rhythm, and no reason. I am the host today, Joshua Noel.

But there is no actual host of this podcast. I'm the producer, but anyone can submit an episode. If you want to record something where you just talk about some songs, send it in.

We'll get it up for you, man, if you're listening or if you're one of the other hosts, said Mikey Valde. You know, hint, hint. But this is the Anazole Podcast, experimental music dumping ground.

So anyone who's one of the leads of our network might just drop an episode here. Might be episodes from other shows just all piling together in your feed. So if you just want the music feeds from Anaz Isle, this is the place to go.

Some joyful noises. We're just staying noisy today. I'm. Every day I'm Joshua.

I am by no means a music expert, so finding stuff that's good, take it with a grain of salt. I have no right to tell anybody what's good or not good in music.

Mostly I just mean what I enjoy, what I don't enjoy, what resonates with me and my soul.

And I try to explore some of the meaning, Just trying to honestly engage because I think music is one of the most cultural defining things in the universe, in the world. That's how we define our communities, our culture. A lot of times the church is defined a lot of times by its music.

America, often defined by the pop stars, Taylor Swift, all them, they define us in a lot of ways. The music that we share together. I'm talking about pirate ships coming up next. Like, it helps us build closer to one another.

And in the Bible, it talks about speaking truth to one another and singing songs to one another. When it talks in Ephesians, when Paul writes about what it means to be the church. Music is just integral to building community.

It's integral to culture. It's just so important. So even though none of us on the podcast network right now are music experts.

But for now I do want to remind you guys to subscribe, rate, review, share this podcast with others. We want to get the word out so people know this exists. We can get some more listeners, people following along, you know, music, community, buildings.

We want to build a community where we're talking about this stuff.

So it helps if you guys do these things where you're sharing, where you're taking a second to read and review it on Apple podcasts or Spotify or whatever. Of course subscribing is really important because there's no rhyme or rhythm. We have no idea when the next episode is going to release.

Literally no idea. There's no plan here. So if you want to know when an episode drops, you have to be subscribed.

You have to hit a little bell or whatever is on the app that you use. If you're on YouTube, I think it's a bell too.

I'm not really sure there, but I'm go ahead and jump right in today with what I was listening to end of last year. Of course I love Taylor Swift. I would say that I'm like a low level Swifty. I like her music a lot. I appreciate it.

I haven't always thought through everything really deeply.

I try to the best of my ability because I think it's important to think through what artists are putting out there because they put it out there for a reason. Sometimes it's just for money, but a lot of times it's just like it's important to them. So it's important to me because I care about my fellow human.

And Taylor Swift is so important to so many other people, resonates with so many people in our culture. We can't say we're honestly engaging culture and not talk about Taylor Swift at some point.

And yeah, there's some problematic stuff with like how she does business and all that kind of stuff that we could get into if we had people who were smarter about that kind of stuff. But I just want to talk about her music, the stuff that I love, don't love, etc.

Her newest album, the Life of a Showgirl, was a little shorter on the short end. I didn't love that the songs were hit or miss for me. Overall, I actually do really like the album. I know a lot of people don't care for it.

I love the Fate of Ophelia. I think it's one of the most fun songs Taylor Swift's ever put out there.

I don't have a lot to say about it personally, just because I don't care that much about the story of Ophelia. And then some of it, I'm like, okay, it doesn't. It just hasn't resonated with me. Just going through, like a lot of the songs.

I don't remember all of them. I know. I love the like, Wish song, like Wish Life or whatever it's called, like the Suburban song. I think that one's a lot of fun.

I know I don't particularly care for Cancelled or like All My Friends Are Canceled. So on that one just rubbed me the wrong way. It's kind of annoying. And of course, like the.

The song about the wood or whatever it was, I'm just not into, like, when you're talking about sexual things, typically you lose me. Whether it's a sex joke or sex song, I'm just like, I don't know. I'm not asexual by any means.

I am married, but it just isn't something that I particularly care that much about. So whether it's in music, jokes, whatever, I tend to shy away from that stuff, which makes a lot of HBO shows really, really difficult for me.

Maybe it's just because of how I grew up. Not sure, but just isn't for me. Three of the songs that really stood out for me though.

One, I'm not going to play any from just because I don't feel like it. I don't particularly care about the music from this one, but I like some of the lyrics.

When I talk about her song Eldest Daughter and talks how, like now the way people get fame is they trash talk each other, they talk crap to one another, they belittle people. And it's all about having the hot take about rage baiting, whatever she's like. That's just not me, though. It's not true to who she was.

And I'm like, yeah, I resonate with that because especially in podcast world, you know, we're talking make an enemy or, you know, be divisive and that's gonna draw people in. And instead I make a church unity podcast and talk to people about how you can like different things in your fandoms on systemic ecology.

And I'm be living water and how do we benefit all and be peace and I'm. It's just not me. That whole conflict driven, like, let's get an audience from combating. Yeah, that's just not me. I don't know.

So eldest daughter spoke to me. I resonated with the lyrics, but the music, I don't care as much for it. One though, that I love the music and I'm okay on the lyrics.

The lyrics, I'm like, they're cool, but they're not like the best to me. I do really like Opalite and I know that's like one of the stereotypical popular ones, but I actually do really enjoy this one.

So I'm gonna play a little bit from Taylor Swift, Opalite here for you guys.

But now the sky is overlight.

Oh.

My lord Never made no one like you before you had to make your own sunshine but now the sky is open.

Yeah, I think it's a good song. You know, it's fun, it's exciting. It's good to get into Opalite. It's catchy. Everyone's going to be singing along to this.

Definitely cultural defining right now in our time. And you know, I also, I do appreciate the lyrics.

As someone who has always turned out, always been a little bit of a weirdo known as Josh, with the wrong opinions on systematic egology for a reason. Right. That whole dancing and the lightning strikes. I get it, man. One time I actually went on a walk when I lived in Wilmington.

I went on a long walk to on the border because I wanted chips and queso in the middle of a hurricane. Hurricane. You know, I grew up in Florida, North Carolina hurricane to Florida hurricanes, two different things. Most of the time, asterisk.

Most of the time. But, you know, I love the storms. I love seeing a storm on a beach. Now I have metal in my head and it hurts when it storms outside.

So it's a little bit different. But I still love to just see a good summer storm. It's great. So dancing in lightning strike, like, oh, yeah. I resonate with this.

And then the whole, like, the sky is opalite. You made it. You had to make it your own. You had to be your own sunshine. And people came against you and people did come against Taylor Swift.

But made your own. And like, even talking about the person that she fell for, you she's with Kelsey, whatever, Travis. I don't know the guy's name, that football player.

And like, just seeing their own uniqueness and seeing about how your uniqueness can be beautiful. And how Opalite is just such a good imagery for that. It's a man made stone. That's just beautiful. And it's like, yeah, okay.

Opalite's beautiful vision. Beautiful song. Love what she did there. The other song that really stood out for me.

I think this isn't as popular with the normal fan base, but she has a song, Ruin the Friendship, and I love it. It's from my understanding, it's about a friend who passed away, that she was like, ah, we never were anything.

And maybe I should have ruined the friendship.

Maybe I should have kissed you anyway, she said, even though it was a bad idea, like looking back and sometimes it's like that, you know, like someone passes in your life and you're like, maybe I should have made some wrong choices. Maybe I should have took more of a chance, been there, more than my.

I had a friend I used to do ministry with who passed away around the age that I am now. And I often think back to that, like, man, maybe I should have reached out more.

Maybe I should have spent more time with them, you know, with my grandparents, you know. You have those thoughts now.

I don't condone some of what she talks about, like, oh, yeah, he had a girlfriend and I should have kissed him and it didn't matter. Sometimes a bad idea is a bad idea, guys. But I appreciate the sentiment of like, someone.

Another human's life is come to an end and you're like, man, I. Maybe I should have done stuff different. Maybe I should have been more involved in his life some way. It's just. It's a good song.

So the part I'm gonna play is right after she got the news. So the whole song, the chorus has been like, should have kissed you anyway. It wasn't convenient.

It wasn't the right thing, but should have done it anyway, you know, kind of stuff. And then here's. After she got the news that her friend passed away. I just really like what she does with the lyrics here.

Kind of twisting that chorus. I don't know. I think it's beautiful.

They'll call me with the bad news goodbye and we'll never know why.

It.

Was not an invitation But I flew home anyway with so much left to say it was no convenient, no But I whispered at the grave should have kissed you anyway oh and it wasn't us an invitation should have kissed you.

Yeah and also someone who's just as great a voice of her, like, I get the pop songs are more popular because, you know, it's fun and we can sing together and it's like, whatever.

When you have, like just that incredible voice that Taylor Swift has, sometimes just hearing the slow songs and letting her voice just truly shine, oh, it does it for me. I love it. So I resonate with the lyrics. I love the way the song sounds. Her voice, as always, incredible.

Taylor Swift is probably always going to be the goat. But don't tell anyone I said that unless listen to this podcast.

You have to make them listen to hear me say that Taylor Swift might actually just be the goat. I know that's just so stereotypical and little hipster me's like, you can't say that, but when it's true, it's true. Another artist I really love.

I love Ed Sheeran. I've liked his work previously. All that kind of stuff.

His newest album, Play to Me as a whole, I was kind of let down just because it sounds so similar to other stuff, not because it wasn't good. It's just like I feel like I've heard this before. I don't feel like you're doing anything new. A few songs were cool.

Sapphire was a lot of fun, a lot of hype. The only one that truly stood out for me on the album, though, is a. Fortunately one that I really don't like the lyrics of that much.

But I understand this intimate. I just don't like it. It's not me. But still, it's a good song and I think it's worth discussing. We have Ed Sheeran. A Little More.

I'm gonna play a little bit of this. Here. You again.

I used to love you now every day I hate you just a little more I felt better when I lost you but every day I hate you just a little more more, more Blame it on your history yeah, I think I just. I love the. The brass instrument part of it. Like, this was like pop, but then you have like brass. Like, it's fun.

And also, even though I'm not there right now, I still understand. I mind you. I disagree that I hate you a little bit more. I think love is my way forgiving eventually.

All of my exes, I still have a. I don't love them romantically anymore, but I still wish them, like, I genuinely wish everyone the best. You've heard me talk before about Judah Lyons album process.

I think it's incredible how he was able to forgive, move on, and truly hope for the best for his ex. That's the stuff that I really gravitate for, that I love the most.

But this song, I understand that sentiment of like, you're just mad at what happened and it's hard to let go. I get it. Also, it is just. It's a fun song. Like, it's fun.

Sometimes even angry songs are just fun and it's okay to just enjoy a song even if you don't agree with everything. Being which I mentioned before, I don't usually like sexual things, but I think Sabrina Carpenter's particularly clever. A lot of fun, great voice.

I was like, actually, I think I low key kind of love this and I might just love all her music and I can't wait for more stuff. Side note, Noah Khan's apparently coming out with some new stuff this year I'm super pumped for. But that's different.

That's someone I actually one of my top artists. So Green Carver is not one of my top, but I think she's a lot of fun.

It's whatever. It's like I'm the best. Like I. I don't like the motive but like it's clever lyrics and it's just so much.

And as someone who has been young and in love and now I'm a little older, mature, but still in love. Like that. The Mi Espresso, like keeping you up at night, making you think of me. Like, yeah, hey, I get it.

There's multiple ways that you can mean that. Keep me up all night. If you read through the lyrics, she does mean it a couple different ways.

But I like, I just like that the espresso, the Mountain Dew, the caffeine like comparisons, it's just. It's clever, it's fun, it's nice. I really like Sabrina Carpenter. Only one thing I don't like is a big.

Well, she might be the only one to do like this. There's like that Pop three the Powerpuff Girl thing that people are throwing around. Like her Charli XCX and Chaperone.

And I don't care for Chaperone's voice, really. Like, I think she's incredible. Just not for me. Charli xcx, I just don't like. Also, that was the other one.

Taylor Swift did a song that's like, kind of dissing her that I don't know musically was good. I just didn't care. I didn't resonate with that one. Now what was really big. And this is where I'm switching some Christian music.

This isn't like the Christian music podcast, but, like, I do have some guilty songs I still love from Christian media. CCM isn't my thing usually, but Christian rap I tend to like a lot. And some of you other more like alternative rock.

When it comes to, like, the Christian media stuff, I actually do still really appreciate first. And this is gonna be the explicit warning for the episode. You need some context.

So Lecrae releases an album last year that I really liked called Reconstruction. And one of his songs was Die for the Party. And it was actually released before the album, which I didn't know. Somehow I just missed that.

And Kendrick Lamar is kind of singing about, like, the party life, the life of, like, that he sees around him. And he's like, sometimes I just want to watch the party die. Because it's not his scene anymore.

He wants something more than what we're seeing in the world around us. He doesn't get super skinder. Lamar doesn't get super spiritual about it. But I like what he says.

And it does have, like, some of that vibe where he's like, I wonder what Lecrae would do. And he calls Lecrae out by name. And that's the part I'm going to play before I talk a little bit more about it. I want to actually play this piece.

So again, this is Kendrick Lamar. Watch the party die.

Bless these words, dear God bless how I think dear God, draw the line they trying to confuse them with me Dear God, please forgive me you knowing how hard I tried I think it's time for me to watch the party die Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do Fuck these niggas up or show em just what prayer do I wanna be empathetic my heart like D1 but.

I will.

It'S time to get these devils out the way Heavy metals on my sword we settle hard disputes today the ghetto Hollywood divorce Say hello to your future fate the culture bred with carnivores. You let them snack, they eat your Face the signatures is being forged.

And, you know, he goes again on what Lecrae would do. And just that whole, like, would he fight? Would he fight it? Would he go to arms? Would he get physical? Would he pray?

Show him what prayer does, what this meditation, this peaceful life in Christ would do. I think a lot of it actually gets to, like, some of that MLK and Malcolm X would have.

You know, it's like, should we have these peaceful protests and try to do the right thing, or do we need to stand up and, like, fight back? Like, the crap that's happening, someone needs to stand up to it. So I think we kind of see a little bit out there. He's like, do I need to fight back?

What do I need to do? And I'm watching the party. I'm watching what's happening in America. I'm watching, like, this party lifestyle. He's like, all of it is falling flat.

What's happening in our government? What's happening in the party scene? What's happening in culture? And I think under the mars really seeing something here.

And he has kind of a prayer here, and he drops some F bombs and curse words. And a lot of my evangelical friends won't love that. But, like, he's getting something real.

And it's something real that I'm trying to say this in word that's not creepy, but the church isn't capitalizing on. A lot of people in our culture are seeing this stuff. Like, I don't like what's happening in the government.

I don't like what's happening in the party, like, any of this. I don't think the church is really responding well to it. Instead, I think the church is trying to pick a side.

And, you know, you're on this side and I'm on this side, and people are lost and they're looking for some answers. And I like that he called it Lecray because they used to be friends. From my understanding. I don't know all the details, but he calls it.

I was like, what would Lecrae do?

And I think that ones who are really standing in the gaps, ones who are really standing in for what Christ would do in our nation today, like, the people who are lost, that's what they're going to look to. They're going to say, wait, what are you doing? Is this prayer thing actually doing something? Is it all pointless? What's going on?

So I think Lecrae's friendship here did a wonder. So we're talking about, like, the album Lecrae does reconstruction. He had an album. He did the whole deconstruction thing.

A lot of people went against him because, like, oh, deconstruction. Oh, that's anti Christian. But it's not. He was taking things that weren't useful about his faith.

And you guys know I have another podcast called Be Living Water. I guessed it recently on Kung Fu Pizza Party with Brandon Knight.

And we were talking about, like, Bruce Lee and Taoism and kind of going through a lot of this.

And something that Bruce Lee says that's very Taoist is this whole idea of, like, taking what's useful, keeping that, discarding what's not, and then adding something that you're right. That's like that Bruce Lee thing.

Again, I need to plug the thing from Kung Fu Pizza Party down below, because I think that was a good conversation Brandon and I had. That's really helpful here. But that's what Lecrae did.

Like, he did, because he's like, what is the stuff that I learned in my faith from evangelicalism, from whatever my family, that isn't useful, that maybe isn't even biblical, that maybe is wrong. And I think Lecrae is still more conservative than me now. I think he's still like an inerrant. He believes.

I think, penal substitution inheritonement comes up. But he does a lot of that deconstruction. He was part of this movement, and now he has this album reconstruction.

What I think is really important is that we don't just leave what wasn't useful, what doesn't make sense, what we disagree with, but instead we build back. We build more.

So this album is all about rebuilding, not just losing our faith, but building something new after we've discarded what was in our way, what was keeping us from the ways of Jesus. Now how do we build something new? That's kind of what the album is about as a whole.

And when he included this song in there, I think it's really helpful because he's talking about, like, yeah, yeah, man, a lot of this thing is happening in the world. It's hard. It's hard to grasp. Like, yeah, Henry Lamar was doing some deconstructing of the culture of party life, of government or whatever.

That's what he was doing in the song. And Lecrae speaking to that in his album Reconstruction on the song Die for the Party. And so I felt like it doesn't matter what I would do.

I would hope that I would point people to Jesus. What would Jesus do when he sees what's happening to the party? What's happening to our world?

And that's kind of the way that Lecrae spins the song in response to Kendrick Lamar's song that we just played. So play a little bit of this Jesus love.

I know it sounds foolish to many. Like, really? That's all you got for us?

Yeah.

The cross is foolish to the perishing. The world will call me weak and the saints will say I embarrass them. I walk the valleys full of evil. I'm aware of it.

I can't condemn the world and burn all other heretics. Love is patient. So I'm trusting in the narrative and Christ ain't. Watch the party die. He died instead of it.

Mind you, I think Lecrae is getting to this kind of like, ransom or this kind of penal substitutionary atonement. Kind of theories of like, Jesus died in our place or he died, you know, his sacrifice saved us from this lifestyle, whatever.

And, you know, I would probably tend to say, actually, no, Jesus defeated the grave. He defeated sin. He defeated the cycle. He conquered everything so that we don't have to be a part of the party.

I would say instead of that he died instead of the party. I would say that he lives so that the party can live.

Because what the party was doing before, the things that Lamar was pointing out, that's not life. It's not life giving.

When you see the kind of party, like the people on drugs, everything that's happening that he's talking about, we see what's happening in our government, in our world, things that Lamar is criticizing. Yeah, that's not life. That's what's wrong with it. Not that it's broken and it's not helpful, but rather it's just not life giving.

And what I think Jesus did is defeat death. He lived so that we can live, so that these things can be life giving. Now we can have a life giving party.

You know, it doesn't mean, like, we're all holing out having a party, talking about the Bible and Jesus, but, like, we can have a party with freedom of good, of doing things that are beneficial to one another. And sometimes I'm just going to involve some drinking and having fun.

And sometimes it's going to involve saying, hey, let's not get drunk, let's not lose ourselves to drug, because that's not life giving. And I think that's what Jesus did. But I still, I love Lecrae's thing of like, hey, it's not about what I would do.

Hopefully, what I would do is just to Tell you to look at what Jesus did, man. And I'm all about that. Look at what Jesus did. Yeah. Our world is hopeless.

There's a lot of dark things in the party culture, in the government, in the world, in the slums, in. Into the, you know, rich people culture. I don't know what you call that. The ivory towers. Like, there's a lot of problems everywhere you look.

And I hope if you were to ask me what to do about it, I would say to look to Jesus in some way. Maybe I'll go about it long about. Because I like to talk too much, but I like crazy sentiment there. So we're talking about the album.

I do want to play the titular song in the beginning of the album, Reconstruction. On Lecrae's album Reconstruction. Just play a little bit of this.

We rebels again. We was handed doctrines dipped in dominance while the systems abused the sacred. But that wasn't true. That was hypocrisy.

So we tore it down not because we hate truth, but because we love it too much. We ain't lost, we architects now. We not destroying.

We're clearing space to rebuild a faith that can breathe a gospel that liberates a Jesus who still overturns tables and temples built on control. This ain't a crisis of belief. It's a reconstruction for clarity.

Yeah. And that whole first track, that. That rap is just really getting to what he means by reconstruction. What are we building?

He says we didn't tear it down because we hate the church or that we hate truth.

We tore it down so we could build on it because we love truth so much that we don't want to see these systems of dominance, these systems that are perpetuating the Republican Party right now in America that are perpetuating these terrible lies about other people.

We're tearing it down to get that out of the way, those lies out of the way so we could build on truth, the truth of who Jesus is, of love and grace and mercy. I love it. I love how he starts it, how he frames this album. And then he has some tracks that honestly are just fun. They're not all meaningful.

They all. I think they are all meaningful, actually. But some of them I don't like because they're meaningful. I like because they're fun.

One of them is Brick for Brick. Again, we're talking about rebuilding the church. And he has a song with Mezo that's Brick for Brick that I just think is a lot of fun.

So I'm gonna play that last one from the album. That I'm gonna play. There's plenty others that are great, but these are just the ones that stand out to me. Brick for brick's just a lot of fun.

So I want to play a little bit of that.

Keep me a tool. When I say brick, I got nothing to do with hoping, building a body or that's what we doing. We here forever until they come get us.

I'm building faith up from some of the winter. You pick a season, it really don't matter. Cuz all of a mine I know I'm a winner. Call for the bricks. I ain't talking about work.

Might get to work in that word in your spirit. Stomping on serpents, I'm feeling like Kirk foundation fir. But it's a for appearance. I build my house on a rock. They build they house on the sand.

Might bring a blood to your city. Hope what you building going to last Cuz we going brick for brick. We going brick for brick. Okay, we going brick for brick.

Yeah, it's just fun. And again you building the church up. What does it mean to take brick for brick?

We see what doctrines are useful, what are things are actually of Christ, of love. And what things did we invent to enforce dominance in the church or to enforce this patriarchy? And what things are actually of Jesus.

And we're going to build it back up brick for brick. There's a lot of meaning, but yeah, man, also that's just fun. Like it's not about hooping, it's about building up the body. And yeah, you know what?

I'm a terrible rapper. I can't rap, but I had a lot of fun with it.

I think it's a great album and I really just like the work that Lecrae does even outside of his music of just working with the church and really trying to build something new in a place that's often desolate. You know, he's still kind of in those evangelical circles, so that's hard work that he's doing. And I just can't praise him enough for it.

I'm so glad that we have people like Lecrae doing this work. Even if there's a lot of doctrines I still don't agree with Lecrae on. I love the work that he's doing, so gotta praise that.

And the album, as always, just. It's good stuff. It's good stuff. So I gotta highly recommend that one last one. You know, there's a lot of Jonas Brothers hype at the.

At the end of last year, I think they had some albums, they were doing some tours, different stuff. And weirdly enough, it didn't make me want to listen to Jonas Brothers because I don't usually care for their music.

But it reminded me a couple years back, they were part of Switchfoot's albums.

That was, like, part of an anniversary celebration of the Beautiful Let down album that they did, which to me was just one of those, like, fundamental moments in my life where, like, that album had always meant a lot to me. It helped me a lot spiritually.

I listened to a lot of the interviews on the different people who did covers for this album that they released and how they were all just so impacted by this. And when I do hear Jonas Brothers songs from my wife likes to play them a lot.

I can hear that influence now where they said they were influenced by Switchfoot, and I'm like, oh, I do actually hear it a little bit in their music also.

It's kind of challenging for me to hear some of these lyrics from the Jonas Brothers because it's a song about how even if I'm not cool, even if I'm not all that. And I was like, you guys, pretty popular, but to hear that this song still meant a lot to them, it's pretty special.

So I'm gonna play a little bit of the Jonas Brothers cover of Beautiful Letdown that I was really listening to on repeat last year. The Dropouts, the Losers, the sinners, the Failures, and the F. What a beautiful let down. Yeah, I. I love what they do there.

Even if it challenges you to hear it from some of them. To be like, let us sing one true tune. Coming out of the Jonas Brothers panels also is like, oh, it's pretty heavy to me.

Also, their voices are actually pretty incredible. And then pairing that with Switchfoot's music. Awesome.

And, yeah, part of this album, too, again, you know, doctrine wise, you know, I don't belong here. I belong for the life beyond this. And, you know, I don't like the stuff that's, like, all about Heaven or the Next Life.

I don't think this album does that, though. If you notice, even the part that I played, you know, Jovas Brothers were singing the Church of the Dropouts, the Letdowns and the Fools.

I think what the song's really getting at isn't, we don't belong on Earth, we belong in Heaven.

I think rather, it's more like, I don't belong to the earthly kingdoms that say that it's all about how popular I am or all about how strong I am or how Well, I get along with others. If you listen to the lyrics, I think it really is getting that. It's like, it's not. I don't belong in a world that's focused on these things.

I belong in a world that's focused on the things of the kingdom of God, of the church of love. In that kingdom is one filled with losers and failures and people who realize we're not good enough and we need the help of Jesus to be good enough.

That's what I. I'm right there with you. I don't know about the whole heaven thing, the eschatological future, whatever crap, right? But what I do know is, hey, I've been a letdown.

I am not as holy as I wish I was. I have not been as good to my neighbor as I wish I was. I'm not very popular. I'm not good at singing. I'm a let down in a lot of ways, right?

Like the things that I've thought, hey, I'm going to be financially successful, a great scientist, all this stuff, and it's like my life didn't go that way. That's kind of a letdown. When I realized I wasn't going to be a famous scientist with a big house and all this, you know, whatever stuff that I.

When I was a kid, that's what I wanted, right? When I realized I wasn't going to be rich and have a big mansion.

When I realized I wasn't going to be important really in any significant ways that I'm aware of. And I realized all that. And yeah, I was a let down a little bit. But it's a beautiful letdown because I realize I don't want any of that stuff.

That's not the world I belong in. I don't belong in a world where I'm a famous scientist with lots of money who's got power and wealth and influence.

I belong in a world where I just get to know Jesus and all that other stuff is just dressing. It's window dressing. You need to know Jesus.

You need to be part of the body of Christ and the church with other letdowns and losers and failures and dropouts and maybe the Jonas Brothers even, right? Man, being part of that church is incredible. Being part of the body of Christ is just so powerful. I love this community. I love that I was let down.

And that song still just means so much. It's such a beautiful, well written song with really great tune. So I'm glad that the Jonas Brother hype reminded me of that song.

Let me get back into it. Listen to a lot more Switchfoot at the end of last year too.

I'm glad that the Jonas Brothers hype got me back into some of their old stuff stuff and just appreciating how much of a letdown I am. It's great. I appreciate that and I appreciate all of yalls time. You know, soon I hope to actually I do. I already recorded it.

We're gonna have an episode coming out soon about pirate music. I'm gonna talk some about some of my favorite sea shanties and songs about pirates. Pirate metal. So it's gonna be a fun time.

If you guys want to hear me talk about pirate music, keep tuning in. Make sure you subscribe. We don't know when that's going to release. Don't know when anything's going to release.

There's not a schedule you got to subscribe.

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