We Built This City on the Wrong Rock.

Psalm 62:7

"My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge."

Ever wonder where the term "Rock and Roll" came from? I think most people, if they had to guess, would say it started in the 1950's, but actually it goes back much farther.

In 1935, Henry "Red" Allen recorded a song with lyrics by Russel Robinson called "Get Rhythm in Your Feet and Music in Your Soul." It is the first pairing of the two words, etymologists tell us, with the lyric "If Satan starts to hound you, commence to rock and roll. Get rhythm in your feet and music in your soul "

The term rock came from old gospel music, where a person would be "rocked to the core" in a spiritual way. Roll was also a religious reference, where evangelicals would roll in the aisles, moved by the holy spirit. As the terms evolved, they began to pick up a double meaning, where "roll," became a euphemism for having sex (as in "roll in the hay"). "Rocking" came to mean to dance suggestively.

Small wonder then, that when the hot era of Rock and Roll music on the radio took over the airwaves, it freaked out a lot of conservative parents and pastors! Dancing, if it was allowed at all, was to be "civilized" and disciplined. Which does explain why my mother, even to her last days, felt a big loss with the decline of old-fashioned ballroom dancing. She would watch "Dancing with the Stars" with contempt. "That's not dancing," she would declare, and ignore the television.

Rock and Roll morphed over the next few decades, from ethnic street harmonies and Gospel remakes to Bubble-gum Pop, British invasion, and Hard Rock. In the 80's, Jefferson Starship came out with the ultimate Rock and Roll anthem with lyrics that summarized the rebellious feeling among rockers tired of Rock's hypocritical intolerant critics:

"Someone's always playing corporation games
Who cares they're always changing corporation names
We just want to dance here, someone stole the stage
They call us irresponsible, write us off the page
Marconi plays the mamba, listen to the radio, don't you remember
We built this city, we built this city on rock an' roll."

In rebellion, Rock becomes a voice against immorality. It sets itself up as a new morality: "All we want to do is dance and not play the corporate games of greed and corruption."

Ah but sadly, Rock and Roll itself is big business, and the hardest of Rockers have a reputation for being the bad boys and girls. It's hard to resist the draw of wealth and fame. Far too many have died living the "free life" of being stars. The things wealth and fame attract have killed many a musician.

It is too bad things have strayed so far from the original Rock of Ages. You can think you are okay, ignoring the real dangers of life. It would be nice if we could dance evil away... but that doesn't work out well.

We built this city, but on the wrong Rock. God is our mighty rock. We may seek salvation in trying to blithely dance away our cares away without seeking truth and honor. It cannot be done. Listen to His call. Let Him be your ultimate refuge.