A literary criticism of The Christian Life by the Louvin Brothers

Okay, two things here.

1) I could not by any stretch be called a Christian.  A Quaker, perhaps, but that's not the purpose of this post.

2) I love this song, and I find the words simultaneously ernest and pithy.

First, let's just run through it:

Verse 1

My buddies all tell me I should have waited.

They say I'm missing a whole world of fun.

But, I still love them, and I say/sing with pride -

I like the Christian life.

Chorus

You can't lose a friend by heeding God's call,

For what is a "friend" that wants you to fall.

Others find pleasures in things I despise.

I like the Christian Life

Verse 2

My buddies shun me since I turned to Jesus.

They say I'm missing a whole world of fun.

I live without them and walk in the light.

I like the Christian life.

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I'll include links to three versions of the song before we're done.

First let's take a listen to a nice rendition by Byron Isaacs and G. Floyd Turnpike playing the song.

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And now, line by line, here's what I'm hearing in the song.  Please pardon the use of the phrase "literary criticism".  I don't know of an alternate term.

"My buddies all tell me I should have waited"

Right off, the song touches on an interesting dynamic.  His buddies don't go so far as to say they don't believe, but rather they see faith as a transactional matter.  Why take the leap now in his youth when he could wait until he was too old to party, on his deathbead, etc., and then be saved?  The line is delivered as though this is a pretty common objection raised by young people in a community where the existence of God is a given.  To show such a deathly-serious matter taken so lightly - all in the first nine words of the song - is, to me, a great stroke of story telling.

"They say I'm missing a whole world of fun."

Now, they could have been excused for writing "a whole lot of fun", and I have indeed heard at least two versions on youtube that inadvertently take that more generic path, but the word "world" in a gospel setting evokes volumes of imagery of "this world" as a place filled with temptations, with distractions galore - the perfect testing ground for the measurement of character and worthiness.  Seems his buddies are diving right in.

"But I still love them, and I say with pride,"

I don't have as much to say here, except that he finds nothing inconsistent is continuing to love his friends.  Interestingly enough, the original song does not go "I love them", but rather "I'm still happy."  This is a testament to the value of having others interpret one's songs, and add a little here and there.

"I like the Christian life."

I think the choice of the word "like" is particularly effective.  We might be able to forget for the moment that the word "love" is terribly overused.  What I'm hearing is that he's not following the Christian life out of obligation or because "it's time" or because he's afraid not to.  He LIKES it.  Given other choices for lifestyles, Christianity suits him.  That gives a very honorable feel to his pronouncement.

"You can't lose a friend by heeding God's call,

For what is a 'friend' that wants you to fall?"

Again the turn of phrase "what is a 'friend' that" is remarkably fresh to me.  Perhaps this is the way it would be put in the part of the country where they grew up, but it does two things.  It focuses on "friend" as a thing, and calls for a definition.  Would a "friend" want you to fall?  Not "friend" as I understand the term, no.  It also has a certain 16th Century, King-James type of poetry about it.  It's not "what kind of friend", but rather it's wording that evokes a sermon.

"People find pleasures in things I despise.

I like the Christian life."

Here I turn aside from my gushy praise of their wording, and have to say this takes the song down a path I don't much care for.  I believe I understand that there are things that he, as a Christian, finds loathesome, but the arrangement of the sentence gives an (I think unintended) impression that those people are to be despised as well.  He's not saying that, but it still doesn't sit well, and serves to push away someone listening from the "outside".  As a song meant to be played by Christians and for Christians, this line is perfectly fine, but the beauty of the song for me is it comes the closest of any song I've ever heard to really making me want to become a Christian, and in so doing I believe it's next-greatest value - once we've established it's a beautiful song - it's greatest value is as an evangelical tool, rather than a feel-good song for those already in the fold.

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Alright, one more listen to the song now, as sung by the great Louvin Brothers themselves. If you liked that, I also recommend If Only I Could Win Your Love and The Great Atomic Bomb.----------

I've said most of what I need to, but there's still another verse, so

My buddies shun me since I turned to Jesus.

Ah, a nice mixing back in of the question "what is a 'friend."

They say I'm missing a whole world of fun.

I live without them, and walk in the light.

I like the Christian Life.

He's not choosing to live separately, but is okay with it if that's what has to be.  He chooses to love them, and they shun him.  There's not a lot he can do about that, short of denying and/or abandoning who he really is.

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Finally, I first stumbled across this song auditioning cuts on the Byrds' record Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Click on this blue link to hear their version, in which I believe Gram Parsons is singing lead.

I think it's the definitive rendition of the song.