Jeremy L. Berg

One of my side hobbies is reading music biographies. I love getting behind the music and the musicians, and getting a glimpse into their personal histories, their family upbringings, their early influences, their first break or brush with fame, the obstacles they overcame, the ‘rags to riches’ plot lines, and the relational drama within the band.

Of course, I love hearing about the process of conceiving, writing and birthing songs and lyrics and albums that have taken on a life of their own, filled the airwaves, defined generations, marked historical moments, and become the soundtracks of our own lives and key moments.

I’m currently devouring Warren Zanes’ great biography of Tom Petty as well as reading an intriguing attempt by Scott Marshall to probe the mystery of Bob Dylan’s spiritual life. (If you’re wondering when I have time for this, the primary answer is: a lawn tractor and 3 acres. My Audible subscription has done wonders for my reading habits. I plow through books in the car, on walks and mower.)

Today I was mowing leaves and wiping tears from my eyes, as I listened to accounts of Tom Petty’s troubled marriage with long time wife, her struggle with mental illness and drugs, Petty’s grown daughter’s touching description of all of their pain and dysfunction, Petty’s collapse into deep depression and Heroin use after the divorce and the isolation and loneliness throughout it all.

Yeah, I know, its a familiar story. I’m a pastor. I deal in relational conflict, marriage breakdowns, emotional ups and downs, the heartache of broken families, the destructive power of addiction and substance abuse, the search for hope and fresh starts on the other side of loss. Its our human predicament. But why should I be so touched by these famed musician’s accounts of such common stuff?

I pondered that question as I mulched leaves and wept over the fact that so many talented human beings are so capable of creating such beautiful art and music that touches so many lives, and yet we’re often so incapable of taking the raw materials of our own lives and crafting something truly magnificent with our families, our relationships, our marriages and our very being.

I’ve read enough of music biographies to conclude that, for as much ambition, work and perseverance it requires to become a successful musical artist and bless the world with a musical masterpiece, it takes the same amount of devotion, work, practice and rehearsing to master the art of living, to form solid character, to gain fluency in relationships and emotional health in order to become the kind of whole persons capable of blessing the people within our personal orbits.

Many (if not most) of these stories are dark and tragic. We’re drawn to artists because they usually express our common humanity in potent ways. Their songs make us “feel something” even if we can’t put our fingers on what that something is. The chord progressions and melodies, lyrics and instrumentation paint particular moods and create spaces where we can hide from our worries or find someone who can relate to us for 4 minutes. We’re drawn to their frail humanity on display as much as to their stardom that sets them apart..

The Tom Petty I’m getting to know through this Zanes is a guy who gave his entire life to mastering the art of making music, writing songs and was gifted with a boat load of ambition and stick-to-it-ive-ness. But like many in our age, he seems to have suffered from a lack of instruction in the mastery of soul care and family life. In the common lingo of the day, he never put the same effort into developing his EQ — emotional intelligence. He ran from himself, and others. He put up walls. He escaped his problems by retreating to the one thing he knew: music. (I’m not picking on Petty. This makes him like most of us. In fact, he seems to have been more sensitive, more willing to work on himself and stuff more than most celebrities. With all his shortcomings and blindspots, he seems to have been a real kind and reflective soul. The video below is a great and emotional example.)

Whether its pro athletes, or talented actors, or gifted musicians, we are living in an society that shines the spotlights on outward abilities and celebrates the material output of our human efforts: the blockbuster movie that moves us, the #1 hit song on everyone’s radio, the diving catch in the End Zone. We applaud what we can see with our eyes, hear with our ears, or count in our pocketbook.

The rest of us normal folks tend to measure our life’s significance by external reward and recognition as well. Our work title and position. Our grades on the report card. Our accolades in athletics. Like a rock band with a new released album, we all tend to live our lives trying to climb up someone else’s chart, always comparing ourselves to those below and above us. We obsess over our outward appearance and reputation, neglecting to care for our inner selves. A Hebrew prophet nailed it 3,000 years ago when he said, “Human beings focus on the outward appearance, while God looks at our hearts” (1 Samuel 16:7).

I keep coming back to these biographies, hoping to find a happier ending with the next star, but the same tragic drama seems to play itself out with only the details and names and places and songs being switched around. But they all seem to be searching, but rarely finding.

The ancient wisdom of the Nazarene still rings out like a cowbell at an opera house, trying to get us to stop and consider: “What does all the fame and fortune and worldly success really get a person, if in the end they lose touch with or never pay attention to their soul’s longings in the process” (Mark 8:36 my paraphrase)?

Behind every successful musician like Tom Petty and platinum albums like Full Moon Fever, there’s usually a wise and skilled producer, like a Jimmy Iovine, helping bring out songs like “Free Fallin” inside an artist. A musical midwife of sorts. A pastor serves a similar role.

Pastors are spiritual producers helping emerging “soul artisans”  bring out the masterpiece within. We’re not crafting choruses but character. We’re not honing harmonies but heavenly virtues. We’re not mixing music tracks, but our very lives together into the kind of community that draws people away from the heavy-metal dissonance of our world and into the atmosphere of the One who whispers:

“Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace… Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matt 11:28-30 Message).

Pastors come alongside people and help them dig down deep, pay attention to their soul’s longings, and push for emotional and relational growth in order to produce lives of virtue, marriages that last, and relationships that sing the irresistible harmonies of grace and love and peace.

My library of music biographies is growing (see list below) and I have many others to explore. But let’s be honest: you and I will probably not have anyone write a biography of our lives after we’re gone. But that doesn’t mean our story is not being written. Even now, people are reading us by observing the way we live our lives. Most importantly, you and I are already promised our own chapter, or at least a paragraph, in God’s Eternal Story unfolding.

Let’s leave behind stories of serious soul artisans, letting our very souls be instruments in the Creator’s hands and leading lives that sound forth notes that bring glory to God!

Will we be known for the quality of the music we’ve created or for the health of the souls we’ve nurtured? Or, why not both?

Music Biographies I’ve read:

• Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan by Howard Sounes
• Bruce by Peter Ames
• Paul Simon: A Life by Marc Eliot
• Rhapsody in Black: The Life & Music of Roy Orbison by Kruth
• Shout! The True Story of the Beatles by Philip Norman
• Boy Dylan: A Spiritual Life by Scott Marshall
• Outlaw: Waylon, Willie, Kris & the Renegades of Nashville by Michael Streissguth
• U2 by U2 by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen Jr.
• Party Out of Bounds: The B-52’s, R.E.M., & the Kids Who Rocked Athens, Georgia by R. L. Brown
• Chronicles by Bob Dylan
• The Stones by Philip Norman
• Petty: The Biography by Warren Zanes.
• Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2 by Steve Stockman

See also my piece To Live a Love Song and my overview of the Scriptural Story based on the metaphor of music called, The Father’s Song.