»The world's definition and parameters for love are so contradictory to God«

Interview with US singer-songwriter Scott Phillips

(Deutsche Übersetzung hier...)

Nashville-based singer-songwriter Scott Phillips is back with a new record full of thoughtful, honest lyrics and catchy melodies. CCM-Rezis thinks that Next Stop Willoughby is his best work yet and wanted to know more about these new songs and their message. And Scott Phillips was willing to give us some very inspiring insights ...

Monica Seidler: Scott Phillips, it would be so fine to hear a few words, sort of "story behind" about three of your new songs: A Nursery Rhyme, The Empty, and To Keep It Alive ...

Scott Phillips: A Nursery Rhyme was written one day when I was humming the old nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb" and was struck by its amazing theological parallels. I'm not sure if it's a song that has any history in Germany or Switzerland, but it's a very old and popular children's song here in the States. Anyway, I chose to use some lines from the song to build a song of my own. I wanted it to be a song that reminded me and others about the simplicity of the gospel. Jesus said, "My yoke is easy, my burden is light." As Christians, especially here in America, we get easily weighed down by the religious rules and regulations that we put on ourselves – we do that because we find it so hard to actually believe the gospel. How could we really be loved by God when we are so completely wretched and broken? How could he love us without making us jump through a huge series of hoops to earn that love? The world's definition and parameters for love are so contradictory to God, who is Himself love. So we project that misunderstanding onto God and cause people to believe that we must work hard to be loved. I wanted to remind myself that the life of the believer is meant to be much simpler than I make it out to be at times. So I used an old nursery rhyme to try to convey that simplicity.

The Empty was written by my wife Carol. It's the first and only song she has ever written. She came to me with a great melody and some awesome lyrics, and I put some guitar to it. It has turned out to be a favorite for most people who hear the CD. I'm so proud of her. She's so amazingly talented, and I am always amazed at the art she creates when she takes the time to do it. I will not try to explain the song for her though. I think it speaks pretty well for itself anyway. We all have times where we wonder where God is (for me, I'm afraid it's more often than not). We feel alone, abandoned, empty. It's just nice to hear a song that isn't all fluffy and pious, pretending that the Christian life is without trials. I can't relate to that kind of song. I can relate to honesty, and when we're honest with ourselves we have to admit that though God is good, this life can be pretty miserable at times.

I wrote To Keep It Alive about my relationship with my wife. It's a hopeful song for me, but also one that challenges me not to just float through life taking relationships for granted. It reminds me that love isn't always about the romantic feeling we had at the start. Our love shows true when we stay committed in the difficult times – when it actually takes effort to look past the rough exterior and see the new creation that God has made us to be. To keep it alive, we have to try, try, and try again.

Monica: Why the album title "Next Stop Willoughby"?

Scott: The song was written based on an old Twilight Zone episode called A Stop at Willoughby. I thought its meaning was a good one to convey the main message of the project, so it was a shoo-in for the title track. The episode was about a corporate guy stuck in the rat race, wanting more out of life, but unwilling to take the steps to simplify or slow down. He's a workaholic with a wife who pushes him to work harder to maintain the posh lifestyle they are "enjoying." He rides a commuter train home from work at night and falls asleep and dreams about a place called Willoughby, where everyone takes the time to savor life. They all know each other and spend time together. In the dream, he is encouraged by the conductor to get off the train and visit Willoughby, but he can't bring himself to do it.

Eventually he does, however, and the typical Twilight Zone twist flashes to an image of him lying dead on the tracks, having sleep-walked off the moving commuter train. When his body bag is loaded into the coroner's car, the car's decal reads "Willoughby Coroner Service." I skipped over that last little detail in the song and wrote about the rest of the episode. The application for me is that I continually long for a simpler, slower paced lifestyle where I am known and loved well by a community of believers who I, in turn, know and love well. I desire that wholeheartedly, but the pressures of our culture and society keep me in a hurricane of "to do" lists, busy work and isolation, suffocating under a pile of useless possessions.

Monica: How was recording at the Sputnik Studio with all those clever musicians like?

Scott: I loved it! At every stage when a new instrument or track was added, I continued to be more and more excited about what was taking shape. Mitch caught such a great vision for the project from day one when I sat on his couch and played him the songs I had written. He has a great producer's ear and could hear the end result long before I ever knew what it would turn out to be. I was truly blessed to sit in on those sessions and learn from each of the guys involved. They are all extremely talented and creative musicians. This CD would not be what it is without their amazing input. Each of the musicians has their own regular gig traveling with other artists, so it was also cool to swap stories from the road and get a little insight into their lives.

Monica: Is this Chris Hennig playing piano on track 12, Next Stop Willoughby?

Scott: No. It's me. I recently started tinkering on the piano, hoping that I could use it as another medium with which to write. The first song I wrote on piano was It All Comes Down, which is also on the CD. Chris actually plays the piano on that song because I couldn't get my fingers to play the hook part well enough. But I wanted to try to play Next Stop Willoughby. It was the second song I've written on piano, and since we were going for a much more raw feel on the production of that song, we were willing to deal with any lack of talent I might have in that area. I think it only adds to the intimacy of the track.

Monica: What message do you want listeners to take away from Next Stop Willoughby?

Scott: I want people to be encouraged to be honest and vulnerable with those in their community. I think that true transparency really helps the body of Christ to be knit together, to be one just as Jesus and the Father were one (as Jesus prayed). We cannot pretend to have community if we aren't sharing ourselves with one another in the body. Sadly, the evangelical church has not done well to nurture a safe place to share our doubts, fears, sins, temptations, failures, etc. ... We have a lot of unlearning to do in that camp. I am hoping that my vulnerability in the lyrics will inspire others to do the same in their day to day lives.

Monica: Scott Phillips, thank you so much for this interview!

For more information about Scott Phillips please visit www.scott-phillips.com