Andy Gullahorn's Song, "That Guy"

I'm almost always haunted by songs.

On just about every day of life, a song comes from somewhere and swirls around inside my head. I know I'm not alone in this.

The best of them can stay around for weeks. Sometimes months.

The current song haunting my soul is from Andy Gullahorn, and it's called "That Guy." I mentioned Andy's music in my list of "25 Most Listened To Songs" for last year.

Andy's an amazing songwriter. He has a fantastic storytelling sense. He can tease a phrase or thought to the point that you're not exactly sure where the verse is going... until the very last moment; often to surprising depth.

In the case of this song, The theology in it is incredibly simple, incredibly powerful, and incredibly challenging. Which is why I love it. It's a lot of the way I believe God believes.

As I said, this song has haunted me for several weeks now. I just checked, and it's my #1 Listened To Song" for this year so far. Which doesn't surprise me. It's definitely a song I wish I had written, and learning to play it last week helped reduce its vexing power. I think a song haunts you until it's inside for good. Then, it just stays in there until you need it later.

Who knew, when it started haunting me a few weeks back, that the second verse would so completely describe actual things going on in real life right now? Maybe that's no accident.

Well, it's a painfully true song, and it wrenched my spiritual guts even before events of this week.

I am grateful to Andy for writing it.

Learn more about the CD, and a link to buy it, go here.

THAT GUY
He scoped out the market
All the women and kids
With so many distractions
Nobody noticed him
Nobody noticed him
He had a jacket a size too big
A skullcap on his head
And a couple of homemade bombs
He duct taped them to his chest
He taped them to his chest

God loves that guy
God loves that guy

He followed his heart
To a co-worker’s bed
He could have salvaged his marriage with kids
But he chose to leave instead
He chose to leave
He thought it was love
But it was just a mirage
So he sits in his idling car
Parked in a closed garage
Inside a closed garage

God loves that guy
God loves that guy

Me on the other hand I can write somebody off
Like the last check for a student loan
I can love when it’s convenient
But it’s not always convenient
It’s not always the easy road
I want to look past the outside to the well-meaning heart
To the good they forgot that they had
Teach me to love, teach me to love
Teach me to love like that

He messed up again
Wanted to disappear
But he can’t ‘cause he’s easy to find
I see him in the mirror
I see him in the mirror

God loves that guy
God loves that guy
Teach me to love, teach me to love
Teach me to love like that
Love like that

(During this year, my goal is to find something new to be thankful for every single day, and to add that thanksgiving as a blog entry, under the title "My Daily Gratitude." I started this kick back around Thanksgiving, and it's already resulted in a favorite new song of mine. The goal of this ongoing spiritual exercise is to see if doing such a thing might inspire even more gratitude within me, and to foster general awareness of life on a deeper level.)