RICH MULLINS

A legacy, liturgy and a ragamuffin band

In 1993 this rather long-titled album hit the stores and for most people who heard it something just clicked and it was a high point for many in the history of CCM music. It's true that the music is more Adult contemporary orientated, but here was an album that cut through all the clichés and laid aside perfectionism for the sake of a little honest song writing and melodies that caught the ears of all who heard them. Even though I was only 9 when I first heard the album I could still sing a few lines from every one of the songs on this album right up until I found a copy of it abandoned at a Cash Crusaders last year and re-added it to my collection, such was the impression the album left.
Starting with a spoken disclaimer by one of the band members that they were "Barely ready to do this" the album moves into the first half of the album which was the so-called "Liturgy", where the first six songs follow the pattern of a traditional liturgy. This kicks off with "Here in America" which basically introduces us to our "church" setting (in this case the whole of America) and affirms the idea that we are all gathered to "Hear the Sacred Story". The song itself is full of poetic pictures of the country and the beauty God placed in it and an affirmation of the firm belief that God loves His children. This is then followed by the opening of the liturgy, ‘proclamation', which comes in the form of "52:10", a simple statement of the majesty and power of God, the urgency of the piano and drawn out vocals giving the whole thing a dramatic edge. ‘Praise' is next and "The Colour Green" has to be one of the most stirring songs I've ever heard, even to this day, both musically and lyrically as Rich and his ragamuffins paint a portrait of the goodness of God through his creation. Then it's ‘confessional' time with "Hold me Jesus", a gentle song admitting to our own failings and sin and voicing a desire for God's forgiveness and peace. The song that follows is one of his best known (helped by a cover version Third Day did) and "Creed" wraps the entire ‘statement of faith' portion of the liturgy into a 5 minute song that really says it all. The fact it also shows off the amazing talent Rich had in playing the hammered dulcimer is just an added bonus. The first half of the album ends off with "Peace", a celebration of the ‘grace' of God poured out on all of us through his communion table. These 6 songs alone say more about our faith and God's heart than most albums have since then and it was all done without resorting to one Christian cliché.
The second half of the album covers the legacy and while these are less Spiritual songs they tell a story of Rich's life starting with the beautiful instrumental "78 Eatonwood Green" that drops jaws once again with it's staggering hammered dulcimer proficiency. "Hard" is a light hearted song dealing with the difficulties in being like Jesus, and how, despite being of better than average morals, we can never quite get it right on our own and it's followed by the determined "I'll carry on", a pledge to keep going for God no matter what. I'm never really into Christmas songs, but I love Rich Mullin's version of childhood excitement for the big day with the song "You Gotta Get Up (a Christmas song)", with it's hurried pace and rush of lyrics. The next song sticks out from the rest of the album, but the reasons for it being there are more personal than anything else. It's a cover version of a song called "How to grow up big and Strong", written by Mark Heard, a fellow Christian musician who had died in 1992. It was meant as a tribute to Mark and while the style of the song is different to the usual Rich Mullins material it still fitted in quite nicely as a part of the legacy section. The album finishes off in much the same way it begins with a look at the beautiful country Rich lived in but with an added element of the realisation that despite all the beauty, it wasn't home and he was just passing through, hence the title "Land of my Sojourn"
The album as a whole has never quite been matched in the CCM realm in terms of its scope and the way the whole album fits together. Despite claiming to be ragamuffins, the music the band produced was creative and flowing and when coupled with some of the most beautiful lyrics the results were breath taking. God is central and essential to the album but at the same time there is so much of Rich's own personality and story wrapped up in the songs and listening to this album is like having a warm conversation with an old friend rather than listening to grand performance. It was decided by CCM that this album was the 3rd best Christian album ever by CCM magazine (up until 2001 that is) and as much as I might disagree with other albums even being on the list, my gripe with this one is that it should be higher. Sadly we'll never know if Rich could have produced anything better since he died in a car accident 12 years ago but if ever you get a chance to listen to this album you'll be thankful that he made this before that fateful day he went to his real home.