Something curious happened. In 2007, we actually got a rise in vinyl record sales for the first time since they had bought them out in the 90s. In 2007 they started to rise, and they've been on the rise ever since. This is baffling and uncanny. Why would they be rising? But it's kind of been an amazing vinyl renaissance that has taken over. In fact, in 2017, Sony Music announced that it was going to reopen its vinyl-making facility that had closed down in 1989. In fact, people that built and operated these machines were being called out of retirement to show new people how to use them and build them. Even as late as 2020, this last year, vinyl records reached an all-time high in sales 30% over what they were the year before and 30 times as high as the number that they bottomed out on in the 90s. Crazy!
What could account for this? I mean, does it make any sense, a technology that is over 100 years old. It's cumbersome. It's expensive, it requires a whole apparatus to use. You can't take it anywhere, right? You can't skip to your favorite song! To skip to the next song is a whole ordeal! So why would this be happening with vinyl? Why the renewed interest?
Vinyl listeners will often point to the fact that it's higher fidelity, it sounds better than what digital streaming compressed music can offer. But, it goes deeper than that. There is something about the whole vinyl experience. In fact, people will often credit things that are completely counter to what a marketing guru would think that we would want. The things that cut against the grain of what consumer culture seems to demand. These are the things we are being drawn to with vinyl. The imperfections in the recording, the crackle, and the hum you get by listening to something on a record player. The fact that you can’t skip to the next song, that you're forced to step out of the driver seat, give the keys back to the artist to listen to the album all the way through. The fact that you, in order to get it, you can't just download immediately on your phone, but you have to go down to a brick and mortar store, hunt through what they would call digging the crates at the record store, getting your fingers all dirty and dusty in an effort to find the lost treasure. And then bringing it home, and putting it on your vinyl player and spinning that new record, that old record. These are the things that by their very nature, the streaming services and the technology of today can't offer.
Cove church, I am convinced that we can find this very thing in the Psalms. The Book of Psalms, that album if you will, of the songs, the poetry, and the prayers, the kings and the prophets of the Old testament. That body of wisdom handed down to us and transmitted to us as Christians through Jesus and the apostles. That this body of prayers is like vinyl. Something from a bygone era that calls us into a greater, deeper, and richer experience. And like vinyl, when we pray the Psalms as our prayers, we are handing the keys over. We are surrendering, for a moment, our more personalized and up-to-date forms of worship and prayer. And handing it over to the wisdom of something that has been shared by the body of Christ for 2,000 years.
If you slow down and you have the patience to let the Holy Spirit's inspiration through the Psalms cut grooves in your heart, these ancient verses will teach you to sing a new song.
About the Author
Winston Arblaster
Winston is an Oregonian whose favorite things include the “3 C’s”: coffee, craft beer, and writings of the Church Fathers. As Music Director, the highlight of his week is when he sees others open their hearts to God in worship.
He and his wife, Stephanie, live with their cat, Jerome, and love to travel.
Fun fact: Winston is a dual citizen to the UK and was named after Winston Churchill.
