Caedmon's Call and the Truth of the College Scene (1999)

It's a personal mission for me, since I am one of two songwriters for the band (though I don't perform with them). And it started five years ago when I began getting emails from people who had heard the music. I'd written some very personal songs in my college dorm room, and I never expected them to get out and connect with other people. But as the music started spreading, the emails increased, and I began wondering, "What is going on?"

To understand Caedmon's Call requires, first of all, an understanding of the college culture that birthed the band, and has sustained the band for six years. This requires understanding how college-age people think.

The term "college-age," explains Caedmon's Call drummer Todd Bragg, refers to "someone out on their own" who looks at college as a formative experience. This includes the many post-college adults who haven't yet started families. This demographic is growing, and since it contains many young professionals, it has plenty of disposable income to support the media it enjoys.

The Christian Church and media excel at "family" issues, with a strong ministry to youth and parents. But college students are caught in the middle. They're too old for the youth culture, and too young for the typical adult concerns. They are anxious to discuss spiritual issues, if someone will bring in up it an appropriate way, yet there is very little ministry, and even less Christian media and music, that seriously seeks to engage them.

"There's definitely a gap," says Todd. "There are only a few Christian bands that are popular with the college crowd." When he tries to follow with a few examples, he can only think of one other band, Jars of Clay. It's unfortunate, since music plays a serious role in college students' lives.

Caedmon's Call fills this ministry gap. You can gather the nature of this ministry from the reaction of those who feel ministered to. One listener says in an email, "Caedmon's theme seems to be 'you're not alone and neither are we' and that's why people love your music so much."

College students are at a crucial time of their lives. They are making their first adult decisions, including what they will do about Christianity. Often the simplified teachings they learned as youths don't seem to stand up against the complex anti-religious doctrine of the college world. And the family-oriented teachings of adult Christian culture don't quite apply to their situation.

What they need is an example of real Christian living that is as complex and thoughtful as the college atmosphere, and reflective of what they themselves are going through. That is what Caedmon's Call offers. That is their ministry.

This requires being real and honest. Todd says, "What makes the band appealing is the honesty in lyrics and stage presence. It's all very laid back, there's not a lot of hype."

Certainly, the atmosphere at Caedmon's Call concerts is unique. They are low-key in their production, and they manage to share spiritual ideas without preaching. After concerts, the band comes down off the stage and talks with people in the crowd.

"College music is not a style of music," says Cliff Young, vocalist and guitarist. "It's the kind of person you are. It's how real you seem to be. How vulnerable you allow yourself to be. It's about being accessible as people."

"And," he adds, "it's a kind of songwriting."

Whenever you talk to Caedmon's Call about their band philosophy, it always comes back to the songs.

Todd says college people "want to be challenged, and they want to gain a deeper understanding of things." They form a "thinking and questioning community" which will only be reached by thoughtful and questioning songs.

So Caedmon's Call songs may be hard to understand at first. They are thick with metaphors, and may seem random. They make reference to the Bible, of course, but often to more obscure, surprising passages. And there are references pulled from pop culture, Greek mythology, English literature, and personal experience.

"The meaning of the songs is understated," says Cliff, "and it makes you go look in your Bible or literature book to try to figure it out."

This isn't just a game of lyrical hide-and-seek. The reason this kind of music works for college people is because it reflects the generation's deep-seated views of the very nature of truth.

Christian students are bombarded by multiculturalism and relativism. Although they hold on to the truth of Christianity, it is not an easy task. They have seen too many other options (many of which appear true) to talk about a "simple truth." After all, we live in a time when the leader of the free world can question "what the meaning of 'is' is."

For Christian college students, the search for truth is a process of gathering and sorting through all the random information, and slowly seeing the truth come together. No one in college hands you truth on a silver platter. You have to work for it.

So it is with Caedmon's Call songs. They are not written to be simple expressions of truth. That would be too easy, and it would seem suspicious. Instead, we write songs like "There You Go," our #1 radio single about God's redemptive action. It is a complex collection of related fragments which, when finally put together by the listener, is a pronouncement of a classic truth. "Shifting Sand," another favorite song, mixes blatant declarations with obscure biblical references, in an expression of the fear of insufficient faith. These songs, like all of our songs, pull truth from the obscurity and complexity in which we live.

The same truths may be expressed in a simple way to other generations. But to people of this generation, it is essential that they work through the complexity to find the truth.

And if you search so hard for the truth, when you finally find it, you will love it.

--This article originally appeared in Wireless Age magazine