A Lot of Thought

Yes, aforementioned pictures are forthcoming.

Yes, I suck.

Today I bought two CD's. One was Ultra Blue by Utada Hikaru, which was everything I expected and then some. Hikki is definitely one of my favorite singers, and this CD was full of the cosmo slightly synth-infused pop that she shines in.

The other CD I bought was Beautiful Awakening by Stacie Orrico. That...was kinda not what I was expecting. I've been following Stacie since her Genuine days. Genuine came out in 2000, and it was most definitely a R&B-infused "Christian" album...only one of the songs was not about God.

Most people started hearing about Stacie when she made it on the mainstream pop charts with her self-titled album, which dropped in 2003. "Stuck" and "(There's Gotta Be)More to Life" both did well, and I was really happy for her. That time, about half of the songs mentioned God explicitly, and the other half were like generic songs about life and relationships.

So Beautiful Awakening doesn't come out stateside until January, but it dropped about a month ago here in Japan and in the rest of Asia and Europe, so I bought a copy. The music was everything I had expected. Stacie thankfully stopped with the experimental rock/pop hybrid and went back to her R&B roots. I could also tell she's been working with some really good voice coaches since I heard her back, because her already impressive voice is even better, although she's not making full use of her range. However, the lyrics...

...Let me say, first of all, that I am convinced that Stacie is just as strong a Christian as she was when Genuine came out. In interviews, she has no problems talking about her faith, and the lyrics in Beautiful Awakening have no themes that would indicate anything different. Listening to her podcasts, I know her heart's in the right place. I'm definitely less of a prude about this sort of thing than I used to be, but I have to admit, I'm a little concerned that...

1. The album art is kinda...provocative. There's no ridiculous cleavage or really short skirts, and it's way more toned down then the average pop princess, but the poses are slightly provocative, and it's safe to say Stacie is showing more skin than she was in 2003. The cover for the "I'm Not Missing You" single...more cleavage than I would've liked, even if it wasn't as bad as others and was slightly covered by jewelry.

2. There's no mention of God like anywhere. There's one song with Christian undertones, and one with a kind of moral theme (but that deserves its own point further down...). I have no problem with songs that aren't about God, of course, and there are plenty that I like better than a whole lot of Christian music, but this is a striking change from her last album. To her credit, the lyrics themselves are a whole lot less corny than last album, and even though they focus on relationships, they talk about a lot of different issues rather than rehashing the "oh, I love you" theme over and over... When you hear her commentary on "Beautiful Awakening", you know she's talking about finding peace with God, even if she doesn't say it explicitly.

3. "I Can't Give it Up". The song that I predict, when it is released in the US, will cause a ridiculous amount of controversy in the Christian community. Pat Robertson will disown her and rue the day he ever let her on "The 700 Club". The ironic thing is that at its core, it's about celibacy before marriage.

The thing about this song is that it's honest. Bluntly, brutally honest enough to make me blush. Like "Boy, what was I thinking when I move like that...bump and grinding, can't stop now, got you breathing" kind of honest. But Stacie makes it clear in the bridge what point she's trying to make. "But there's much more than a night of ectasy, I need commitment with a diamond, then I'm yours to be your fantasy." In her podcast commentary on this song, Stacie says that she was trying to present a realistic viewpoint, that there aren't just two extremes of sexuality where you're either perfectly pristine and totally afraid of your sexuality or flashing your sexuality to the world by showing off everything and sleeping around. Well, it is really honest...to be honest, I'm personally on the fence about this song, although I applaud her for writing so honestly. I think it's a little bit too honest...


I think that when this CD comes out in America, about half of the Christian community is going to turn their back on Stacie, possibly more. Her single's been out on iTunes for a few months, and there's already people who are pissed. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Personally, I think what Stacie's trying to do (which is reach a bigger audience while not selling out completely) is good. Still, I don't think I completely agree with it. If this is the "real Stacie" we're seeing now, that's all well and good, but if this is Virgin Records slowly getting to her, then I'm worried. Whether she's selling out right now is totally a matter of how liberal/conservative you are in these matters, but I hope she never crosses that line where even the most liberal Christian has to say, "Enough is enough." So anyway, if you would, pray for Stacie, that she would make the right decisions and listen to her heart and God's guidance in the direction her career's going. Also, for strength, cause when this album drops in the US, I think she's going to have a really tough time.