By Odeisel

The Catholic Church has taken a lot of hits recently. The sordid sex scandals and the general distaste of religious hypocrisy has left the church in a compromising position.  With a recently elected pope, and an ever changing world, how does the church stay “hip” and retain enough cachet to draw and attract new members? Not like it’s a club or anything, but in all joining things there has to be a hook.

Last week  they released, of all things, the Vatican’s iPod playlist. That in itself is cute considering Pope Benedict is old as hell. It’s always cute to see old people shown as being “hip” or tech savvy. What raised most eye brows, however was the inclusion of Tupac’s “Changes.” Many people wondered aloud whether a song that featured lines like “both black and white is smoking crack tonight” has any place in a religious figure’s musical list.  For info purposes, here are the lyrics:

Lyrics | Tupac lyrics – Changes lyrics

While the memory of Tupac conjures many conflicting images of gangsta/poet with songs like “Dear Mama” residing in the same catalogue as “Hit ‘Em Up,” you still wonder how His Eminence ended up jamming to ‘Pac’s music. Was this a legitimate pick, or is this an attempt by the Vatican to appear cool to a generation that has removed the Church from their consciousness? And if it was an attempt, is that laudable or laughable? Below is the complete Vatican playlist:

1. Advocata Nostra – Music From The Vatican. From the album Alma Mater  featuring the voice of Pope Benedict XVI.

2. Uprising – Muse. This is the first single from the fifth studio album, called The Resistance, by the English rock band.

3. Causa Nostrae Laetitiae – Music From The Vatican. Another track from the Vatican’s own Alma Mater album.

4. Il Mare Mi Salva – Rossomalpelo. Song from the band led by contemporary Italian singer songwriter Serge Gaggiotti   

5. After The Rain – Dame Shirley Bassey. Track from her recently released album The Performance.

6. Coexist – Nour Eddine. Song from Moroccan Musician, based in Italy,

7. Don Giovanni – Mozart. Famous opera about an amorous young nobleman.

8. Rafaele Merry Del Val – Lorenzo Perosi Inni Mottetti e Canzoni, Pablo Colino & Coro Academica Filarmonica Romana. Piece of classical music.

9. He Doesn’t Know Why – Fleet Foxes. Song from up and coming folk indie five piece from Seattle in the US who came to prominence in 2008.

10. Changes – Tupac Shakur. American rapper who was killed in 1996.

11. Regina Coeli – Music From The Vatican. Another song from the Vatican’s own album.

12. Mi sarete Testimoni – Santo Subito! (DVD). Music DVD embodying the voice and image of The Pope

Firstly, the Pope himself isn’t responsible for the construction of the list.  That honor falls to Father Giulio Neroni, artistic director of St Paul’s Multimedia, a church music publisher with a background in Gregorian chants who actually acts as Pope Benedict’s voice in about 5 different languages on record. Upon inspection, Pac’s selection isn’t alone in its curious assortment. Let’s look at British rock group Muse and their song “Uprising.” Below are
 the lyrics:

Lyrics | Muse lyrics – Uprising lyrics

As you can see, the lyrics in theme are not that far off from “Changes.” In fact it’s a bit more aggressive in terms of finding a solution to the inequity between the powers that be and the everyman.  While the language itself isn’t as imflammatory on “Uprising,” the sentiment arguably is far stronger.

Rise Up and take the power back, It’s time the fat cats had a heart attack/you know their time is coming ot an end, we have to unify and watch our flag ascend

Although “Changes” recognizes the imbalance of power, it doesn’t call for revolution, but rather change from within. While just as important, it is certainly less confrontational.

The Fleet Foxes’ “He Doesn’t Know Why” also speaks to the poor and disillusioned. The song does not speak to power per se but there is still acknowledgement that people are walking around in pain and disconnected with a greater success and way of life.

Lyrics | Fleet Foxes lyrics – He Doesn’t Know Why lyrics

Perhaps the inclusion of “Changes” isn’t that irregular after all. Perhaps the message in the selection of these songs is that the Catholic Church stands as a protector of the people and their path to salvation. Maybe these themes are a way for the Vatican to reconnect with the people they have seemingly abandoned in their haste to cover their own asses.

If in fact they are trying to reconnect, then bless them. The Jesus they espouse kept the company of sinners, and as such, redemption was always close at hand. What sort of ministry wouldn’t do what it could within its dogma to shorten that distance between the saved and those they are duty bound to salvage? Not a very good one. As small as this step is, at least the acceptance of technology, the embrace of contemporary music, and the acknowledgement that there is an imbalance of equity properly frames the charge ahead for the church. Here’s to the thought that these selections were purposeful and genuine attempts to connect and restore the church to legitimacy as an agent of salvation rather than the hypocrisy of papal hierchy. Whatever you believe in, I’m sure we can agree on some level that “Changes” are certainly necessary.

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