Beautiful Feet
Covered in mud, from walkin' down dirty trails,
Not too attractive, 'cause they're missin' just a few nails,
That mud is caked on, and crackin' with a layer underneath,
My beautiful feet, beautiful feet, my beautiful feet!
Bitten and blistered, from the bugs and the sun,
And you know I tried to fight it, but the stench it must've won,
They're beat up, and bloodied, they're quite a sight to see,
These beautiful feet, beautiful feet, my beautiful feet!
Careful little feet wherever you go,
Be spreading His gospel from shore to shore,
Never lose focus on your main goal,
'Cause that's what makes you beautiful...
The moral of this story, I'd like you all to see,
Your feet may be dirty, but Jesus can wash them clean,
They may be wretched, unsightly, and borderline diseased,
But if they carry the good news all the senses will be pleased,
On mission, effective, those puppies prove to be,
Some beautiful feet, my beautiful feet, beautiful feet!!!
Music: So, full disclosure, I got on a Randy Newman kick. It all started when I saw a hilarious video along the lines of "What if Randy Newman sang 'Let it Go' from Frozen?" (And to be honest, I think it would've made the movie at least twenty times more enjoyable for me personally.) And that got me started down a path of listening to Randy Newman interviews and re-watching Toy Story and realizing that "Short People" was his only real hit, and it was about having a phobia of little people, and he was just a pretty strange guy... But out of all that, I figured out how to play 7th chords on the piano, and that signature rhythmical style that Randy Newman pretty much perfected, and I thought to myself, "I have to make a song out of this..." And so I started fiddling around with the D7 and the G7, and it mostly came together in a straight blues progression with a little walk down and then hanging out on that D7 for "Beautiful Feet." As far as the piano solo in between verses, that was me trying to figure out how to play "You've Got a Cold" by 10cc, utterly failing, but keeping my own little ditty for my own little song. The rest is pretty standard, I fade in the drums and rhythm guitar for the recorded version, and use a lot of grunts and "huhs" to make it sound like I'm really rockin'...
Lyrical Explanation: So like I said, this song was born out of my experiences in Cambodia, and I actually started writing it (at least in my head) while we were still over there. You see, in their culture, it's customary to take off your shoes when going into a home, church, school, etc. and so it is far easier and prudent to wear flip flops, which are easily removable and comfortable for walking. The only problem, of course, is that in the villages there aren't many paved roads, which makes for a lot of dirt, and when it rains (which it does often during the rainy season for some reason), mud. And where there is mud, vans get stuck in the mud. And when you're one of a handful of guys on the trip, and the van is stuck in the mud, you get out and push the van. And when you get out and push the van that's stuck in the mud with nothing but flip flops, your feet (and the rest of you, really), get muddy, nasty, and honestly not very attractive. And it was at that moment, when my feet were at the lowest point possible (I mean, even people with foot fetishes would have been repulsed by them), the verse in Romans 10 came to my mind, "And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring good tidings of great things!"
I, along with the team of believers from all walks of life, had been sent to the people of Cambodia to preach the good news, the gospel of peace, the message of hope that can save them from the darkness of sin and death! And no matter how dirty and nasty and sweaty and unkempt I became, God was using me to fulfill His mission to the Cambodian people. When my feet were at their lowest point in terms of Earthly beauty, God was making them heavenly messengers of His love, His power, and His grace.
The other time I saw this very clearly was when I was invited to preach to the local Cambodian church (through a translator, of course, I haven't been blessed with the gift of tongues up to this point in my life). But of course, we had to take our shoes off to go in the building, and so I preached my very first sermon in a Cambodian church, barefoot, talking about the love of God the father as shown through Jesus's parable of the Prodigal Son. My feet were sweaty and nervous and sticking to the tile floor, but again, God was using me to bring His message that He was waiting for all people to turn to Him, to repent, and He would welcome them with open arms. They had rebelled against Him, but He was waiting to forgive, and to take them back into His family.
All throughout the trip I saw my feet get dirty and itchy and bitten and calloused and nasty, and all throughout the trip I kept being reminded, "These are beautiful feet in the hands of God my Savior..." And so I started putting down some of the words to this song, and when I got back I finished getting it together, and now I share it with you. Hopefully you can hear the passion I have, and the reason I want to go back and share again the love God has for the children, the youth, the adults, and all the people of Cambodia. Jesus is able to wash all of them completely clean.
YouTube Version: I wrote this while Jason was away at college, so the video is just of me, and I think I messed up the verses somehow, but you can still enjoy!
Recorded Version: So here it is, fresh off the presses, and it'll appear on our brand-spankin' new album when that's finished.. Here's the link!
https://soundcloud.com/justin-samuel-manry/beautiful-feet
Conclusion: So anyway, don't forget to come to my concert next Saturday, June 20th, at 2 PM, and I'll most likely play this song live! Complete with many grunts, and perhaps a longer piano solo lasting several hours... I'll be putting up a few more highlights from the new album in the coming weeks, so be on the lookout, suggest a song for me to explain, and keep on rockin'... You never know when rock and roll will save your life...
Singing off for now,
Justin Samuel Manry
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| Fanny Packs rock! |
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