Lord Huron again

Pandora seems to be playing a lot of Lord Huron this morning while I'm in my office gearing up for our upcoming Alpha course, redoing our Highway 40 campus, and other details. I listen to these lyrics and chord progressions and I'm immediately back in Seattle in June, going to their concert with my daughter. It was a fabulous night but left me pondering ... what's the appeal for the 20-something women who dominated the crowd? (Having a couple daughters in this demographic gives me a vested interest in figuring this out, at least somewhat.) Why the themes of fringe spirituality combined with relationships beautiful and broken? What's the appeal to that particular demographic?

Of course, so many of Lord Huron's songs revolve around natural settings that parallel the amazing place I get to live -- the lake, the woods, the nights, and more. So that's a draw for me, and maybe that's part of the primal language that appeals more widely as well.

My other daughter (who has also seen them in concert) described them as musically monochromatic but technically excellent, and I resonate with both of those evaluations. And they're far, far stylistically and lyrically from the traditional boy-band that seems to appeal to young women en masse.

So for example, when this song came on this morning I was reflecting on the mix of spiritual hunger, despair, longing, and tangible human relationships that is so typical of Lord Huron's repertoire. I think more than anything, these themes are what appeals to a population that is plagued by loneliness, deep spiritual questions, and an instinctive, experiential sense that incarnational relationships in all their delight and difficulty are where we're supposed to be investing. And listening to it a couple times intentionally, I see that there's a sense of agency, of empowerment, that probably appeals for young women who are a little insecure about their place and their power in the world to begin with. And more, there's a promise of partnership, of relational mission reminiscent of the last verses of Genesis 2 as well. I can begin to see the appeal for that particular demographic.

And of course now I have that song playing over and over in my head. Not a bad thing.