John Deere, John 3.4: A Music Analysis

Music has a special way of projecting ideas and getting desired points across. These ideas or desired points may be directly stated, such as in the lyrics, or they may be indirectly stated, such as through the music video of the song. Both direct and indirect statements are equally important in portraying the message of a song and the overall worldview the song portrays. Each worldview answers three questions: “Where am I?”, “Who am I?”, “What’s the problem?”, and “What’s the remedy?” (Walsh, Middleton 12). When we look at these four questions, and assess how they are answered, we are able to get a feel for the overall worldview. I will be assessing the song: “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” by Keith Urban. I will do my best to determine

The main lyric in “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” which addresses this third question is: “I spent a lot of years running from believing/Looking for another way to save my soul” (26-27). Those lyrics show the view that the main problem in life is that we try to run away, or rebel form God. Unfortunately, even though the song had the Biblical worldview for the “What’s the problem?” question, it has a worldview that is closer to the secular worldview for the question: “What’s the remedy?” The lyrics do state that obeying God is part of the answer, but most of the focus is on being, or doing things that will make you happy. This doesn’t have God as the source for our fulfillment, just as an occasional option. This mixture of two worldviews is somewhat confusing and is an incorrect way of viewing God. Overall, “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” by Keith Urban is more in line with the secular worldviews that are prevalent in today’s society than with the Biblical worldview. It was very helpful to use the four worldview questions when assessing the overall worldview of the song. Though there were some key ideas that are in line with the Biblical worldview, those ideas were overshadowed by the ideas of the song that were agreed with the secular worldview. This song is a good example of a conflict of