Behind The Song Black Eye by Derek Webb Category: Music Views: 179
Derek Webb is not your typical Christian artist - He travels from city to city in a van, teaching scripture, playing in living rooms and normally wears nothing but a white t-shirt and jeans. In the past, he's talked about how "crooked" he is and even wrote songs about repentance. His songwriting has brought moments of self examination, spiritual growth and at times controversy. He's been rejected for nothing more than speaking Biblical truth. He doesn't hesitate to call the body to righteousness, no matter how unpopular it makes him appear. His songs speak volumes and he's not afraid to say what needs to be said.
"Stockholm Syndrome" delivers everything listeners have come to expect from Derek Webb: killer pop hooks and lyrics as thought provoking as they are emotionally revealing. Sonically, however, this record is a radical departure for Webb, who has left his acoustic, folk/rock roots behind for a sound he describes as “intentionally inorganic.” From jazz to doo-wop, from disco and dance music to old-school R&B, Webb uses this album as a means of exploring deep issues through the central metaphor of Stockholm Syndrome, illuminating the ways in which a society can fall in love with an oppressive culture and become enslaved by it, which is the definition of “Stockholm Syndrome”. Derek considers “Black Eye” to be the thesis statement for the album.
I got the chance to interview Derek about his album and specifically the themes of his song “Black Eye”. Here are the answers to the questions I asked Derek.
What’s the main message of the song “Black Eye”?
“Black Eye” was the first completely collaborative track Josh and I worked on for the record, and it kind of taught us what our process was going to be. When Josh emailed me the initial riff, I was at the airport about to get on a plane. So I downloaded it and listened to it on the flight, and by the time I landed, I’d probably written half the song because the track itself was so evocative. It had this energy, this punch to it. So I immediately started throwing lyrics at it introducing the central metaphor of Stockholm Syndrome: that we tend to fall in love with the forces that hold us captive and threaten to destroy us. I was looking at the world around me and seeing evidence of Stockholm Syndrome everywhere. All the issues I was having – that my friends were having – that my community was having – were all deeply rooted in our being in love with the ideas and institutions that are holding us hostage. We love these things. We worship them. For example, we worship power so power wields us. We were all made to worship. So “Black Eye” is essentially the thesis statement of the whole record.
Do you have any personal application regarding your walk as a Christian in writing the song? In particular the lyrics: “Black eye is all it's gonna take for me to love you, It's written in my constitution”?
The metaphor of black eye was based on the whole concept of Stockholm Syndrome. I was primarily thinking about the John Calvin quote “the hearts of men are idol factories”.
How can listeners apply that message in their walks as Christians living in a sinful world when they listen to the song? In particular the lyrics: “Time looks the same at the ones who hate, And the ones that do nothing”?
Those lyrics come from Martin Luther King’s letter from the Birmingham jail. The concept of the song is really based on the fact that it is written on our hearts to love anything that contains power. King wondered if in fact time was better used by evil people than righteous people. It’s true that God sees His plans fulfilled by our sinful natures and our realizing that we are in need of submitting to Jesus as our Savior.
Although sometimes we are captive to our sinful natures, Derek referenced that God’s takeaway message is really best found in Revelation 21:5-7: He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Here are the lyrics to “Black Eye”: Black eye from staring through a keyhole at my lover
I swear it's not from his fist
This Stockholm syndrome comes to where they’re keeping you
You never know what time it is
Black eye is all it's gonna take for me to love you
It's written in my constitution
If you go you know I'm coming with you
I'm blind bound by love
Time is no friend to the ones who wait
For daylight to come
Time looks the same at the ones who hate
And the ones that do nothing
Black eye is where I'm gonna paint for your protection
To cover the tracks that you're leaving
I misplaced my face so we can be together
And red lips change how you're perceiving
Time is no friend to the ones who wait
For daylight to come
Time looks the same at the ones who hate
And the ones that do nothing
Black eye
Black eye
I’ve been a long-time fan of Derek Webb, back to his days with Caedmon’s Call. For me, this song is about the sin of idolizing something and how we are all made to worship something and sometimes we worship many things other than God. It could be money, power, selfishness, self-righteousness, laziness or love of works. The metaphor of “Black Eye” is like if we wore our sinful natures on our faces like a “black eye”, although we hide it from others and sometimes ourselves, God knows what that sin area is in our lives. The message of this song is to not have that “black eye” or sinful tendency control you and take you captive and be your identity but instead submit to God’s grace and mercy and live in that freedom.
kevindavis's Blog 
