An old favourite from Li’l Fanzine (it grew on you... like a bad fungus!), Waxing Lyrical’s gonna stick around. A few lyrics under scrutiny this time: Sharon Elton gives ‘Who Cares’ the Biblical treatment, while I kick back and contemplate the weather...

Who Cares?
by Sharon Elton

‘Who Cares’, part of ‘The Truth’ from III Sides, is about the Biblical story of the prodigal son. Remember the part of the song that goes "Remember me, I am the one, who lost his way, your prodigal son"- the full story of the Prodigal son can be found in Luke 15:11-24, in the Bible.

The son takes his inheritance, squanders it in wild living, ends up having to feed swine, and then decides that the only thing to do is humbly return to this father, in the hope that he will accept him back as a hired servant.

Jesus is known as our heavenly father.  Gary is being a prodigal of a type.   He has turned away and is now returning.  He wants to know if Jesus is angry with him for turning away.

People tend to harden their hearts against God, their hearts turn to stone and they wander off, away from the father. They are like children, lost, alone. They walk in darkness and look for signs (usually in the wrong places). They chase rainbows, fleeting things that last for a time but eventually fade away. They think they are okay, the future looks bright, but they are walking away from God and slowly they’re losing sight of the light. But who cares? Who cares about their souls, and who cares that they have chosen the wrong pathway in life? God cares!

He weeps for the lost and compels them to come back - people who are all alone and out in the cold. They can’t look back, they have to keep going, and they feel they are growing old and going nowhere fast. They chose the path they walk on, and they feel like they have found out the truth too late!

But God still cares and he will keep compelling them to come back until they do something about it. Compel means to insist. It is an urgent desire for them to return. Eventually, the guy in the song does just that; "Here I am, a naked man, nothing to hide, with empty hands..."

Nakedness, a symbol of humility, stripped down, nothing concealed, and no hidden agenda. Honesty. The prodigal has returned with all his confessions out in the open. The God who cares accepts the Prodigal, not as a servant, but as his own, long-lost son - the sheep who has returned to the fold.

I Ain't Talking 'Bout The Weather
(Hmmm... then what are you talking about?)

by Alison Cummings

For a man who claims he’s not talking about the weather, he sure does refer to it a lot! It’s time, I think, for the Extreme ‘Fair Weather’ Report - or rather, an account of Gary’s "weather" references...

Towards the south then turning north over ‘Tell Me Something I Don’t Know’ is Whirlwind Gary. We’ll need some ‘Fair Weather Faith’ tomorrow for that rainy day we’ve all been saving up for, followed by the storm caused when the sun didn’t shine your way.

Further down the map we can see Everything Under The Sun - although we’d have to ‘Stop The World’ before it shows anything new for me and you. That’s right, expect rain on our charade sometime in the afternoon!

For those who ‘Rise N Shine’ on the beach tomorrow, a south wind will blow, so watch out for those sandcastles; however, a hot day will be on the way, so don’t chase that breeze through your hands.

And in the West a cloud appears, foreshadowing a nasty shower for hypocrites in this part of the country.

Muthas in Francis Land, tell your kids to "be careful" (don’t be fooled by the morning’s glorious piano, OR the 12 string acoustic at the end of the day - it’s raining buckets out there!). Whirlwind Gary will strike New York City, I predict sometime during the crooner’s performance of ‘When I First Kissed You’; so, the city will truly have no sleep tonight!

And while David Lee Roth may have his head above the clouds, there’s a thin ice warning away down there in the state of Debut. And finally, also in Debut, the Howthafukowee Injuns are doing their ‘Smoke Signals’ rain dance tonight - a sight to see if you’re in the area.

That’s it for the Extreme ‘Fair Weather’ Report. Back to the news desk...

NEWS JUST TO HAND. Whirlwind Gary has just collided with LA’s VAN HALEN TWISTER... experts predict that the combination of these extraordinary forces will unleash a phenomenon unlike anything known to mankind. President Francis advises us NOT TO PANIC...