Because of the Times - Kings of Leon

Joseph Smith | 2 December 2007

Font size: + - | print | email to a friend

Because of the Times
Kings of Leon
Sony BMG
2007

Kings of Leon’s latest album Because of the Times is named so for very interesting reasons.

The three Followill brothers, who form Kings of Leon with their cousin, spent much of their youth travelling around the American South with their father, a travelling United Pentecostal Church preacher.

Their third album has allegedly been named after a large UPC ministers’ conference of the same name held in Alexandria, Louisiana that the brothers often attended.

Whatever the true reasoning behind the album’s title maybe, Christian spirituality is addressed in a more overt way than in their previous two releases.

Because of the Times contains more tracks, longer songs and a greater variety in style and pace than their previous two albums.

While Kings of Leon have always been at the bluesier end of the rock scene, Youth and Young Manhood and Aha Shake Heartbreak contained mostly upbeat, short, tight indie-rock songs that saw them easily lumped with The Strokes and The White Stripes in terms of style.

Kings of Leon have continued in their bluesy indie-rock style but their growing maturity is evident in the greater variety of musical styles and lyrical content.

Long term fans of the band may initially find the album a little difficult to get into (as I did) due to the altered direction, but it is undoubtedly their most accomplished release.

Opening track ‘Knocked Up’ sees the vocalist take the guise of a young father who is going to help his girlfriend have the baby they have made.

“I don’t care what nobody says, we’re gonna have a baby,” sings Caleb, and he plans to stay faithful to his girl despite his own flaws: “I don’t care what nobody says, no I’m going to be her lover, always mad and usually drunk, but I love her like no other.” The sentiment is sweet but knowingly smacks of the immaturity of optimistic youth.

‘True Love Way’ is a similarly optimistic romantic song, putting forth the idea that if a couple can escape the troubles of the world, the love of one another will sustain them.

Christians know such optimism is unwarranted this side of heaven where we are all sinful and that a human relationship rooted in a love for God has the best chance for survival during difficult times.

The lyricist certainly isn’t afraid to acknowledge his own flaws, doing so in numerous songs. In ‘Ragoo’ he talks as one with a degree of maturity and hindsight but realises he really has nothing better to offer: “I want to say it’s to me to change the world… Here’s to the kids out there smoking in the streets, they’re way too young but I’m way too old to preach”. And he starkly paints his own faults: “You caught me whilst a lying, you caught me with my pants down”.

In ‘Black Thumbnail’ the vocalist sings of his black heart, his suffering in a broken relationship and again he is willing to acknowledge that much of the fault is his own: “I’ll still be running from the demon in my head, I’ll be that person ‘til my dying day, I try so awful hard, but I can’t change”.

Of course, the Bible tells of changed lives and softened hearts at the hands of God. Saul’s conversion from Christian killer to defender of the faith as Paul after being confronted by Jesus on the Road to Damascus is one such example.

In fact, in slower paced song ‘The Runner’, Followill describes his relationship with Jesus, opening and closing verses. “Hard times as we go, we know what times will change, I talked to Jesus, Jesus says I’m okay”. Throughout the song he talks about the difficulty of life, singing, “Awful sick and tired of the game”.

Sentiments about hard times and being tired of life’s dreariness give the lyrics a similar feel to the expressions about life in the book of Ecclesiastes. Like the author of Ecclesiastes, Followill appears to find meaning and solace in God’s presence. He bookends the song with the verse “Hard times as we go, we know where times will change, I talk to Jesus, Jesus everyday”.

Because of the Times is an impressive addition to the Kings of Leon’s body of work both for its musical variety and lyrical maturity. Christians will certainly find music here to enjoy and lyrics that provoke thought.