Final Explorations

     For as long as music has been around, people have been using it for expression. Expression of emotions, ideas, and principles in people's lives. In society, music has been and is being used as a tool to convey messages for people to relate to and unite under. One of these situations was the Chrisitan rock and roll movement from the late '60s to the '80s. Up until the later 1900s, Christian music consisted almost entirely of Hymns composed from the 1500s to the 1800s. The younger generation in America in the late '60s wanted to break from the normalcy of boring music and wanted to express themselves with more energy, something that was frowned upon in that day and age. One band that spearheaded this movement was Petra, one of the first Christian rock bands to gain traction and push the counterculture movement in America. The band started with four members at a Bible college who played at churches, coffee houses, and other assorted venues until they gained traction and started performing in concert. Their sound is similar to the other groups of the time; heavy on electric guitar and drums, with synths being added later in their career.  They were crucial in normalizing rock music in the Christian community and making people realize that they could be loud and still be worshiping God at the same time (much to the disappointment of their parents).

    One Song that Petra is famous for is the song "I Am On the Rock". This song is a nice, medium-pace rock song that describes how though the world is crumbling around, you can still rest in the Lord as the rock that you can stand on for assurance. The song has the format V1 V2 C1 V3 V4 C2 B C3, then an outro to end the song. The melody is a single vocalist for the verses, then breaks into a polyphonic melody for the chorus. The lyrics in the song are quite simple, typical of the songs of the day. The message of the song stresses the idea that the world is destined to fail, and that bad things are happening all the time, but God is a firm foundation on which you can stand to be safe from it all. 

Petra - I am On the Rock

    Another extremely popular song from Petra was "Beyond Belief". This song emphasizes God's power and his unfathomable might. The tempo of the song starts out pretty light with an electric guitar playing chords, and synths playing the melody. When the song starts in the chorus, the instruments keep the same energy, with the bass joining in strong. Towards the end of the chorus, the drums join in as well, then the song picks up to a lively tempo which remains the same throughout the song. The song's vocals consist mainly of the lead singer, with the backup singers joining in chorus to bring more depth to the music; a sort of question and answer style. The vocal sound of Petra is comparable to the other popular bands of the day such as Gun's N' Roses, Scorpion, and Def Leopard. They also went through several sound changes, starting out as a typical '80s rock band, then mellowing out in the 2000s to more ballad-type music. 

Petra - Beyond Belief

    Petra is a Prime example of how music influences society. Christain music went from the same Hymns people had been singing for the past hundreds of years, to something that people could relate to in that day and age, without changing the message. They helped prove that you could express ideas through a different type of mood; that it's not just confined to a stuffy church building with a choir. The music that Petra produced related with the youth of the day, who were already listening to rock music by non-Christian artists; Petra just realized that they could make the same style that everyone listened to already, but they could still praise the Lord with it. This movement was so powerful that it changed the way people viewed worship forever after. This is the power that music has. 

Popson, Tom. “PETRA: EVEN CHRISTIAN ROCK HAS ITS CRITICS.” Chicagotribune.com, Chicago Tribune, 4 Sept. 2018, www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-09-20-8503040627-    story.html.

Rarig, Brandon, and Mark Smith. “Petra, ‘Beyond Belief’ Review.” Jesus Freak Hideout, www.jesusfreakhideout.com/cdreviews/PetraBeyondBelief.asp.

“Petra (Band).” Edited by Multiple, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 July 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra_(band)#1972–1979:_Inception.