David Bazan

About

David Bazan is no stranger to Calvin College. He’s played with his old band Pedro the Lion, he’s played at the Festival of Faith and Music, and he’s played a handful of solo shows. Bazan seems to possess something that connects to Calvin.

Besides writing catchy alt-rock tunes and haunting ballads, David Bazan’s story closely adheres to the story of many in the Calvin community. He grew up in the church as the son of a preacher and then went on to study philosophy and theology at a Christian liberal arts college. Like many here, he understands the stories of the Bible and the ins and outs of theology – he speaks the language.

Perhaps this is why it was shocking to fans that he fell out of favor with Christianity and chronicled it on his 2009 release Curse Your Branches (for more on the album, check out this previous post from Eric Kuiper). Bazan possesses the knowledge, but comes to a different conclusion.

While other artists generally stumble around questions about faith or Christianity, David Bazan is in familiar territory when discussing matters of belief and unbelief. Bazan’s reasoning for rejecting the Christian faith is clear and nuanced, not merely centered around discomfort with the religion’s most vocal fundamentalists (a too-common straw man argument). In the March 2010 after-show conversation at the Ladies Literary Club, I recall a particularly vicious barb at the doctrine of original sin, saying that it’s just a way to make humans feel bad about themselves so that they will “join the club.”  Some noticeably squirmed in their seats, but Bazan kept at it, willing to face the music.

On his follow-up album, 2011’s Strange Negotiations, Bazan doesn’t turn back from the fallout of Curse Your Branches, but instead explores what it means to be settled into life as an agnostic. He doesn’t take time to gloat, but discusses what life is like when meaningful relationships have to be renegotiated. The song “Level With Yourself” gets at this frustration of starting a new life when Bazan sings,

I wanna level with myself
I wanna level with my friends
I wanna level with my kin
And be at peace with them

He realizes that Christianity is foundational to his entire life experience, but still yearns for people to meet him where he is, now. It seems like this ideological journey has taken a toll on family and friends as Bazan sings, “I feel like a stranger in my hometown.”

Strange Negotiations continues Bazan’s practice of questioning everything. There’s a great, frank lyric in the song “People” that lays his confusion out bare.

And I know it’s dangerous to judge
But man you’ve gotta find the truth
And when you find that truth don’t budge
Until the truth you found begins to change

Here he isn’t only criticizing rigid Christian belief, but his current beliefs as well. When we declare ourselves Christian or agnostic, we tend to feel like we have found the truth once and for all. But with the last line, Bazan says that the truth changes and that unforeseen circumstances can completely alter our perceptions. This level of raw honesty is rare in popular music and one of the reasons that we keep coming back to David Bazan.

So go to the show ready to be challenged. Be ready to rock, but listen close and be ready to process some heavy, illuminating thoughts from the mind of David Bazan.

- Dan Hofman