On June 29th of this year a dear friend passed away. Mike Sinn, losing a battle to cancer, was a key member and guitarist of our worship team at Covenant Life Church. I'd have to say he was one of the most interesting and colorful friends I've ever had to date. Besides his life experiences, musical strengths and his no non-sense Christian walk with the Lord Jesus, one of his most memorable "strong suits" to me was that he had little patience for most of the contemporary Christian music out there. And I loved him for that. He would often comment to me at how "it all sounded the same" to him (of course one could never make that argument about other musical genres. Say, the blues...)
It was no secret that Mike's love for the blues colored his approach to worship music. And I can't tell you how many times I would have to "call him out" during rehearsals for throwing in a bluesy "7th chord" into a typical pop ballad. Though a colorful and "unresolved" tension this chord gives to any blues progression, it totally clashed with a lot of the arrangements we were working with. "It sounds good to me." he would always say in a laid back tone that only Mike could deliver. All those years of playing the blues just manifested themselves naturally.
He also had little patience for certain complexities in others' music. My favorite Mike quote of all time: "That damn Tommy Walker has got too many chords in his music!" I told Tommy that story once. He laughed. Tommy would have loved Mike, too. That's what we all loved about Mike. He was Mike. And damned if he was gonna be anyone else! We wouldn't have wanted him any other way.
At Mike's memorial service, I was given the opportunity to sing a song I had written in his honor. Hopefully I will have it recorded soon and will post it for all to hear. For now, here are the lyrics. Enjoy.
...by the way, the last chord of the song...a 7th. It sounds good to me, too.
"The End of the Road"
dedicated to the memory of Michael Jay Sinn born June 7th, 1951, died June 29th, 2009
Words and Music by Barry Johnson
Take the last breath outta me
Take the wind out of my sail
Take the skip out of my stride
Let me weep and let me wail
For a friend has left this world
Into the arms of the Lord
Though our hearts mourn and our souls are torn
A friend adorns a crown at the end of the road
Chorus
Road to glory through these blues
Road to healing broken lives of me and you
Road to Jesus, He makes all things new
And we see a mended friend at the end of the road
On this road, to live is Christ
On the road, to die is gain
On this road, we envy those
In the angel band that play
For this road once paved with sorrow
Is covered with tears of joy
For our blues traveler, guitar warrior
Faithful servant is home at the end of the road
Chorus
Road to glory through these blues
Road to healing broken lives of me and you
Road to Jesus, He makes all things new
And we see a mended friend at the end of the road
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ReplyDeleteI did not realize Mike had passed away. I know he will be sorely missed. I really enjoyed meeting Mike, and felt an immediate connection with him; his laid back attitude and friendly manner were instantly received and enjoyed. It is a bittersweet joy to know that while we will all miss him dearly, he is healed now and enjoying worshipping the Lord IN PERSON!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,
Kurt Hutton