The gospel according to Over the Rhine

I love Over the Rhine. I saw them in Fort Wayne a few years ago, just the two of them, in a smallish room with maybe a hundred people, and was blown away by the weight of their presence on stage. Anyway, I found the lyrics to a song off their new album (which I don’t have) here, and found it to be a wonderfully creative way of speaking the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thoughts?

The trumpet child will blow his horn
Will blast the sky till it’s reborn
With Gabriel’s power and Satchmo’s* grace
He will surprise the human race

The trumpet he will use to blow
Is being fashioned out of fire
The mouthpiece is a glowing coal
The bell a burst of wild desire

The trumpet child will riff on love
Thelonious** notes from up above
He’ll improvise a kingdom come
Accompanied by a different drum

The trumpet child will banquet here
Until the lost are truly found
A thousand days, a thousand years
Nobody knows for sure how long

The rich forget about their gold
The meek and mild are strangely bold
A lion lies beside a lamb
And licks a murderer’s outstretched hand

The trumpet child will lift a glass
His bride now leaning in at last
His final aim to fill with joy
The earth that man all but destroyed

– “The Trumpet Child” by Over the Rhine from their latest album, The Trumpet Child

* “Satchmo” was a nickname for Louis Armstrong

** “Thelonious” is a reference to the innovative, improvising Jazz musician Thelonious Monk