Of the artists featured on the Inspired by Album for Walden Media’s adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe, the band Jars of Clay was arguably by 2005 one of the most well-known to secular audiences. They had already achieved mass crossover appeal, with their song “Flood” having gone platinum upon its release, and could be heard playing on secular radio stations across the country. Listeners could hear their music and not necessarily know they were Christian, in perhaps the same way that artists like Creed, Daughtry, or Evanescence were Christian-adjacent due to their deep themes of spirituality and longing. In fact, Jars of Clay had even been featured along such big name artists of the early 2000s for other film soundtracks, with their song “Unforgetful You” being including on the soundtracks for both the teen rom-com Drive Me Crazy starring Melissa Joan Heart, and Crossroads alongside such popular groups of the day as Britney Spears, The Backstreet Boys, Barenaked Ladies, Flock of Seagulls, Shania Twain and Bowling for Soup.
However, even on their more faith focused albums they weren’t afraid to dig a little deeper into the liturgy as is evidence on their album “Redemption Songs” that featured many deep cuts from the hymnody. Meanwhile their album “Christmas Songs” went far beyond just covering the usual Christmas standards, and included a fun arrangement of Paul McCartney’s Wonderful Christmas Time that featured a brief quote from the chorus of “We Three Kings” that allowed the listeners to truly celebrate what it is that makes Christmastime so wonderful, a stirring arrangement of Longfellow’s “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” that not only used the seldom used original Calkin setting that featured a musical mash-up with “Auld Lang Syne” on the verses, and an appropriately mellow cover of “Christmastime is Here” from A Charlie Brown Christmas.
The real standout on that album is their cover of the advent hymn, “In The Bleak Midwinter”. Written by English poetess Christina Rosetti and set to music by early 20th century classical composer (and the man revered as the grandfather of the modern film score) Gustav Holst, the song perfectly captures the mystery, wonder and awesomeness of the idea of God coming down in flesh. Thus, Jars of Clay does something unique and switches the order of the second and fourth verse, allowing the listener not to ponder on what to give this King of the universe, but to contemplate of that moment, when Heaven came down to Earth.
With all this in mind, it becomes all the more appropriate that their contribution, written by band members Written by Charlie Lowell, Dan Haseltine, Matt Odmark, and Stephen Mason for the Inspired by Album “Waiting for the World to Fall” is not only the first track on the album, but was featured as a single. Because of the fact that the elder two Pevensies are perhaps best described as “tweens” in the early vernacular of 2005 ( a term that, considering Lewis was in fact the OG Lord of the Rings fan would have taken on a different definition given Tolkien first coined to describe a particular age of a Hobbit would have probably made him chuckle) it makes since that the album producers would want an artist from the CCM genre who not only had a broad appeal outside the Christian market but could deliver songs geared towards those particular listeners.
But Jars of Clay did more than just release a “tween” geared power ballad, this song perfectly captures that same sense of awesomeness as two worlds, the world of Narnia and our world collide, and how God Himself steps down from Heaven to dwell among them. The Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve, as well as Aslan entering the world of Narnia, is perhaps, in the history of Narnia the single most awesome event in its history just as the birth of Christ is for ours.
However, what is key to the songs power is the word “waiting”. This isn’t about Peter, Susan, Edmund, or Lucy waiting for something. I would argue that by using the word “Waiting” the band members are focusing not only the longing of the children, but on the longing of The Narnians, like Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Mr. Tumnus, or General Orius. They are the ones waiting for the fulfillment of the prophecy and for the reason of Narnia to finally change and to have spring again. They are waiting for Aslan to fulfill his promise for them and waiting for the sign.
This feeling becomes appropriate when one considers that Narnia, under the reign of the Witch, is in a state of Advent. Thus, like their cover of “In the Bleak Midwinter”, Jars of Clay captures the sense of anticipation that the land of Narnia and her inhabitants feel as they wait for the arrival of the Pevensies and Aslan’s victory, and with it Christmas comes to Narnia. In turn it captures our sense of anticipation during Advent, not only for presents under the tree, but for the true first gift of Christmas, the birth of the Savior and with it, the fulfillment of God’s promise to us all.
More importantly, like all great advent hymns, it also redirects our attention beyond the present and towards Eternity and our longing for “the world to fall” and our King to return and restore the world once and for all. It’s a song of redemption, and it made for the perfect start to the album that captured the deeper magic of Narnia, and set the stage for what the Inspired by Album would be all about. This isn’t just a magical fantasy. It’s a story of faith, home, sacrifice, and redemption and of God’s love for us, that fills us with a sense of advent hope not just for Christmas but for the return of the true King.
Retro Narnia Rocks ! Playlist Tracks
SIDE A: “Waiting for the World to Fall”
“In the Bleak Midwinter”
SIDE B: “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
“Wonderful Christmas Time”
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