Basis for the Urban Welcome: Various Musical Models

In 1975 the psychedelic British rock group Pink Floyd released their album Wish You Were Here. A hit single from that album was Welcome to the Machine, a song supposedly about both the negative aspects of the music industry and the urban industrialized system that had been accepted under the philosophy of modernism. In that one song and in the accompanying concert video, Pink Floyd painted a 1970’s portrait of a world order that should be feared- a system that builds entire cities with brainwashed clones ready to extend the boundaries of industrialized urban dominance. According to Pink Floyd’s model, the city was part of a conspiracy and should be vehemently opposed. Their emerging post-modern attitude was reflected often in the public’s mistrust of authority and continuing dualism against urban life. In short, urban and ordered was godless and bad.

Thirteen years later, a screeching voice rose to the top of pop music charts with his testimonial of coming to New York City only to hear an African American street person cry out, “Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby! You’re gonna die!” Guns & Roses’ release of Welcome to the Jungle further exacerbated the wariness and evil of city life. Describing the urban center as a vicious sadist who wanted to terrorize its inhabitants, Axl Rose made millions of dollars while testifying to his model of the city as a sinful, destructive force. With the swell of urban populations around the world and the rise in urban crime, the late 80s and 90s seemed to say Amen to GNR’s urban model. The city, an entity filled with seemingly irreconcilable contrasts, stood as a chaotic organism with an “appetite for destruction” and hatred toward deity.

But something happened during the late 90s and first decade of this century. People started asking if the differences in urban centers could somehow be celebrated. Interestingly, the concept has formed into several post post–modern schools of thought, largely stemming from their respective philosophical or theological foundations. If urban diversity could in fact be celebrated, what would be the common bond? What would it take to unite a city that for at least four decades has been seen as hopeless?

In 2005, Bon Jovi released a single entitled Welcome to Wherever You Are. It was met with very little success in the US. Although it did hit the top 40 charts throughout Europe, Americans seemed to see it as a political move or another “feel good” approach to try to deal with the diversity within urbanism. On a Larry King Live show on Aug. 16, 2006, Jon Bon Jovi said he was shocked at the American lack of public interest in unity and diversity. Without addressing the reality of evil and with no real spiritual common denominator, it would seem that the US was still not ready to shake the images of the Floydian machine or the Rosian jungle.

However, in 2004 Toby McKeehan released his own version of urban theology in his CD Welcome to Diverse City. Toby Mac painted a different picture for the urban Christian than his musical predecessors. His vision was a city committed to God and celebratory of the diversity that God had brought about. Later in 2010, he furthered this vision with a single City on Our Knees, a song that went to the top of Christian charts worldwide. In this vision, there is no denial of evil in the city, but Toby calls for the answer to that evil: repentance and worship of Jesus Christ. He calls for an urban theology that unites by making God the common denominator.

The question then remains: which philosophy/theology of the city do you accept? Is your urban center a place to be feared, a place of destruction, crime, and disease? Or can you see the city through God’s eyes- a people to be loved and brought to Christ? What do you really read when you cross your city’s boundary and see the sign that says, “Welcome to…”?