Sometime this week the normal MTV’s TRL scene will take place – A musician will come in to premeire their video, dozens of teenagers will be screaming, the hosts will give them “mad props” for their new song, but this time it won’t be so normal.
Nick Cannon is showcasing his new song entitled “Can I Live?” and it is anything but the normal TRL fare.
Unless you count this (and I don’t know if you can), this will probably be the first explicitly pro-life video to ever be shown, much less promoted on MTV.
When I say the song is explicitly pro-life, I mean. It is an auto-biographical song about Cannon’s mother and her decision to leave an abortion clinc before her scheduled abortion of Cannon.
Evangelical Outpost links to Apologia Christi who has the lyrics. Here is a sample:
What you want, morning sickness or the sickness of mourning?
If I Could Talk I Would Say To You
CAN I LIVE?
I am a child of the king
Ain’t no need to go fear me
And I see the flowing tears so know that you hear me
When I move in your womb that’s me being scared
What makes this so poignant is that it is not some artist getting on stage and speaking about their new “cause.” This was/is Cannon’s real-life. He almost was not born. Hopefully one day the lies will stop and we will heed the voices of children just like Nick Cannon asking, “can I live?”
You could probably count the following songs as explicity pro-life, and perhaps shown on MTV previously:
Arrested Development's Mama's Always on Stage
Brand new mama, I understand
It's hard as hell being a young mother and
you need support your conscious told you not to abort
so to your child you're a hero of some sort
Lauren Hill's To Zion
Unsure of what the balance held
I touched my belly overwhelmed
By what I had been chosen to perform
But then an angel came one day
Told me to kneel down and pray
For unto me a man child would be born
Woe this crazy circumstance
I knew his life deserved a chance
But everybody told me to be smart
Look at your career they said,
"Lauryn, baby use your head"
But instead I chose to use my heart
Now the joy of my world is in Zion
Now the joy of my world is in Zion
Both Lauren Hill and Arrested Development have always had a somewhat Christian message to their music. Thanks for pointing out those examples.
I am not sure if either one of those songs was ever released as a single or a MTV video. I am almost positive "To Zion" was not. (I used to be big into Lauren Hill and before that the Fugees.)
But the point remains that the examples are few and far between. It is interesting to note that at least two of the three Nick Cannon and Lauren Hill wrote their songs from personal experiences being on either side of the decision.
Cannon's still has more resounance with me, since he speaks for the unborn as one who was almost eliminated because of "choice."