Being at Starbuck’s I get to hear a pretty eclectic sampling of music. From Bob Dylan to (the artist currently know as) Prince. From Jeff Buckley to Janis Joplin. There is only one song that I refuse to listen to - in fact I have it stuck in my head right now. If you’ve ever been cursed enough to hear “Mercedes Benz” you’ll know what I mean about “stuck.”

Here are the lyrics:

“Oh lord, won�t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime with no help from my friends,
so lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a color tv,
dialing for dollars is trying to find me,
I wait for delivery each day until three,
so lord won’t you buy me a color tv?
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town,
i’m counting on you lord please don’t let me down,
prove that you love me and buy the next round.
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a night on the town?
Everybody!
Oh lord, won’t you buy me a mercedes Benz?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime with no help help from my friends,
so lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?
That’s it!”

It’s not so much that she sounds like a goon, a stoned lunatic while she sings, that gets to me - it’s that the message is so real, so relevant.

I realize that I don’t know what she and Bob Newirth (co-writer) were thinking, but I’m guessing that there was a little tongue-and-cheek action going on. Still, they nailed it.

To the world, He’s the god of fast cars and breast augmentations; pro-basketball games and horse races; Mickey Mouse and big houses. He’s the god of cheap thrills dressed up in eternal significance. We…WE ask for a “Mercedes Benz” when God wants to give us wings. We ask for a “color TV” when God wants to give us vision. We ask for “a night on the town” when God wants to give us life with no end.

What are we counting on God for? Janis sang that she counted on God to not let her down; to come through and provide stuff for her. We have not been redeemed by corruptible things, like coupes and plasma screens, but a Lamb without blemish (I Pet. 1:18-19). We aren’t to treat God like the world does, as a Magician of Good Treats. We are to hand over our lives, not because He might grant us a 60″ Panasonic, but because it’s reasonable for us to - reasonable, Paul said to the Romans, sensible, intelligent, realistic.