81 | International Orange on the Golden Gate Bridge

What do the Golden Gate Bridge, a very specific shade of orange, and your walk with the Lord have in common? 

In Episode 81, Richard gives Brad a quick history lesson on one of America’s most iconic landmarks - including some fascinating facts about its famous “International Orange” color and the never-ending work required to maintain the Golden Gate Bridge. 

But somewhere along the way, a fun conversation about bridges turns into a pretty meaningful Sermon on the Side. 

Because the Golden Gate Bridge is never really finished being worked on. There’s always something that needs attention - something to inspect, repair, reinforce, or restore. And maybe there’s something beautiful about approaching our faith the same way. 

Scripture talks about the ongoing renewing of our minds and the continual work God is doing in us. Following Jesus isn’t about reaching some imaginary point where we finally have everything figured out. It’s about continually allowing Him to reveal the places in our lives that need attention - our thoughts, habits, relationships, priorities, attitudes, and desires - and being willing to keep doing the work. 

So this week, we’re talking bridges, International Orange, sanctification, and what it looks like to live a life that is continually under construction. 

Because maybe the goal was never to become a finished product. 

Maybe it’s to stay willing to be worked on.

Sermons on the Side Bible Readings

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Sermons on the Side. I'm Brad. And I'm Richard. And life can move pretty fast. So we're here to slow down, dig deep, and find the story hidden in everyday moments.

SPEAKER_04 0:14

With years spent in ministry, friendship, and navigating real life together, we're all about blending humor, honesty, and faith into conversations that meet you right where you are.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

So whether you're brand new or you're back for more, we are so glad you are here.

SPEAKER_04 0:30

So relax, listen in, and let's discover meaning together.

SPEAKER_00 0:34

In the ordinary, the messy, and everything in between.

SPEAKER_04 0:38

Sermons on the side. Finding meaning in the everyday.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

International orbit. You're not making this. I'm learning so much right now.

SPEAKER_04 0:48

Hey, you know what? Sermons on the side? Hey, just call me bus driver. You know why? Because I'm taking everybody to school.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

I saw it coming. I saw it coming. As soon as you said call me bus driver, there was a corin. There was this mischievous corint that I knew that someone was gonna. Oh my word. That was just home.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

Alright, I'm I'm I don't know where we're gonna look at it, but I'm on the bus with it. Happy Thursday to all of my Sermon on the Side listeners. Hope you guys are doing well. I know I am because I am sitting across the table from one, the only, Mr. Rico Moore. How are you, sir? Man, doing great. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 1:46

Feeling good and feeling like episode 81.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Well, good, because we are at episode 81. I love the hat, by the way. Yeah, the American flag, the fit, it just you know, the whole thing. You're just screaming, just you look very patriotic.

SPEAKER_04 2:01

Well, I'm glad you think so, sir.

SPEAKER_00 2:04

Not that you are, just that you think so.

SPEAKER_04 2:06

I tell you what, I thanks for mentioning the hat, though. And I have a question for you because all this all this year, you know, we just celebrated our our 10k download last week, which was so much fun. Celebrated 80 episodes last week and all that, and we're onward. Onward, 80 more, right? At least. And uh, but you know what? You know, because you see it every Thursday or every week. I like to have a hat on when we're recording.

SPEAKER_00 2:31

Yeah, I'm a hat guy. Yeah, you y'all think layers is like shirts and undershirts. I'm looking at layers of headgear. We've got hats and headsets.

SPEAKER_04 2:42

So my question is And glasses often, you don't often wear the hat under the headset.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

What is that, my friend? I don't know. I just first of all, my my I'm naturally whatever the warm-blooded or cold-blooded is, whatever it is when you sweat all the time.

SPEAKER_04 2:58

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_00 2:59

Okay, gotcha. And so if I'm wearing a hat, immediately I'm just hotter than I want to be.

SPEAKER_04 3:04

We're cranking up the heat.

SPEAKER_00 3:05

The internal temperature, and so and especially it's making my head hot, and being a redheads are already hot-headed.

SPEAKER_02 3:12

Don't need no more of that. Oh, that was a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

And so, anyways, if you go hat and headset, I'm looking at you, dog. I'm going, I would fall over before we even got into the sermon on the side.

SPEAKER_04 3:21

So all right. Well, hey, asked and answered. I but because you have really cool hats. Your hat game is strong. Oh, thank you. But uh, you know, it's it and I was a little sad that it wasn't a part of our recording experience. But now I understand.

SPEAKER_00 3:35

All that being said, speaking of hats, by the way, you know, now that the kids have started school back, did you know that they do like incentives for like if you read 25 books, you can wear a hat to second period. Seriously, first of all, that's the worst incentive I've ever put to person. I don't even like hats. 25 books. You should see some of these incentive programs they have for kindergartners. I'm like, if you read a privilege of some kind. If you earn 185 books, or if you read 185 books, you can wear something, you know, jeans to school. And I'm like, Becca didn't even like jeans.

SPEAKER_04 4:09

So hey, is there any grade at in which uh wearing hats in class is uh acceptable or no? Coming up. I mean like all the way up. Yeah, I think you gotta be in college, right? High school's not gonna let it happen, are they?

SPEAKER_00 4:21

No, I doubt it. I don't know. It's been a while since I've been at high school. They didn't even have high school when you went to high school, they just called it junior high and junior high and higher high. I don't know. Did they actually call it high school? I don't know.

SPEAKER_04 4:36

But anyway, I hope everybody's having a good back to school season.

SPEAKER_00 4:38

Yes, indeed. Those uh the roads are a lot busier post 3 p.m. So get to where you're going quick.

SPEAKER_04 4:45

Yeah, and in the morning. You gotta manage that morning commute.

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Time it well.

SPEAKER_04 4:50

Ooh, gotta avoid them buses.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

But anyways, hey, another Thursday. We promised last week that we would be back to our regularly. You like how I said that? That's regularly. I've been practicing it this week. Scheduled programming, and we did not lie, we did indeed bring back a normal sermons on the side week.

SPEAKER_04 5:09

So, Richard, let's dive in. Let's do it. Let's start with a question for you, Brad. Okay. So in the United States, these great United States of America.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Which appropriately dressed for this conversation.

SPEAKER_04 5:21

Thank you very much. So in the U.S., uh, I'm just curious, in your travels, anywhere you've been or maybe hope to visit as a tourist.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:31

Right? Do you have any uh famous USA landmarks that are like on the wish list for you? Oh, good question.

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Okay. Uh I know I want to do like some state parks. Oh my state park game is is well below average.

SPEAKER_04 5:46

So like I would My son Derek is gonna be thrilled that you want this because that's his thing. He collects state parks.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Oh, yeah. I've got a buddy that does the same thing. Shout out to Trey and uh anyway, so I'd love to do like Yellowstone. And is uh is the Grand Canyon considered a national park? I think so. Yeah, okay. It's not just a big canyon, it's an actual park. So but like Niagara Falls, I haven't done any of that. I haven't been to New York, so Statue of Liberty, different things like that. Okay, good. I've been to LA, I saw the Hollywood sign. Um that's a good and yeah, classics. Some other things.

SPEAKER_04 6:19

Um, how about uh get to DC much for some of the monuments and stuff?

SPEAKER_00 6:24

Never really.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

And you call yourself an American.

SPEAKER_00 6:29

Listen, it's not because I don't want to, brother. It's just because uh I haven't yet in my 30s years of life. Sorry, we cut up.

SPEAKER_04 6:37

Seriously, uh, those are some great examples.

SPEAKER_00 6:40

Yeah, I would I would love to do that.

SPEAKER_04 6:41

Yeah, I my wish list includes uh Mount Rushmore.

SPEAKER_00 6:44

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 6:45

Hadn't been out there, but the one uh there's a a landmark that I wanted to talk about. Some fun facts, interesting facts about this iconic uh image that that we have out west in San Francisco Bay. It's called the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh yeah. You know, the big or I mean, it's just this bright orange bridge that spans a 1.7 miles across San Francisco Bay. And that's yeah, that that's a cool one. I I'd like to see that site myself. Um, but I found out something very interesting recently about the Golden Gate Bridge. Okay, and that is that it is always being repainted constantly, always being repainted all year round. So whatever the structure might be, whether it's a monument type of deal like the Golden Gate Bridge or any other structure or house, there is always gonna be a point. It's there's there will come a time when it has to be repainted.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Okay, yeah, wear and tear, right? Right, right.

SPEAKER_04 7:53

Uh just just weather, you know, and whatnot is just gonna cause paint to need to be uh paint repainted or structure repainted, you know, and whatever is entailed in that. But the Golden Gate Bridge, a mile uh over a mile and a half long, oh, so high, you know, up in the air. It doesn't, they don't just wait to a certain time to repaint it when it needs it. It is constantly being repaired and repainted. Huh.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Are they always painting it orange? Always orange, always orange. Why don't they call it the orange gate bridge? Like if it's the golden gate bridge, then make them paint it gold.

unknown 8:34

Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_04 8:36

And let's just choose a color. Right.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

That is kind of weird, right? Yeah, what are we talking about here?

SPEAKER_04 8:40

What color should it be? Is it really orange? It is it is a bright orange. And see, San Francisco is known by uh for fog, it's foggy all the time. Okay. Most days there's there's uh just long stretches of dense fog, especially on San Francisco Bay. And it's coming, you know, water's coming in from the Pacific Ocean. Yeah. So it's uh it's salty air, and all of that is causing that is what causes uh paint to need to be, you know, repaired and repainted. But they chose orange because so that ships could see it even through the fog. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 9:21

I mean, I guess logically, but it's pretty type that thing into your GPS ships to avoid it. What are we talking about? I know some paint at Home Depot that'll get that thing in a one coat.

SPEAKER_04 9:33

Apparently, the the U.S. Navy, now this thing was built in 1937, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:38

And so the Man, you are full of stats right now.

SPEAKER_04 9:41

The U.S. Navy lobbied to have the Golden Cape Bridge painted in black and yellow stripes.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_04 9:50

Like a zebra, but black and yellow. And uh because all they care about is we don't want our ships into this thing. Uh but anyway, they finally uh landed on what is called international orange. So international orange. You're not making this. I'm learning so much right now. Hey, you know what, sermon's on the side? Hey, just call me bus driver. You know why? Because I'm taking everybody to school.

SPEAKER_01 10:15

I saw it coming. I saw it coming. As soon as you said call me bus driver, there was a grin. There was this mischievous grin that I knew that someone was gonna.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Oh my word.

SPEAKER_01 10:28

That is just horrible.

SPEAKER_00 10:29

All right, I'm I'm I don't know where we're going, but I'm on the bus with you.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

So here we go.

SPEAKER_04 10:36

But anyway, I just found that fascinating. That that little tidbit I mentioned earlier. That the Golden Gate Bridge. Now, again, salt water, fog, salt air, you know, that's it's gonna be need to be repainted more often than uh other things based on just the location and and all the elements that that people are dealing with right there on the San Francisco Bay, right? But I just found it fascinating that the painting the bridge project is not a project, it's an ongoing job. It happens year round. Now there was this one time back in the 60s that they said, well, let's start at one end and we'll and we'll paint to till we get to the other end, and then we'll see how long that lasts. It took them years. Oh, yeah. Literally years to get that finished. And so now what they do is they have uh full-time employed workers, a team of I think it's over 40 people. I looked it up, but um, yeah, it and and they are constantly, let's see, it's uh 16 iron workers, 28 painters, and and uh five painter laborers. And these people are full-time employees of the Golden Great Bridge Project, or whatever that company is.

SPEAKER_00 12:01

I mean, their job nine to five every day when they go to work is painting that bridge.

SPEAKER_04 12:05

Painting the bridge. And what they do now is they don't, you know, start at one end and go the other, they just isolate different parts or areas of the bridge that are particularly uh eroding and need attention. Wow. And that's what they do for X number of weeks, and then they just keep going, and there's enough bridge and enough uh element uh element related and weather-related decay to keep them busy year-round. Wow. So it was so so there's this fun fact about the the Golden Gate Bridge that the upkeep of the bridge, uh even just as it relates to paint, is constantly going on. It never that work never ends. It happens day in, day out, week in, week out, year in, year out. And as you know, because you know, Brad, how my mind works.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Yeah, I see it.

SPEAKER_04 13:04

I see where you're I go, wait a second, that is true of my life. That in my life and the the care and the keeping and the development of Rico from the day I was born, and this will continue until the day I go on in to be with the Lord, there is work needing to be done every day. Week in, week out, month in month, year round, year after year, that I am always under construction. I'm being built into something. And God, the scripture tells us, is committed, because I've committed my heart to him, he is committed to working on me to accomplish his purposes and to build me into a man who ref whose life is a reflection of the life of Jesus Christ Himself. And that doesn't take place occasionally. That work is not a hmm, it's been a while. God's not up there going, you know what, looking at his watch, checking the calendar. You know, it's been a while since uh I've I've worked with Richard. So I think I'll I'll I'll descend into the earth, you know, and I'll work with Richard. No, day in, day out. Yeah, constantly, God has work that needs to be done in my life.

SPEAKER_00 14:46

Does that make sense? It does, man. And I and I love the opposite side of that same, you know, concept, which is that there's so much weathering that takes place on the Golden State Bridge. Yes, that we have to have a team of people that are dedicated to this. And folks, how much more important is our soul, is our faith with Christ than some bridge, as important and as historic as it is for this country. But you talk about weathering and you talk about the things that take place in our life that can cause some damage or some decay, or if left unchecked, can just in need of repair, right? Uh indeed.

SPEAKER_04 15:31

And think about, I mean, for us, okay, for me, I've been walking on this here here earth for 61 rotations, uh, 61 years, right? I I mean, so I'm I'm thinking about that back to the bridge idea, the imagery, 1.7 miles all the way across. That's a lot of bridge.

SPEAKER_00 15:53

Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_04 15:54

There is no way to for for for that whole bridge to be 100% perfect the all the time. Right. There's all like we said, there's always work that needs to be done. Look, as a six 61 years of life, there's no way that even if I was the sharpest, wisest dude in the world, there's no way I could have my eyes on everything that has taken place over those 61 years and be totally up to speed and totally healed up and totally not decaying, or or you know, no part of that 61-year life that's that's not eroding a little bit here and there. I couldn't do this by myself. It is a comfort to me that I am, as Ephesians 2 10 says, I am God's workmanship, I am God's work project, I am his work of art. And he is constantly working on me. And he does not expect me to have all of that bridge span of my life figured out.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

Right.

SPEAKER_04 17:09

And he doesn't expect me to take care of all the stuff by myself. I can trust him to work on me as he sees fit and as he has planned. All that's required of me is to stick with his program and say yes to his work that he wants to do. And let's be honest, that's not always pleasant. And that's whatever. It might be difficult, it might even be hard for me to admit decay on one part of my bridge, quote unquote. But all I've got to do is say yes, sir. Amen. I I surrender. Bring in the crew, do what you gotta do.

SPEAKER_00 17:49

I do, man. It reminds me a lot of our very second episode that we ever did, the the Back to Basics episode. Whoa. Where you talk about, you know, one of the greatest basketball players of all time and Kobe Bryant. You talk about somebody that Mamba that might not have necessarily cared so much about a random Tuesday practice in the offseason, but was somebody that was famously known for just the intensity and the and the excellence and the absolute precision that he would have on even those. And I bet he would be the first one to admit in those sessions that hey, as great as I might be, yeah, of course I've got room to improve on my game. And so this this back to basics idea, this sort of call to remind ourselves that, hey, no matter where we're at in this faith journey with Christ, we've got an area of our bridge that could probably be painted orange, right? International orange, no doubt. Right. Thank you very much. And uh the the scripture that reminds me of, I know we've referenced it a lot over these last few episodes, but it's Romans 12, 1 and 2. In the NIV version, it says, be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Yep.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

And that paints a really paints a really ladies and gentlemen, that's why he's so good at what he does.

SPEAKER_00 19:07

It does put it into a different perspective than the idea of being transformed by the renewal of your mind. And I know that there's some versions out there that might say that, but the renewal of your mind, you might think, okay, it's kind of a one-time deal. It happens when I get saved, and oh, I get this, you know, new self, and all of that's true and good. Sure. And I'm not trying to theologically go somewhere that we don't need to go. But this concept of hey, let's be constantly renewed, let's have our mind renewing on top of renewing itself within the Lord. And, you know, I does that make sense.

SPEAKER_04 19:45

It totally does. Renewing that word itself describes an ongoing thing, an ongoing process. Renewal can could be interpreted as a one-time event.

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:00

And we are that's the whole point of this sermon on the side is that uh God is inviting us to lean in to this reality that we are always being worked on, always being worked on. Now, we're gonna wrap this, if I may, uh by giving everybody, we're gonna call this the triple A approach to the bridge work, quote unquote, that God wants to do in our triple A, I get it.

SPEAKER_00 20:30

Triple A.

SPEAKER_04 20:31

Travel. Okay, did you ever have see my dad at was and I used to always be a member of Triple A Auto Club.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

I feel like most auto companies have roadside assistance now in some capacity. That's the point.

SPEAKER_04 20:43

Triple A is just not as crucial as it was for most of us because our insurance, you know, has Well, you said triple A, I mean it went to batteries, and I was like, I don't know. Those are tiny little batteries. No, triple A. All right, there are there are three words that I want to leave with. See, we're gonna find a way to make that connection. But but this triple A is these there are three words that start with the letter A that really help me wrap my mind around saying yes to God when He has this work he wants to do.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 21:15

The ongoing work, yeah, not just the occasional work. Okay, so the first A is awareness. So there's gonna be a moment. When I say awareness, I mean there's gonna be a moment where the Lord breaks through and makes us aware of an area of our life that is dealing with some decay and needs to be worked on. Yeah, and that's a huge moment.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

It is a huge moment, and it's not always fun. No, let's be honest, it's most of the time not fun to be reminded by an area of our life that either is broken, in need of repair, or quite frankly, in disarray. Yeah, maybe falling apart, and so it's not lost. On me the difficulty that is this first A.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

It's huge because at that moment we have a decision to make. That's right. All right, are we going to uh are we gonna like minimize what what that truth might be and go, yeah, it's a little bit of a problem. I'm not sure we can work that out. That's not that big a deal. Are we gonna avoid it altogether? Are we gonna blame someone else? These are all just little tactics that our flesh wants to do often, at least it does for me, where I want to just kind of not face that real harsh reality. Right. But the one moment of awareness is a r is actually a gift because it's is God showing us there's there's an area, and it that's like I said before, that's not it's not my job to always know everything, but it's my job to respond when the Lord reveals something to me. So the awareness is first, and can we go to the second A? Acceptance. Acceptance takes humility, it does to be able to say, okay, I'm gonna embrace this reality. I'm gonna choose to say, yeah, that's a thing. And I would rather say it's not that big of a thing, but if God's showing it to me, it's big enough to matter.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:26

Acceptance.

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Yeah, and it's the assumption that you are receiving the help. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, you know, like if the awareness takes place, but then you're like, ah, whatever, move on. You're not accepting that invitation from the Lord that says, hey, bust out that international orange dog, or you're not accepting the invitation from uh a network of believers, uh, a church family, a small group, friends, uh, your spouse, whoever it might be, to say, Hey, I've I got a section of my life that's under construction, I need some help, you know. Uh and I love how you framed that the the accepting um the reality of the situation. Because I think that's where the enemy wants to keep us is believing um in a false reality.

SPEAKER_04 24:10

It just is, it just is. And you and I both know that an addiction journey, an addiction story is wrapped up in some of these principles. Yeah, because my all those years, my unwillingness to be made aware, and when God tried and people would try to make me aware that something wasn't right, I would always delay it and say, well, one whatever, you know, or or minimize it, or blame or whatever.

SPEAKER_00 24:37

All those other things we just talked about.

SPEAKER_04 24:38

All the stuff. I had a incredible capacity to to just uh self-delusion, you know, not not accepting and and or not being aware of how bad it was and much less accepting the the offer to get work and and see it as reality. Okay, the last day, aggressive. Oh wow, aggression, yeah, yeah, which is kind of a a word that might carry some scary connotations and maybe some negative common connotations. We I believe that when the Lord makes us aware and if we're humble enough to accept the reality of what needs to be done, we gotta be aggressive about the the steps and making the work and doing the work and and and and following the plan that God uh lays out for us. Yeah, aggressive as opposed to passive, as opposed to saying, yeah, okay, fine. Well, we'll get to it, I'm sure. I'm sure we'll get around to it. No, no, no. We gotta be aggressive.

SPEAKER_00 25:45

That's exactly right, you know. And in Romans 12, too, talking about that section of offering our bodies as living sacrifices and the renewing of our mind. That section starts with the writer of Romans saying, Hey, I appeal to you, brothers and sisters. I another way to say it is that I beg you. Hey, if you don't hear anything else in this letter that I'm writing you, pay attention to this. This is what so I love this word of uh aggression, this this serious mentality of tackling this problem. Because look, here's the deal: the truth of it is if we didn't have this little team of 40 people that were dealing with the paint and dealing with the you know mechanical, you know, necessary repairs, we're gonna have ships, we're gonna have cars, we're gonna have a mess on our heads. This is an unsafe situation, absolutely dangerous, and it could absolutely, in the worst case scenario, result in death. Yeah. And friends, I I let's not mix words about this. The last A is aggression. And if we do not pay attention to the areas of our life that are screaming for repair, it absolutely can and will lead to death. That's what the enemy tries to do to steal, to kill, and destroy.

SPEAKER_04 27:05

Exactly. So thank you. That's it, man. That is that I thank you for painting that picture. So that's the triple A plan. The triple A plan is uh acceptance. Uh I'm sorry, awareness, acceptance, and aggression.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Wow. I love that, dude.

SPEAKER_04 27:22

And and listen to the last verse, Philippians 1, verse 6, uh, Paul says that uh he is convinced that God, who began the good work in us, will complete it. Come on. Until the last day, the final day. God's God's got a plan. And so let's uh let's be let's do the triple A, the triple A thing. There you go, man. Golden Gate Bridge.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Boom! Amen. It's good. Love it, love it, love it. All right, dude. Well, hey, we are in need of a segment. That's what we need right now.

SPEAKER_04 27:59

Oh, I got one.

unknown 28:00

Okay, good.

SPEAKER_04 28:01

All right, so last few weeks, last couple of weeks prior to our celebration episode, uh-huh. Uh, we were talking about songs that annoy. So we were really negative Nellies about music.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 28:14

And here's what we're gonna do: we're gonna turn the page. Okay. Right here. We're gonna go back to music, but we're gonna talk about in a positive light. We're gonna spotlight some songs. First, first, this week, I'm gonna share with you my list, and I'm gonna ask you for your list next.

SPEAKER_00 28:29

I was about to say you put me on the spot here. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 28:32

And so for here's here's the interesting sort of category here: song lyrics that are sneaky good. Okay. Sneaky good song lyrics. In other words, pop music, radio play, just regular music that maybe we've heard some of the ones I mentioned, you we may have heard multiple times throughout our lives, but they are packed. There's a few lyrics here and there. There's a hidden sermon on the side that just hit hard. Okay. And they're really meaningful. And they they make it, but they sneaky because you don't you're not expecting it. You're just be bopping. Yeah, you're just music. Yeah. Are you ready?

SPEAKER_00 29:12

I'm ready.

SPEAKER_04 29:13

Okay. So the first one we're gonna do. Um, we're gonna do a classic Billy Joel song, Piano Man.

SPEAKER_00 29:22

Sing us the song. Song of the Piano Man.

SPEAKER_04 29:25

Hey, I gotta I gotta pause here on the segment and tell you something super cool. Okay. Piano Man's got all these killer lyrics, great verses, the la-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Oh, it's just such a good song. But I heard Billy Joel being interviewed one time, and he was he he he was talking about how all that when he wrote the song, it sounds like this masterpiece, but it's really just kind of a nursery rhyme limerick vibe to it. He goes, he goes, Well, Joe at the bar is a friend of mine, gives me my drinks for free. He's quick with the smoke or to light no, quick with a joker to light up your smoke, but there's some place that he'd rather be, right? Yeah, he goes, it's a limerick. Joe at the bar is a friend of mine. He gives me my drinks for free. He's quicker with a joking than light up with smoking, but there's some place that he'd rather be. Isn't that funny? Did I just ruin the song for you? Maybe so. All right, anyway, that may I don't know. But anyway, so Billy Joel, right? In here talking about all the people that are that uh come to this bar restaurant where he's playing piano and they're giving tips, right? It's a classic song. But in the midst of this, he talks about an old man who's sitting next to him, or near very near him, yeah. This old man. And here's the lyric of the song. The old man starts talking to him, and the old man says, Son, can you play me a melody? I'm not really sure how it goes, but it's sad and it's sweet, and I knew it complete. Here's the lyric. When I wore a younger man's clothes. Bro, as an old man, as a six-year, that's that, see, that's an example. It's like you're just enjoying piano man, and then he's just talking about an old man going, Oh, there was a song when I was young that I loved. When I wore a younger man's clothes, Billy Joel, you are an artiste at writing music.

SPEAKER_00 31:29

Okay, I see I see the vibe where we're going now. Okay, I'm liking this.

SPEAKER_04 31:32

Now, this next one is going to shock you. It I I think.

SPEAKER_00 31:37

Unless I am just brother, there's not a lot that shocks me anymore as it relates to you and your takes.

SPEAKER_04 31:42

All right. Now, there's a song by uh by uh uh a boy band from, and I think it was in the 90s, late 80s, 90s.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

I stand corrected. All right. Rico's listening to boy bands. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 31:57

Now, this was an annoy a super annoying song because the chorus is just crazy.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 32:04

And everybody knows the song based on the name of the song and the chorus.

SPEAKER_00 32:09

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 32:09

All right. I should have told you this before because if you don't know the song, it's not gonna Oh no. All right, okay. But here's I'm gonna read you the lyrics of the verse. He says, They said, You have so many relationships in this life, only one or two will last. You go through all the pain and strife, then you turn your back, and they're gone so fast. Yeah, they're gone so fast. Oh, so hold on to the ones who really care. He's talking about relationships. Hold on to the one, hold on to the ones who really care. In the end, there'll be they will be the only ones there. And when you get old, start losing your hair. Can you tell me who will still care? Yeah, who will still care? Not awesome. Then they roll into the chorus, and here's the words of the chorus. Okay. Mm-bop.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Bop dubop drop bop. And that's it. That's the chorus. There are no words.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

That's the verse to that.

SPEAKER_04 33:19

That's the chorus to that song is mm-bop.

SPEAKER_00 33:22

No, no, no. But what you just read is those are the verses.

SPEAKER_04 33:25

Yes. Deep lyrics about relationships and hold on to the ones who really care. Because they'll endure all of life. Oh man. And then after saying that deep truth, mm-mm, bop, mm, bop. I mean, please, are you serious? That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 33:44

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 33:44

I love it. Okay. All right, I got one more. You ready?

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 33:48

All right. So, and and you tell me if you've heard this song at all this year.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

This year?

SPEAKER_04 33:55

Yeah. A 70s song by John Denver. God rest us all. It's Country Rose.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Country Rose. Take me home. Where have you heard that this year? The World Cup.

SPEAKER_00 34:09

It became the like the national anthem of the World Cup.

SPEAKER_04 34:12

It seemed like exactly in fans from all over the world were too long. And they love it.

SPEAKER_01 34:19

West Virginia. Mountain Mama. Take me home. Country Road.

SPEAKER_04 34:28

So listen, this is a great, a great song. But there is a killer lyric just hidden in there. Beautiful song about just going home.

SPEAKER_02 34:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 34:36

Doesn't matter if you've ever been to West Virginia or not.

SPEAKER_02 34:39

Right.

SPEAKER_04 34:39

Don't have to be from West Virginia to love that song. That's why it caught on, even all with fans from all over the world, because it was about going home, about being in a place where you really belong, right? But there's a line in the bridge near the end of the song. And it's uh again, it's referring to the state of West Virginia, kind of in with uh feminine language. He says, I hear her voice in the morning hours. She calls me, talking about home in West Virginia. Says, radio reminds me of my home far away. And here's the lyric that all it just somehow hits me. It says, and traveling down this road, I get a feeling that I should have been home yesterday.

SPEAKER_01 35:25

Yesterday, country roads take me home. Wow.

SPEAKER_04 35:32

Isn't that beautiful? And I again, maybe because I'm an old guy and I'm getting even more sentimental in my old age. But just that line, you know, about wanting to be home and and wishing could have been home yesterday.

SPEAKER_00 35:44

So let me ask you this. Let me just ask you this real quick. Because well documented in this show, all the different places that you lived and all the different you know seasons of life. When you hear that lyric and you close your eyes, what are you envisioning? Which house?

SPEAKER_04 35:58

Which which I am envisioning a house in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Where I spent most of my growing up years. Yeah. And, you know, we're there, mom, pop, both my sisters, just growing up in Mississippi.

SPEAKER_00 36:16

Yeah. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_04 36:18

That's what it feels like.

SPEAKER_00 36:19

That's cool. Oh, dude, what do you think? Thank you for asking me. Thank you for sharing. That was a different direction than I thought we were going, but that was cool to peer into the mind of Rico. Y'all, I'm not kidding you. This whole podcast is based on this idea of this man dissecting every aspect of life and finding the hidden meanings within everything. And it's so incredible. So, anyways, thank you for sharing. And I've got now homework that I'm going to be bringing to you next week. I've already got one thing. No, no, no. I've already got one thing in mind that I know I will I will talk about. Um, but I'll have to I'll have to think about some other ones. But yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_04 36:54

All right, man. Well, look, this has been so much fun. We went to San Francisco, we went to West Virginia, we talked about Mississippi, Everton, Mississippi.

SPEAKER_00 37:04

We've been all over the place, man. Well, hey, we appreciate you guys for joining us for episode 81. Come back next week. We got episode 82, and we are fast approaching this much anticipated interview of uh episode 85. Exactly. But we will be there, no worries. We love you guys. Have a great week. We'll see you back next week for Sermons on the side. Now I'm gonna have country roads in my head the rest of the day.

SPEAKER_04 37:40

Oh, come on. You I hope so. I hope you will. But I'm serious. Recently, uh that Hansen song, I came across it on like a reel or something, and here they are, and they're all, you know, they were like teenagers, like young teenagers when they started doing that music.

SPEAKER_00 37:58

I didn't even know that was the name of the group. I just know that's in Bop Park.

SPEAKER_04 38:00

Yeah, three brothers. And they were just and and then I can't.

SPEAKER_00 38:05

Is it what are they one hit wonders? Or did they have more hits?

SPEAKER_04 38:08

I think they might have had a handful. Okay. Maybe uh Hansen fans might could actually answer that question. But then I come across, and now they're all these these adults, you know, 30 and 40-year-old guys or whatever, and um and they're just sitting, you know, strumming guitar and one guy on like bongos, and I'm listening to this deep lyric about the people who are gonna really be with you through all of life. And I'm like, I love this, and then they go, and I'm like, what just happened? That can't be what they were singing about when they were like twelve, you know. But okay, what is that?