| Jim Murphy - Everything Changes (2008) |
| Written by Catherine | |
| Monday, 31 March 2008 18:04 | |
 Arkansas-native Jim Murphy may be a new name among Buzz readers, but he certainly isn’t new to the industry. His second album, Everything Changes, released in February, and the first single from the album climbed 20 positions in one month on the CRW Inspirational chart. With a voice like Mark Schultz and unique lyrics that get you excited about living a Christian way of life, Jim Murphy won’t be going anywhere but up. Starting off the album is the first single, a remake of Twila Paris’ “How Beautiful.” The song serves as a reminder to all of how beautiful Jesus lived His life – serving, walking, bleeding, and forgiving. It’s a beautiful song that deserved its fantastic run on the charts, peaking at number 18. The title track of the album plays at number three, where the lyrics accompany a very nice, calming melody. Murphy sings of the many changes that take place when we choose Jesus for our life – “Everything changes and all becomes new. Our sins die away; the storm’s calmed by You.” Even those with dark times in the past, Murphy tells us that we should have known that Jesus was there the whole time. This song ends and seems to roll right into the next song, “Starting Over”, somewhat of a continuation of the title track. Since first listen, I have dubbed it my life story. The slower-tempo second single has already broken into the Top 10 singles on the Inspirational chart in March. After learning that “everything changes” with Jesus in the previous song, “Starting Over” explains that even if you follow your own path, you can try with Jesus again when you fail. It’s an all too common story of Christians falling away from the Chosen Path, but Murphy reminds us in this song that “Jesus waits for you through the night, ‘til you finally lose your right. He welcomes you back into His loving arms to start all over again.” This song is becoming my favorite of the album. “Taken Back (Take 2)” is one of the more upbeat songs of the album. It brought me back to the days of being newly saved. We all know the feeling – excited about virtually everything. We want to shout the excitement, the words “I am so amazed how You gave Your life away. I am taken back, I am blown away…I can’t help but talk about it!” Through this song, Murphy expresses how we should all feel all the time. The great blend of the fast paced music and down to earth lyrics get you excited about our final destination of Heaven, since we sometimes dream about the day we get to see Jesus’ face. Behind “Starting Over”, this is a top favorite. One of the most distinctive songs I’ve ever heard is the last song on Everything Changes. “Faith, Hope and Love” is written from each one’s perspective, personifying the nouns. Each verse is reserved for each word, where they define themselves and plead for us to believe in them again. Love’s verse is my personal favorite, when Murphy sings that it “speaks the loudest, the keeper of them all…the passion in laughter and tears.” The song explains that each word carries the promises that “Heaven’s not so far.” Though ending the album with a slow pace, this song is very different and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was chosen as the next single to blaze through the charts like its predecessors. Jim Murphy’s sophomore album is one for everybody, enhancing any music collection. Everything Changes is a feel good album you can listen to at any point in your life and play it again right away to catch a lyric or two you missed the first time around. Preview it yourself at his Myspace (myspace.com/jimmurphymusic) and be sure to watch out for his next single, bound to hop the charts, which should give you even more reason to purchase the whole album! |
