Raise A Glass For Ignorance, Drink A Toast To Fear

2020s Vibes from 1999

Jars of Clay released this song on their 1999 album If I Left The Zoo. I don’t keep up with the Christian music genre anymore, but I would consider them among the top five lyricists in the genre, and probably the most solid and consistent in the genre. I obviously consider Rich Mullins among the best, but his quality is uneven and he’s prone to cliche and lack of polish (as befits his character). Jars are consummate artists, full stop.

And as good artists, they are often ahead of their times. Their prescience in these lyrics, even before 9/11, attests to the quality of their ear-to-the-ground of the culture. Most who lived through the turn of the 21st century felt both optimism and a sense of foreboding. And they captured it well here.