Brad Paisley Admits God Says "No" Sometimes
One of the readings at Mass yesterday (July 25) was about Abraham bargaining with God. So naturally, the homily was all about how often people bargain with God when they pray. Like, "Hey God, if you do this for me I swear I'll work at a soup kitchen and feed the homeless for a hundred years." Anyway, because country music is usually always on my mind, I found myself thinking about Brad Paisley's song, "No." It's a song that Paisley wrote with Bill Anderson and Jon Randall and it pulls you in with a duet of piano and steel guitar. The lyrics are about how every prayer you pray gets answered, even though sometimes the answer is no. So Paisley doesn't get the bike he prayed for, he doesn't get away with smoking some stolen cigarettes and at the end he doesn't get to keep his Grandpa here on earth when he is called on home.
I know I've done a little bargaining with God on occasion. And I know my mom did, too. She swore she'd go to Mass every day for the rest of her life if God would let my brother survive spinal meningitis. She did. For more than 40 years. He kept up His end of the deal and so did she. But in the homily, as in the song, my pastor talked about how we should be open to whatever God's answer is. That's a scary thought, because what if He says no? In the bridge of the song, Paisley has this epiphany: "When I think of all the answers in my life, I would have to say/There's no doubt it was always for the best when I didn't get my way." I think that's kind of a prequel to Garth Brooks' "Unanswered Prayers," when he is actually thanking God for the prayers He turned down.
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Jeannie says:
Alison, very timely. I was just making bargains a few days ago. I live in a troubled state and I know I cannot be unique to this. The saints must be getting lots of requests for interceding on our behalf.
I was just watching the (to be nameless station) special on Brad’s H20 tour and I was thinking that it definitely qualified as miraculous, but you could tell why it happened. The hearts and the goals were all in the right place. It had to be blessed because the crew was blessed, the audience was blessed and you know God was thanked over and over.
Country music has so many inspirational stories, I’m so glad I got off my high horse nearly 10 years ago and gave it another shot. Love being one of the ‘best group of fans’ in the world.
God bless Brad and all my faves (more numerous than one of those overtime thank you speeches!) =)
Kevin says:
Thank you for writing this blog. You convey a message that many people feel, as well as point out a song that many people don’t know about because they haven’t heard the amazing album on which this song appears. The subject of the song may sound cliche to some, but Mr. Paisley does a masterful job of putting it into a song.
Katlee says:
Garth Brooks also addressed this in his song “Unanswered prayers” Both great songs with a needed message…