He wished to right the wrongs
He sang religious songs
He kept the private He
Under a lock and key
Heat keeps rising in an age of passion
Shakes a conscience to the core
Stopgap, hand-slap, take a tongue-lashing
My pour soul can't take any more
On the fritz, on the fritz
There he sits, on the fritz
He kept his ego there
It was a sad affair
On the fritz
The inner circle knows
And so the story goes
On the fritz
Airborne rumours chip away the image
But you knew the stakes were high
First they get you thinking you're a prophet
Now they've got you living a lie
So the crowds grew, and the praise did too
And a mailing list sent you money
So they love Jerry Lewis in France
Does that make him funny?
It's too late for apologies when trust has been betrayed
Now victims of your double life are naming names
He kept his ego there
It was a sad affair
On the fritz
The public's had enough
They've come to call your bluff
On the fritz
Small talk breeds where kingdom's come crashing
Rumour conquers where it will
No one hears you, go ahead and cash in
If you don't die to yourself, pride kills
Written by Steve Taylor © 1985 Birdwing Music/C.A. Music (ASCAP)
Taylor says, "If my songwriting output were mostly autobiographical, I would
be a very messed-up cowboy indeed, but I suppose a convincing case could
be made for many of these songs, intentionally or not, written partly as
a way to mark off boundaries that, by the grace of God, I hope never to cross.
Having married above my means and been blessed with an altogether lovely
and Godly wife for nine years, I confess to having little tolerance or empathy
for those involved in marital infidelity. But I'm afraid I know a lot about
the ego that can fuel such sins, and I've yet to satisfactorily figure out
how to 'die to self' as Jesus taught us, while living and working center
stage in a circus of self-promotion. If it's starting to seem like 'On The
Fritz' describes the rule rather than the exception for Christians in the
public eye, then I would like to thank exceptional men and women from Dr.
Billy Graham and his wife Ruth to my own father and mother for their examples
in living a lifetime faithful to one God and one spouse."
(Taken from liner notes to "Now The Truth Can
Be Told")
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