The mistakes I've made
That cause pain
I could have done without
All my selfish thought
All my pride
The things I hide
You have forgot about

They’re all behind you
They’ll never find you
They're on the ocean floor
Your sins are forgotten
They’re on the bottom
Of the ocean floor

My misdeeds
All my greed
All the things that haunt me now
They’re not a pretty sight to see
But they're wiped away
By a mighty, mighty wave
A mighty, mighty wave

Your sins are erased
And they are no more
They’re out on the ocean floor

Take them away
To return no more
Take them away
To the ocean floor
To the ocean floor
To the ocean floor

Your sins are erased
They are no more
They’re out on the ocean floor

~ "Ocean Floor" by Audio Adrenaline

My son played me this song today, having received three of the band's CDs and one of Hawk Nelson's as belated Christmas gifts. The lyrics jumped out from the speakers at me, reminding me of, well, me, and of us, and of all who regret an abortion and wish for healing.

The cold, black-and-white of these written words can't even hold a candle to the sheer power and comfort of the sound of this song. A short clip found here doesn't do it justice either, but it's all I've got.

The band has had six GRAMMY® nominations, ten studio albums, decent radio play (KFSH 95.5 - the Fish in Los Angeles) in '00 and '02, and yet only played in my state recently, when my son and his youth group got to meet the band and really hang with them post-concert while they gave a private concert and reception to the local church youth group who had the largest attendance at the public concert the day before (Rock The Sound 2005, to benefit the Hands and Feet Project).

They make music the teens and young adults definitely rock to, but it's strange that I like it too. I cautiously admit that, knowing that some of our younger readers then might reject the music since, if an old fogey like me likes it, it can't be any good for my son's generation!

Well, don't let that stop you. This is head-banger stuff, a cross between heavy metal, punk, emo, and good ol' classic rock like The Who (which Hawk Nelson emulated for the NBC TV show, American Dreams, doing a pretty wild recreation of "My Generation" which is on the album (excuse me, "the CD") "Letters To The President."

The other Christian hard rock bands (and albums) my son and his friends love include:

1. Thousand Foot Krutch - 'The Art of Breaking,' 'Phenomenon,' 'Set It Off'
   
2. Pillar - 'Fireproof' and 'Above'
   
3. Skillet - 'Collide'
   
4. P.O.D. - 'Satellite'
   
5. PAX217 - 'Engage' and 'Two Seventeen'
   
6. John Reuben - (hip-hop) 'Are We There Yet?'
   
7. KJ-52 - (hip-hop) 'Collaborations' and '7th Avenue,' (he's considered the "clean Eminem" though he was doing his thing before Eminem was; does a song called "Dear Slim"; check also the hilarious "Why" and the Outro on "Operator")

And this wasn't "mom" picking out "clean moral music" for "sonny-boy:" original recommendations were obtained from Amazon.com, J. Kelm's guide, to be exact, which lists at least five other Christian hard rock music fans' guidelists.