Here’s a great quote: "I have been through many terrible things in my life, some of which have actually happened to me." – Mark Twain

 

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is a faith driven punk rock/post hardcore band who strives to show people the light in a world of dark through music. Music is just one part of The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, though, since they choose to use their visibility to promote causes they believe in. The band founded The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Guardian Angel Foundation as an umbrella group to support a wide range of initiatives, including the fight against domestic violence, the subject of their hit single "Face Down" (source: the band’s biography).

 

With direct Biblical references in both singles "Reap" and "Am I the Enemy" from their 2011 album Am I the Enemy, the band has begun their new journey, asking us to join them. Their newest album Et Tu, Brute? released March 15, 2013 and includes the lead single "Remember Me." I had the great opportunity to interview lead singer and songwriter Ronnie Winter about the song.

 

Please tell me the background story of the song.
 

Every song is different, and there’s always a story behind our songs with this band. I’ve been the songwriter since day one, and here we are 10 years later. My songwriting depends on what life has thrown at me and what mental state I’m in as I go into the writing process. Right before we went into the studio, a few situations confronted us involving suicide contemplation. The thing about our band is my brother is also in the band, and all the crew guys grew up with us and went to high school with us. Basically, we took our home with us on the road and we know everybody. Knowing that, one of our best friends tried to kill himself right before our tour started. It was a situation where we were there when it happened and everybody came together as a support group. We rallied to our friend’s side and he was able to see that he made a mistake, and he’s fine now. He’s totally okay today. He worked out his problems. There was that weird feeling where we were about to leave for 6 weeks for the tour and we wanted to stay and be around him. That was fresh on our minds when we were writing this song. Another similar situation happened to one of our touring crew members. Twice in a month we were directly dealing with someone who had made an attempt on their own life. It was on my mind and I had to write about those situations. Our producer wanted to know what these lyrics were about.

 

This song tells the story of a young man struggling with his chosen last day on this earth. You will hear the pain in his thoughts and contemplation and follow his footsteps throughout the song. We intervene as the band during the bridge, winning over the young man encouraging him not to try so hard to be happy because the best things in life are free and by that we mean Salvation. The perspective in the song shifts from the eyes of the person thinking of taking his life to the eyes of his friends.

 

Is there a personal story for you about the message of that song?
 

I come into the line in the song, "Don't try so hard to be happy..." from a personal perspective, because I wasn’t always in a well-known rock band. My brother and I had a really rough life growing up. We were raise in Awana. We went to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. We were raised in an awesome Baptist family in Tucson, Arizona. Then everything went crazy in our family and things got kind of hopeless. We came into this weird time in our lives when we were 12 and 14 years old and realized things weren’t how they should be. We had what most people would consider "bad luck." It was a strange feeling because we were Christians and we grew up believing with an unbridled faith that bad things wouldn’t happen to us. Eventually bad things do happen, and you need to learn how to deal with it. That’s what I’m saying in the bridge. Once you realize that the world’s corrupt and fallen and there’s nothing you can do about it, you have to let go.

My brother was talking about faith, and he said "sometimes you have to let go of the wheel." That’s hard when you grow up, and that’s what a lot of the themes are on this new album. I’m older now, and most people hang on to problems instead of letting them go. That’s a perfect opportunity to witness for Christ. It’s hard to witness for Jesus in rock music sometimes, and maybe this is my first decent attempt. You have to set up the song that the normal worldly listener connects to without hearing obvious giveaways of praise and worship music. Once they are listening, and I have them thinking, if the listener is paying attention to the lyrics I can share a hopeful message. That leads to the line, "The best things in life are free." All over the Bible, it talks about how salvation is a free gift and is something we have to accept. That’s why it’s so hard for people because it’s free and Jesus already paid the price on the Cross. Romans 6:23 tells us that salvation is a gift.

 

Romans 6:23 (NIV): "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

Revelation 3:16 (NIV): "So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth."

 

What's the takeaway message for listeners regarding the song?
 

I feel that I have an opportunity to point out the Truth of the Gospel with this song. The Holy Spirit does the work. Lyrically, I just want people to think about the free gift of salvation. That’s important to me now. It wasn’t in the beginning, but it is now. I try to put aspects of faith in all of my lyrics now. As a Christian, you need to know "no matter what you give you will never be received by some beliefs." You’re supposed to love your neighbor, and be Christ-like, but there will be people who will despise you for what you believe. I’m only 30 years old, but I remember when being a Christian was normal and you met the occasional atheist. Now it seems like being a Christian is more in the minority. People immediately make up their minds. Sometimes it turns into an awesome moment of fellowship.

 

There is a need for this song on today's radio stations. Christians are not immune to suicide. In this song, please join us not only with the launching of this song but the video campaign that follows. It will help start a new movement in young adults to be open about suicidal thoughts even in a Christian home. Thanks and God Bless.

 

This is one of my favorite songs of the year.  I love the emotional vocals and strong messages of the songs on this album, especially "Remember Me."  "Everybody gets their heart broken, get off your knees and start again" is a very challenging line. We don’t know the day or the hour of our passing or of Christ’s return. The song challenges me to think about how I’m living for Christ.

 

Singing along with this great song is a daily reminder to not get angry and not to worry. We have to stop struggling and trying to do everything on our own. You can’t add a single hour to your life by worrying. At this time of economic crisis, people are stressed and struggle with worry. Unfortunately people put trust and foundation in their financial security which is where they find peace. As the song proclaims "Don't sweat it, just forget it, ‘cause everybody know nobody gets out alive. We just survive." 

 

I love the song, the band, and the biblical message behind the song. The cost of discipleship is to make Jesus the Lord of our lives. This song is a great reminder of that Truth. Allow Jesus to sing these words over you: "Don't try so hard to be happy...The best things in life are free and no matter what you give you will never be received by some beliefs." Amen.

 

(You can listen to this great song here.)