War and peace. Safety and emergency. Comfort and dissonance. The tension between opposing forces is a reality we see around us, especially in the sonic realm. Music today, in itself, is a battlefield wrought with adversaries; on one side lies the safe, the pop, the commercial, and on the other lies the daring, the experimental. There are bands on the right, and bands on the left.

And very rarely, there is a band that plays the tedious role of double-agent. House of Heroes. The End is Not the End. A spy in form and function, playing both sides against one another.

House of Heroes has found a sound that is both creatively inspiring and commercially viable. Look no further for enigmatic songwriting, bold epics, yet clever chorus lines. Front man Tim Skipper and company have concocted an opus which will, most certainly, wake the dead.

He gives a glimpse into the inspiration: “When we started writing this record we talked about writing 'songs about love,' that weren't necessarily 'love songs.' There are several songs about war, but we made a conscious effort to place the songs in wars of the past, such as World War Two or Vietnam, so that they wouldn't be applicable to our current situation in the Middle East. We didn't want people to view these songs or this record as 'anti-war,' but rather 'pro-humanity.' The title, The End is Not the End, comes from a song called “By Your Side” about one brother who lost his other brother in a war. He's coming to terms with the pain and the anger and the uncertainty of what happens to us when we die. So it has a very deep spiritual meaning. The character feels that he will see his brother again. The lyric goes, ‘the end is not the end. I'll be by your side on the other side," says Tim.

“Lose Control” is my favorite song from the excellent House of Heroes album The End Is Not The End,
I got the chance to interview lead singer Tim Skipper about “Lose Control.” Here are the answers to the questions I asked Tim.

Please share the background that led the band to write the song “Lose Control.”

Our bass player, A.J., wrote the lyrics and the song “Lose Control” ties-in with the other songs on the album. It is part “A” to the song, “In The Valley of the Dying Sun.” The song deals with someone getting caught up in war and actually losing their humanity. The songs all have a war vibe. The song “Lose Control” is about a double-agent who gets to the point of turning off his humanity. A.J. was thinking about whether there is justifiable war and is killing someone ever justifiable in the eyes of God, which is a tough topic. I don’t think the crusades were exactly a smashing success in the eyes of God. The song is about the duality of human nature that we all have. “In The Valley of the Dying Sun” is about a man who asks whether he can be forgiven for what he’s done and the answer is yes.

Please tell me about any Bible verses that you think connects to the song?

In the bridge, we reference Noah and his courage to stand up for what he believed as described in Genesis. Genesis 6:9: This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.

And Genesis 6:22: Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

Our band is named House of Heroes and in Hebrews 12:1, we are reminded of the “cloud of witnesses” or “heroes” of the Old Testament.

Hebrews 12:1: Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

How can listeners apply that message in their walks as Christians after they listen to the song?

Old Testament heroes like Noah showed amazing faithfulness to God. Sometimes we barely have the faith to know when we’ll be getting our next paycheck or our next meal. Yet, Noah had the faith to build an ark when nobody around him knew anything about rain and the whole world was unwilling to repent for what they had done. Everyone thought Noah was insane but he never gave up on his faithfulness.

The song also makes me think about “double agents” and the arrogance we sometimes have and thinking we can do no wrong. For myself, I think about decisions I make and how I need to make sure I don’t have gray areas when I make decisions in my life about issues that are black and white. I need to come before the Lord and ask God to convict me of right and wrong in my life. I’m 28 years old and I’m not married and I have struggled with the temptations surrounding purity in my life. So I know what is right and in the past few months, I prayed for God to convict me of the truth. God has convicted me to present myself as pure in the eyes of the Lord. So this song reminds me of that conviction to stay faithful and to not “lose control.”

Here are the lyrics:

I cast no shadow on the grave,
no one knows my name.
I ride the winds of seven seas,
gone before the rain.
I am both friend and enemy,
an object of disdain.

Livin'it up in the down and out,
I roll with the foxes and hunt with the hounds.

(chorus)
Yeah!I feel it in my bones,
Like a rolling stone.
An enemy unknown,
I lose control.
I feel it in my bones,
like a rolling stone.
You'll never find me on the high ground.
I lose control.

I draw disaster from the vein,
like fire in the sky.
I am the bandage and the pain,
the father of the fires.
I stand alone when none remain,
a creature of the night.

I've got you in, but there's no way out.
I roll with the foxes and hunt with the hounds.

(Chorus)

I am the death that makes your life seem good.
I am the pain that brings you close to God.
I am the prophet warning of the flood.
I am the answer you misunderstood.
I am the answer that you misunderstand.
I do the evil that an honest man can't.
I live in the shadows that the enemy casts.
I have no future and I have no past.

Livin' in the down and out...

Livin'it up in the down and out,
I roll with the foxes and hunt with the hounds,
I've got you in, but there's no way out,
Get on your feet when you hear that sound!

(Chorus)

You'll never find me on the high ground,
I lose control! (x2)

Just like The Rocket Summer, this song is another great example of one of my favorite types of music, “emotional” Christian rock. House of Heroes is a great alternative for people who like traditional “emo” punk bands like Jimmy Eat World who don’t put all of their hope and trust in Christ like Tim Skipper does.

This song can help convict you if you are struggling with decisions you need to make. Like Tim said, you need to come before the Lord and ask God to convict you of right and wrong in your life. Pray for God to convict you of the truth. He wants you to present yourself as pure in the eyes of the Lord. Like Tim, this song reminds me of that conviction to stay faithful to Him and to not “lose control.”