Audrey A McGee

I’m not a fan of when people say a piece of art was life-changing, because generally they just mean that it made them think, or they heartily enjoyed it. If you say it was life-changing, I’m expecting something about the pattern or habits of your life to majorly change direction.

I was in a dark place. I was going through withdrawal from a social media addiction, dealing with major failures and burnout, and I had lost my grandmother a few days before. I was emotionally drained.

“I doubted the sun for the lack of the heat, and I ran, but He ran after me.” (Puddleglum’s Anthem)

There’s something about the word “refreshment”. I don’t know if it’s used often enough in our culture, and I certainly don’t think it’s reflected enough in our art. It’s like stepping out of a cold shower to a warm summer day, like sipping a glass of orange juice when you’re feeling faint. It doesn’t fix everything, and it isn’t restful to the point of laziness. It looks forward. It is a healing and a strengthening that allows a person to see their limits yet face them with hope. I would like to make something as refreshing as Into the Lantern Waste someday.

“Oh, tell me a story of redemption, You’re the only peace that I have ever known.” (Lucy’s Tale)

Naturally, coming off of a social media addiction, my mind had been fully saturated with Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and all the mindless torture that they cater so well to people trying to forget they exist. My soul had become dull and tarnished, my mind was full of horrible phrases and mean songs I didn’t want to be thinking about. I had started building a playlist based on the concept of gnomes (to which I have a very strong emotional attachment, see my Amelie photos for reference), innocent, pure, and cute music to replace the mental chaos. And then, either from a search of my own or the algorithm’s recommendation, “Eustace Scrubb” showed up. I found the album and played the rest of it. I was absolutely hooked. I was on Spotify for 19 hours that day.

“I tried to heal myself long before I met Your gaze at the water.” (Eustace Scrubb)

Into the Lantern Waste is a collection of songs written from the perspective of various characters throughout The Chronicles of Narnia series, mostly those who had direct interaction with Aslan. Listening to the album, we hear unique takes on the voices of Lucy, Eustace, Shasta, and many others. The most beautiful thing is that the songs don’t rest in the story alone – they embrace and expand the nature of the Narnia allegory. Puddleglum’s story heavily reflects Simon Peter’s, and Shasta is written as a Job-like character. Sparks also pulls lyrics from other C.S. Lewis works, using a lot of rhetoric from Mere Christianity in her opening song, “Into the Lantern Waste”. The musicality of each song is uncanny in its connection to the character singing; Sparks knows her Narnia and was praying over these songs as she wrote them, I’m sure.

“Wait, I hear a Voice that’s singing a song I’ve never known before.” (Digory’s Regret)

This album has become something of a lifeline for me. I find it refreshing every time I listen; it’s something that draws me closer to God through conviction and reassurance of forgiveness. The songs are so lovely and engaging that they help drive out the thoughts cultivated by a depressed and secular culture. The folk music is like a spring of water to my cottagecore soul, and it draws me further up and further into the true Narnia. It’s a masterful blend of worship music and character-based storytelling, and it gives me hope for more seamless, inspiring, Christian art that invites others into the Story and Song of the Good News.

“Marvel of marvels, of all that He said; I, who am nothing, He called beloved.” (Come Further Up)

Give Into the Lantern Waste a listen! Let me know your thoughts in the comments below. Who knows? You might find it life-changing, too.