On the Fritz…

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, well…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.”