122. Aerosmith - "Angel"


Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler wrote this song with Desmond Child, who is one of the most successful songwriters of his time. With Aerosmith on the ropes after releasing two underperforming albums (Rock in a Hard Place (1982) and Done with Mirrors (1985)), John Kalodner of Geffen Records insisted that they bring in outside writers to help restore them to their former glory. The band balked at first (sharing songwriting credits can be costly), but were impressed when Child helped them refine their raucous rocker "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" into a surefire hit. Child's next composition for the band was "Angel," which unlike "Dude" sounded nothing like Aerosmith. It's a relationship song with none of the bawdy humor you would expect from the band. With Tyler pleading, "Come and save me tonight," there is a wuss factor to it that horrified longtime fans. Tyler knew he was compromising, and won't be putting the song on his highlight reel anytime soon. As John Kalodner explained in the band's biography Walk This Way: "Tyler says that I ruined his career by making him write 'Angel' with Desmond." There was a huge upside to the song: it was their biggest US hit to that point, charting at #3 and earning lots of radio play. This slick ballad was not typical of Aerosmith's work, but the song was a hit and led to several successful slow songs over the next few years, including "Amazing" and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." Since the band had a huge catalog of rockers and a history of unruly behavior, they managed to avoid the Foreigner trap and maintain their status as a Rock band despite the occasional forays into ballad territory. It helped that their next single was "Rag Doll," which picked up the pace.


I'm alone
Yeah, I don't know if I can face the night
I'm in tears and the cryin' that I do is for you
I want your love - Let's break the walls between us
Don't make it tough - I'll put away my pride
Enough's enough I've suffered and I've seen the light

[Chorus:]
Baby
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
You're my angel
Come and make it all right

Don't know what I'm gonna do
About this feeling inside
Yes it's true - Loneliness took me for a ride
Without your love - I'm nothing but a begger
Without your love - a dog without a bone
What can I do I'm sleeping in this bed alone

[Chorus]
Come and save me tonight

You're the reason I live
You're the reason I die
You're the reason I give
When I break down and cry
Don't need no reason why

Baby , Baby
[Chorus]

You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
you're my angel
Come and take me allright
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight

Not a song you would expect from Steve Tyler and Aerosmith but it did good. It went to no 3 in the American charts and no 2 in the American rock charts, no 14 in Canada and no 69 in the UK. It was not exactly a tidal wave of a song. The lyrics speaks of a person who is longing to be with their lover after a relationship break up. It's the the thoughts of an Angel more than anything else in the song that has caught me attention, although the lyrics do say "Come and Save me tonight" and the fact that it is Holy week this week that has inspired me to write this devotion today.


In the gospels we find that it was an angel who announced that a miracle happened on the first Easter: Jesus Christ, who had died by crucifixion three days earlier and was buried, rose out of his tomb alive again. Jesus' death was a sacrifice to pay for the sins of our fallen humanity, to make it possible for all of us to connect with a Holy God, the Bible says. Jesus' resurrection was a miracle meant to show all people the real hope that they have of eternal life with God through a relationship with the risen Jesus.

All four of the Bible's Gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) describe the first Easter -- the day of Jesus Christ's resurrection.


In his book Peace with God: The Secret of Happiness, Billy Graham writes: "...the angel gives the greatest, most glorious news that the human ear has ever heard, 'He is not here; he has risen.'" The women who encountered the angel responded to his dramatic announcement this way: "So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples" (Matthew 28:8). Author Ron Rhodes comments in his book "Angels Among Us: Separating Fact from Fiction" that the angels in heaven must have been excited about the resurrection, as well: "Imagine the deafening cheers and applause that must have broken out among the angels at the moment of the resurrection. … What an awesome moment it must have been when Christ, clothed in a glorified human body, returned to heaven, his natural habitat. What shouts of glory must have been heard among the cherubim, seraphim, dominions, thrones, powers, and authorities of heaven!"


The angel who announced Jesus Christ's resurrection was one of two angels present in his tomb on the first Easter. Luke chapter 24 describes the angels asking the women at the tomb: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" (verse 5) and then challenging them to have faith that Jesus fulfilled his promise to rise from the dead: "He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again." (verses 6-7). Verse 8 records that, "Then they remembered his words." Soon after encountering the angels, the women encountered the resurrected Jesus himself. John chapter 20 records that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene immediately after she talked with angels: "Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?". "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don’t know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there..." (verses 11-14).


Jesus then appeared many different times over a period of 40 days to a wide variety of people, before ascending to heaven accompanied by angels, the Bible records. In her book Angels in Our Lives: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Angels and How They Affect Our Lives, Marie Chapian writes: "After Jesus was crucified, he rose from the dead and walked the earth in his resurrected body for 40 days. Well over 500 people witnessed his appearance during this time as Jesus ate, drank, taught, and fellow-shipped with his followers. Then on the 41st day, as his disciples stood watching in awe, Jesus was lifted bodily up to heaven. The Bible says, 'And while they were gazing intently into heaven as he went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them' (Acts 1:10, AMP). The angels told the disciples that Jesus would return in exactly the same way they were seeing him ascend."


When ever we see an angel in the bible we need to wake up and take note. They are God's messengers tasked with bringing an announcement of Good News. the Angels were their at the birth of Jesus and are their at the resurrection and ascension as well. How open are we to hearing the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus and responding to that Good News and allowing that Good News with the power of God behind it to re-shape our lives in to lives that have Jesus at the centre.




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