Michael Card

With such a background, there was some surprise when he came out two years ago with Sleep Sound In Jesus. An album of lullabies, the record ended up being one of the most successful of his career, at least commercially. With a companion book that had the lyrics from the album, as well as other writings by Card, the album sold more than 400,000 copies.

Although the record was very successful, Card really had no plans to repeat it. Then came Nathan, Card's third child. "We thought we were done having kids," says Card, "and then the third one came along. And I started writing lullabies again--that sort of puts you back into lullaby mode."

Card has long been a believer in the power of music, and in the ability for children to teach adults. "In American Christianity, in general, I think there's probably somewhat of a dearth of considering children as a spiritual resource, which is what they are. I don't think that we could be doing enough really good music for children. I think that a lot of the children's music underestimates kids' ability to understand spiritual things. And when I say that I believe that kids are a spiritual resource--I mean that. I think that children teach us more about God then we teach them. And certainly we need to be responsible, and keep encouraging them, and keep instructing them, because that's part of our responsibility. I think, when I write lullabies, it's as much in tribute to children as it is, in a premeditated way, trying to teach them something. I think that point of view is needed more in American Christianity."

In comparison to recording his other work, doing the lullaby albums has been relatively easy, both in writing and recording. "Lullabies are fairly easy to write. The other records I write take years, but a lullaby record, I mean, in two or three months, it's not very hard write ten or fifteen lullabies... Daily I'm singing my kids to sleep, and working with them. And they give me ideas for songs, so I have a great resource for song ideas. They're shorter, and they are just easier--the music needs to be a little easier. Even recording them is easier, because we didn't use many big string sections or anything like that. It's just a lot more enjoyable process."

Although Card has enjoyed doing the lullaby albums, he doesn't really foresee any more in his future. "My intuition is sort of that two albums of lullabies are probably enough. I think I will be writing more kids records, and in fact, I am working right now--Calvin Miller, who's a good friend of mine, has a book of children's poetry. And I'm working right now on putting those to music, for a tape that will go along with that book. It's called 'When the Aardvark Parked in the Ark in the Dark."

While the lullabies are written for children, there are some things that Card hopes the parents get out of them. "I think, in general, it's an encouragement to parents to invest themselves in the life of their children. I think that the kind of people that would buy a record like that in the first place are probably people that are already somewhat sensitive to that. I think the record serves as a reminder that children are a blessing, and all of us need to be reminded of that, because children are fallen like the rest of us, and they can be difficult," Card says. "I think beyond that, there's a lot of smaller messages. I think the idea of a child's willingness to accept a free gift, a child's simplicity--those sorts of things."

While the album is perfectly able to stand on its own, Card created the companion book to further its ability to communicate. "It's to help clarify things. It's illustrated, so that parents and children can look at it together. Some of the songs are purposely written so that kids will ask questions. I hope that people don't just put the tape on, and leave the kids in there to go to sleep. I hope that it becomes an interactive thing. That time of day, I think, is a crucial time, because it can go one of two ways. When you're trying to put a kid to sleep, it can become a tense thing, because most of the time they don't want to go to sleep, especially the younger ones. Or, it can become a redemptive time. And the record will hopefully help swing it that way."

While Card has enjoyed doing these albums, he is ready to get back to the type of music that he is best-known for. "I have the next several years probably pretty well mapped out. I'm finishing a commentary on the gospel of John, that I've been working on for about three years. It's supposed to be done by January first, but I don't think it will be. I'm writing the next record right now. In fact, I finished a song last night for that. The basic idea of the record is listening to your life, that God speaks through the parable of your life, that your life is a poem. And then, I'm eventually going to do a record on the book of Hebrews and one on Revelations. And there are other books that are in the works--one book on creativity, that I've been working on for a long time. So, I've probably got too many irons in the fire."

So, for fans of Michael Card, there are many good things to come.

--Beth Blinn