Morning guys!
Found this song on MP3 doing my daily decluttering challenge, and was blown away by how powerful it still is!
Touches on so many things we talk about here – charity, freedom, introspection, and even those on which we don’t, but are still unfortunately very prevalent in our society.
Was super moved all over again at how beautiful this song is, and hopefully you find the same :) Turn up your speakers and take a good listen, or follow the lyrics below which of course don’t do it half its justice.
Do you remember where you were when this song first came out?? Or were you even born by 1992? (Don’t you dare say no!!)
“Mr. Wendal”
by Arrested Development
Here, have a dollar
In fact, nah brotherman here, have two
Two dollars means a snack for me
But it means a big deal to youBe strong, serve God only
Know that if you do, beautiful heaven awaits
That’s the poem I wrote for the first time
I saw a man with no clothes, no money, no plateMr. Wendal, that’s his name
No one ever knew his name cause he’s a no-one
Never thought twice about spending on a ol’ bum
Until I had the chance to really get to know oneNow that I know him, to give him money isn’t charity
He gives me some knowledge, I buy him some shoes
And to think blacks spend all that money on big colleges
Still most of y’all come out confusedGo ahead, Mr. Wendal…
Mr. Wendal has freedom
A free that you and I think is dumb
Free to be without the worries of a quick to diss society
For Mr. Wendal’s a bumHis only worries are sickness
And an occasional harassment by the police and their chase
Uncivilized we call him
But I just saw him eat off the food we wasteCivilization, are we really civilized, yes or no
Who are we to judge
When thousands of innocent men could be brutally enslaved
And killed over a racist grudgeMr. Wendal has tried to warn us about our ways
But we don’t hear him talk
Is it his fault when we’ve gone too far
And we got too far, cause on him we walkMr. Wendal, a man, a human in flesh
But not by law
I feed you dignity to stand with pride
Realize that all in all you stand tallGo ahead, Mr. Wendal…
Mr. Wendal, yeah…
Yeah, Mr. Wendal…Mr. Wendal, yeah…
Lord….
Mr. Wendal…
And then here’s the music video/song to REALLY feel its effects if you’re able to listen/watch where you are right now: Mr. Wendal – [Official Music Video]
Those rhymes, those beats!!
Not sure I fully comprehend all the lines, but man does it have me reflecting over here… A great reminder to love our brothers and sisters too despite not always understanding them either! I’m still searching for our true purpose on this earth, but I know it’s not chasing money/career/stuff at the expense of others.
Anyways, thought you’d like the break from our usual posts, and hopefully some part of this carries over into your own worlds/weekend too.
Be well :)
******
For further listening treats, check out our posts on Billy Joel, Lorde, and even Britney Spears!
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Strong message! But still slightly disappointed it was not arrested development (the show) related hahaha.
I just googled to see if there’s any connection there, and check this out!
“In November 2003, the group sued the Fox network over the name of the TV show Arrested Development. The suit is referenced in the Arrested Development episodes “Public Relations”, “Motherboy XXX”, “Sword of Destiny”, and “For British Eyes Only”. ”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrested_Development_(group)
J Money,
This passage from the Bible closely reflects a lot of lines from this song and provides even more clarity into our purpose on this earth.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
Because God sent Jesus to this earth to die and be punished for you and me, we can have eternal life in heaven when we die if we commit our lives to him daily and serve the Mr. Wendals around us.
We can be saved by having faith in Jesus and trusting in him daily.
Not sure if you are a man of faith, but you said you were still looking for your purpose on this earth, and my purpose as a believer is to serve and glorify God, serve others, share Gods love with them, share the message of the hope of the gospel that is available for all humanity if we believe in Jesus Christ.
Hit me up if you want to discuss any of this further. I love your posts on money and apply them daily, I just have never seen you post on what our purpose might be in this life, so I thought I’d share what I believe.
And I’m so glad you did man, this really hit me this morning – thank you!
Says it all right here – “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’” I try really REALLY hard to help those around me, but I’d be lying if I said I was perfect at it or if it comes naturally. But you’re right – something to strive for, no doubt :)
Thank you again for this – I’m glad it inspired you to comment! (I am religious, but just like above I often stray)
Thank you!
I saw Arrested Development support Salt n Pepa in Melbourne, Australia in 1993 with a pile of girls from ballet school.
The best old days…
Wowwwwww – that must have been amazing!!
I’m older than you so yep, I remember this song. Great, strong message – thanks for taking me back in time a bit too today! (High school years). Have a great weekend.
You too, LeeAnne!
As soon as I saw the cover, the song popped into my head. I remember the video from MTV. I was probably in 10th or 11th grade when it was popular. Even though it is fun to find old music, let it go. Great job on this project. We did something similar a few years back.
I let it go alright…. right into my car’s stereo system! Haha… this CD was pact full of 150+ songs from back in the day – won’t ever have to change it out ;)
I’m not a fan of most hip-hop as the lyrics and message are toxic for society, but I have that CD and that song is my favorite! Amazing album, and they actually play real instruments!
I know, right?? Haha…
I have some songs that one really like. They could be 10 years old or so, but whenever listen to them, they bring back memories of that particular time. When I listen to umbrella by rhianna, for example, it reminds me of the summer I spent in Hong Kong. It was mostly paid for by the summer program, and it was amazing!
That’s the beauty of music :) Makes you feel all the things!!
There are many songs that evoke specific memories for me because it happened to be popular and playing constantly during some memorable event. Even if I don’t really like the song, a little smile may come across my face when the memory associated with it surfaces.
Me and my friends loved this song when it first came out!
We were all about 10/11. Great track, although don’t think we all realised what it was actually about back then.
Thanks for a nice trip down memory lane, revisiting an old classic and finding new meanings in it once more. :)
And how much better the lyrics make it too, right?? I never paid attention to any of them either growing up – just the beats and the way songs made me feel… Such a better experience, haha…
Damn, J Miz – thanks for reminding me of this song. I never realized the lyrics were so deep!
Hey dude! Pleasure seeing you here. Turns out a lot of the songs from back in the day were deep if we had paid attention! :)
Indeed. Particularly grunge, alternative, and gangsta rap of early 90’s.
I just saw Stone Temple Pilots, Cult, and Bush this week. Nostalgia!!
Random: the new singer for STP is a dead-ringer for Weiland, both in vocals and stage presence. Kind of creepy. They sounded great.
Niiiice!! Had no idea they still toured?!
So funny, I just ran across this song the other day, and added it to my playlist for my 1-year-old daughter. She immediately started bopping along, it’s irresistible!
Awwww yay!!!!
If you want another fun one for her that’s not nearly as inspirational, haha, play Scatman :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy8kmNEo1i8
My 6 y/o just told me it’s better than any Michael Jackson song (!!!)
Wow, first time listen for me. Really feels like Friday now thanks J$!
Very glad you enjoyed :)
Yeah that is a great song and a timeless classic. The meaning behind the freedom wendal has is deeper than what the words suggest. IT can relate to so many other things, like work you don’t like, slavery from the past, a society that forces people to work till 65, and Financial freedom. Good song and thanks for bringing it back. ITs only necessary to go back to the 80s and 90s songs with all the junk now on the air waves.
Exactly… If you take it as just “the homeless are free” then it sounds all kinds of messed up. But you apply it in a more universal/deeper sense and it’s pretty powerful!
“Mr. Wendal has freedom
A free that you and I think is dumb
Free to be without the worries of a quick to diss society
For Mr. Wendal’s a bum”
He maybe a “bum”, but who is the one sitting in traffic all day going to a job they typically don’t like, further bringing on more misery in our lives? Oh yea…The majority of US (who aren’t considered “bums”)
So whose the real BUM!?
The song has A LOT of different/cool perspectives to make you think!
Totally :) And that’s really what it’s all about, right? Being as conscious as we can with our values and actions, and of course our money. I learned a long time ago that none of this $$$ stuff is black and white – there’s always deeper roots attached that we need to understand to really move ourselves forward.
Thanks so much for sharing this and I always enjoyed it, that was my first year of college. Arrested Development wrote so many good pieces, you need to post Tennessee just because it was such a damn good song too.
100%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VCdJyOAQYM
Oh man, I remembered this group when they started in the early 90s. I just started high school at the time and loved their music. Not just “Mr. Wendal” but also “People Everyday” and “Tennessee” with the songs I remembered from them.
Thanks for this J, enjoy the weekend!
All great songs, indeed!
Love a good blast from the past, and always a fan of some good lyrics – you’ve pulled a great one out here J Money!
I’m sure I never appreciated the lyrics back then, but that’s the beautiful thing about good music – you can always come back and listen to it as a different person and from a different perspective.
Cheers,
Frankie
Totally :) I bet the meanings change to you over time too!