The word, ‘Daddy’, has the capacity to stir and provoke an astonishing range of feelings. It is an intimate, emotive word that conjures memories and reactions in all of us. Some have a beautiful, close relationship with their father. For all too many of us, however, hearing, ‘Daddy’ evokes a sadness, anger or a deep, visceral pain. Last week, Coldplay released a song and music video by that name.
‘Daddy’ is the 5th song on the world-famous British band’s latest album, Everyday Life. It is slow, mellow and carries a trademark Chris Martin piano riff. It tells the story of a neglectful relationship between a child and their dad from the painful and yearning perspective of the child. It contains nine searching questions as the child reaches out by longingly asking the distant father if he is out there, if he’s ok, why he has run away and if he will come and play. The chorus is the heart cry ‘You’re so far away,’ followed by an unconvincing attempt by the child to reassure themselves that, ‘That’s okay, it’s okay, I’m okay.’
I must confess that with every listen, even though I love the band and the song, increasing numbers of tears flow down my cheeks. As a son, I had a wonderful, incomparable relationship with my dad, but he died suddenly when I was 21 and I miss him terribly. As a youth worker I have met countless young people whose daddies have hurt them, deserted them, disappointed them or were disappointed in them. And as a dad, I feel that instinctive, impulsive love for my sons and as I listen, I pray this song will never be theirs.
The image of ‘Daddy’ is a consistent one throughout the Bible for God. Hosea compares Israel to a child and God as one who lifts them up. David declares God to be a father to the fatherless. But perhaps the story of stories, the antithesis and antidote to Coldplay’s lament is the portrait of God Jesus paints as ‘Daddy’ in Luke 15. In this story it is the child who is far away and the father who yearns, runs, embraces and welcomes the prodigal home.
In so many ways, the child’s song is sung by our world, subconsciously longing for the one relationship it needs, whilst unconvincingly reassuring itself through comfort and escapism that ‘it’s okay.’ The outrageous, scandalous, beautiful message of the Gospel is that God is not far away, but that he is closer and more loving than we dare imagine.
