Imagine, if you will, that we are like the animals in the zoo. Some of us are aware of the bars that contain us and we struggle to escape. Others are blissfully ignorant of, or perhaps choose to ignore, our lack of freedom. Still others are trapped, unaware, in "natural habitats," much like the modern displays of tigers, and other big cats, in the modern zoo.

If I Left The Zoo is a collection of songs that imagine just that; they give us glimpses into the lives of people, much like typical zoo attractions. With that in mind, pay the price for admission, and step inside...

Goodbye, Goodnight serves as a good introduction to the record. "A flower for your vanity, a penny for your thoughts / About the world’s insanity and how we’ve gotten lost... / Say a prayer for recognition, kiss the ones you love / Gather up the ammunition, sigh for all the lost... / Raise a glass for ignorance, drink a toast to fear / The beginning of the end has come that’s why we all are here..." It is a song with a sound that is reminiscent of Pink Floyd, and lyrics that are deeper than the surface predicts.

Unforgetful You is the radio friendly first release off this record. It is a picture of the person who is content with the comfortable familiarity of the zoo. As Dan Hasseltine sings, "I never minded calling You a king / if that meant that I could count on You / To give me everything."

The next "exhibit", the Beatle-esque Collide, reminds us that love is more than just a feeling, "I, I collide with love as an elusive state of mind / I know there’s something else it’s supposed to be." And the balladic No One Love Me Like You shows again that in order to love and be loved, we must accept that we will also be hurt: "To touch the rose unfearful / Is to meet the thorn / And pierce the heart’s emotion / And feel the emptiness no more."

Sad Clown is a bluesy, Sinatra-lounge act; the lizard who entertains, but never lets us see what is happening inside himself.

The pop-gospel I’m Alright is sure to be the next big hit from this disc. It is the story of someone who is torn between the desire to rely on God and the desire to be self-sufficient.

The final song of the album, River Constantine, bookends the collection. If these songs are indeed glimpses of people as zoo exhibits, then this is the call for us to leave the zoo; to exit our cages and enter into the freedom that we find in Christ.

--Bulldawg