Kutless – Hearts of the Innocent

I first heard this song when one of my siblings lent me their Kutless Live from Portland DVD.  I played it often in car rides during my commutes to college and internship.  Hearts of the Innocent is the first song from this live concert and one of my favorites.  As I reflected on it, my mind wandered about the concept of innocence.  In what sense are children innocent?  I decided that this review would be a great way for me to answer this for myself.  

I gave Kutless’ Million Dollar Man a glowing review last year, which appears on the same album as this title track.  This gives me more confidence that it will do well.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

The “heart” of this song (sorry, I couldn’t resist) is Kutless’ reaction to the ills and woes of our youth.  They believe that we, the people of God, bear some of the blame, setting a bad example for young people and causing them to break God’s laws.  He cites broken promises as one example of how we fail them.

The audience as I see it are those who interact with the youth, including parents, teachers, doctors, police officers, and youth pastors. While I believe that this generation of people will understand Kutless’ intent, my concern is for youth who hear it. Will they walk away thinking that we adults bear all the responsibility for their troubles? This is a popular mindset in the west, living within a victim mentality society. There is some potential that this song could feed into that concept; However, that begs a question: where did they learn this concept? Probably from someone of authority. Ironically, by hearing Kutless’ lyrics as “other people are to blame, I am not”, they prove that Kutless is right about how our actions affect young people.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

I found all the lyrics to align with the inspired Word of God.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

Since there is no Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.

[Stanza 1]

I’m looking down into the eyes of hopelessness
They’re crying out to me
I see the pain
It’s so much more than youth should know
It tears me apart

Not Kutless’ hopeless, but the turmoil of others around him. Kutless’ conscious is torn about the pain and suffering experienced by our youth. Stanza 2 explores at least one cause for it.

What can I do to change what I see
This vicious cycle must come to an end

Well, one suggestion is to love them like Jesus did (John 13:34-35 and John 15:12).  Perhaps they will consider following Jesus.

[Stanza 2]

Can’t you see
We’re crushing the hearts of the innocent
We’re teaching them to fail

I have a few thoughts on the innocence of children.

 believe that all children are born into sin (Psalm 51:5). All children tend to do what is wrong and must undergo constant discipline to continue their trajectory towards righteousness, much like God’s discipline of us so that we can continue in the peaceful fruits of righteousness (Hebrews 12:4-11). How, then, are children innocent?

They are innocent in the sense that they are easily trusting. They do not have the mental faculty to sense between righteous and unrighteous individuals. Yes, their reactions and behavior can tell us many things about the environment to which they grow, but essentially, they are empty vessels who easily trust people, who look up to people of authority for guidance. How are we doing in teaching our children right from wrong?

According to Kutless, not so well. The essence of Exodus 34:7 and Numbers 14:18 is that children tend to behave sinfully like their parents. If mom and dad break God’s Laws, their children will most likely do the same, with each generation worse than the last. Jesus also criticized the Scribes and Pharisees for engaging in such behavior (Matthew 23:15). Often, we teach bad habits to our children, deriving from our wicked hearts (Proverbs 4:23, Jeremiah 17:9, and Matthew 12:34). We have a responsibility to avoid leading young ones to sin (Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42, and Luke 17:2).

Understand that Kutless is not saying that our poor behavior is the sole reason for the next generation’s suffering.  Rather, they are making the point that we have failed them…

And how it breaks me to see how we’re living

…and for some of us, it tears us that we’re doing this to our own children!

And punishing the ones that need us to care

See commentary on lines 1-3.

To see them hurting
Feels like knuckles to the back of my head

Kutless likens the tumult of young people to a severe beating to one’s occipital bone.

[Stanza 3]

Where have the days gone
That a promise was forever
Families stuck together

What happened to integrity?  There was a phrase that once existed before I was born: “my word is my bond”.  The ancient Israelites were instructed to keep their promises (Numbers 30:2).

In marriage, a man and his wife make promises to one another to be faithful to each other in sickness and health, for richer and poorer, etc. We ought to take our promises seriously, avoiding hypocrisy. Better yet, it is much better not to make promises (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5, Matthew 5:37, and James 5:12). Rather than presumptuously thinking we know the future, we ought to say “if God wills” before stating our intentions (James 4:13-15).

We wonder why their generation struggles to get by

How can we expect the next generation to follow Jesus if we don’t set a good example, teaching them of the ways of God (Romans 10:14)?

There’s no one to help

Or so it seems.

What can I do to change what I see
This vicious cycle must come to an end

Repeats Stanza 1, lines 6 and 7.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Kutless uses everyday language to communicate their message.  Those who do not yet follow Jesus will easily understand this song intellectually and experientially.  If unbelieving youth think that this song teaches that other people are the chief blame for their problems, it is because someone of authority taught it to them, proving Kutless right once again.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Kutless’ admonishment of our collective failure to correctly instruct adolescents gives us something worth thinking about, glorifying God.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Kutless’ Hearts of the Innocent is an appropriate indictment towards adults, placing much of the blame on children’s misbehavior and wrong ideas on their authorities.  Though some youth may believe that they bear zero responsibility, it is because they learned it from an older individual, which is Kutless’ point all along.  This brings glory to God.

Given that Hearts of the Innocent is not a worship song, I cannot recommend it for Sunday services.  It is better suited for a rock concert or radio.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Hearts of the Innocent (listen to the song)

Artist: Kutless

Album: Hearts of the Innocent

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2006

Duration: 3:38

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

*Copyright © 2005 Indecisive Music Pub (ASCAP) Flush On The Flop Music (BMI) Spinning Audio Vortex, Inc. (BMI) Thirsty Moon River Publ. Inc. (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.