Rend Collective – True North

Irish band Rend Collective Experiment (now known as Rend Collective) became active in 2002, starting at Bangor Elim Church.  This 15+ piece band started releasing music in 2010, with Organic Family Hymnal.  They also released:

• Homemade Worship by Handmade People (2012)
• Campfire (2013)
• The Art of Celebration (2014)
• Campfire Christmas, Vol. 1 (2014)
• As Family We Go (2015)
• Campfire II: Simplicity (2016)
• Good News (2018)
• Sparkle. Pop. Rampage. (2019)
• Choose to Worship (2020)

They received a Dove nomination in 2018 for Worship Album of the Year (Good News).

As you’re escaping the COVID-19 pandemic, why not browse through my four other Rend Collective reviews, including Boldly I Approach (The Art Of Celebration), My Lighthouse, Build Your Kingdom Here, and Rescuer (Good News)?

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?

Rend Collective trusts “You” completely, that “You” will never let them down.  They follow “You” into darkness, abandoning themselves.  “You” is their foundation for living, directing their lives.  They find forgiveness and an altered heart.

Who is “You”?  I don’t know.  It could be a girlfriend or God.

Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, this song heavily relies on repetition in Chorus and Bridge.  Typically, Bridge will either bring a new idea or rephrase covered ideas.  This Bridge does neither.  Chorus repeats the same phrase over and over again.

Score: 4/10

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

Since the identity of “You” is unclear, I will invoke a two-point penalty to assume “You” means “God”.  Under this assumption, everything agrees with Scripture.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Intro]

Oh, You are my true north

An idiom that describes an individual to whom one considers stable, trustworthy, and will keep their promises.  We’ll assume “You” is “God” (Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14, 1 Kings 8:56, Romans 4:21, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Hebrews 10:23, and 2 Peter 3:9).

Oh, You are my true north

Repeats line 1.

I will follow You into the dark, dark, dark

Rend Collective is not saying that God is a dark place.  Rather, Jesus went to dark places in His three-year ministry.  He spoke with prostitutes, tax collectors, and Pharisees.  Rend Collective follows Jesus into these dark, dark, dark places such that their light shines in the shadows (Matthew 5:14-16).

I will follow You with all my heart, heart, heart

This requires Rend Collective to love the Lord their God with all their heart, heart, heart (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27), imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1-2), and abandon self (Matthew 10:38, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23-27, and Luke 14:26-27).

[Verse 1]

I will not let the darkness steal the joy within my soul
I will not let my circumstance become my compass, no
I will not let the fears of life and sorrows of this world
Dictate to me how I should feel
For You are my true north

Rather than allowing gloom, incidents, or dread to run their lives, they turn to God for direction (Proverbs 2:3-6, Proverbs 3:5-7, Proverbs 9:1-6, Jeremiah 29:12-13, and James 1:5).

[Chorus]

Oh, You are my true north
Oh, You are my true north

Repeats Intro, lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 2]

I will not let my failures turn into the curse of shame
I will not walk beneath the clouds that taunt me and condemn
For I will stand on solid ground the shadow of Your love

Essentially repeats the same point as Verse 1, except that Rend Collective uses foundation imagery (Deuteronomy 32:4, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 22:47, Psalm 18:31, Psalm 28:1, Psalm 62:2, Psalm 94:22, Psalm 118:22, Isaiah 28:16, Matthew 7:24-27, Matthew 21:42, Acts 4:11, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, Ephesians 2:20, 2 Timothy 2:19, and 1 Peter 2:6).

Forgiven, changed, a heart renamed

God forgave Rend Collective (Matthew 26:28, Act 2:38, Act 5:31, Act 10:43, Romans 4:7, Romans 5:6-8, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, Colossians 2:13-14, James 5:15, James 5:19-20, 1 John 2:1-2, and 1 John 2:12) and changed their hearts to desire Him (Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 24:7, Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 2:29, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and 2 Corinthians 7:10).

For You are my true north

Repeats Verse 1, line 5.

[Bridge]

I will follow You into the dark, dark, dark

Repeats Intro, line 3.

You are my true north

Repeats Intro, line 1.

I will follow You with all my heart, heart, heart
You are my true north
I will follow You into the dark, dark, dark
You are my true north
I will follow You with all my heart, heart, heart
You are my true north

Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Most likely, it would be some sort of god that they follow, find forgiveness, and becomes the foundation of their lives.  This includes a boyfriend/girlfriend.  It seems those outside the camp of Christ will not find a Christian interpretation without outside knowledge (e.g.; church setting, radio station, Rend Collective profile, etc.).

Score: 2/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It brings glory to “You” when Rend Collective describes “You” as the “One” in whom they trust, confide, and follow.  As mentioned in previous sections, the identity of “You” is unknown, requiring information outside these lyrics to comprehend.  This muddies God’s glory.

Score: 5/10

Closing Comments

Rend Collective’s True North is unclear.  If we assume God, it communicates trust in the God who changes our lives, if we abandon self and trust Him as our solid foundation.  Outside of this assumption, it contains no attributes, works of God, or explicit naming convention that points it to the God of Christianity.  This makes interpretation difficult for unbelievers.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship,

Final Score: 5.5/10

Artist Info

Track: True North (listen to the song)

Artist: Rend Collective

Album: Good News

Genre: Folk, Rock

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 3:02

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

*Copyright © 2018 Rend Family Music (NS), Capitol CMG Paragon (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  I updated section 1, including moving my commentary on repetition to a side note.