Chris Wright from Devon tells how a track by Dave Bryant impacted his life.

When you read the Bible, do you find that there are verses that, seems to have written specifically in mind? They seem to come up again and again in all sorts of situations and spring to mind all the time when you are sharing with folks. Well the song, 'It's Alright Mate' by Dave Bryant is a bit like that for me. It just seems to sum up life, as we know it.

I don't remember when I first heard this song though it must have been 15 years ago if it was a day. Down the years I've always found it to both profoundly topical and encouraging. Time and again when God has been working in my life and the going HAS got tough and I'm looking round for what I've done wrong, uh oh, there it is again, that old song summing up how I feel. Sometimes I think that Jot must have helped Dave Bryant write it!

You hear a lot of sons referred to as "prophetic:" But this song, written so long ago, seems to have a message for our church today. As a church we seem to be going through a period of testing, and the last verse seems to apply to us collectively and church life is certainly getting' Interesting!! Thank God for Psalm 119:68, "You are good and what you do is good."

I think part of the appeal of "It's Alright Mate" for me is that it is written in Cockney, a language that I am fluent in despite living in Devon for 20-odd years. It is a deeply personal record of what to me at least is the loving way that God does his thing in my life. I can certainly identify with the bewilderment of, "...so I thought it was a joke...," sometimes it seems that he is just being pernickety, but pretty soon the truth surfaces. And who of us can't remember times when we feel "beaten black and blue"? This is a song that really puts a picture of man's experience of God in our normal terms of reference. A loving father who refuses to give up on a son or daughter even when sometimes we wish he would.

Are you like me and find times when you hear yourself praying along the lines, "Father I know I'm likely to regret asking you this, but." and then go ahead and pray anyway. It seems that Dave Bryant is like that too!

Look at the last verse. Doesn't that bring back memories? That, I think is one of the most encouraging parts of the song, put that together with Luke 22:31, 32 and remember that God has a plan. This is one of the most important anchors in my life. Time and again I have found that remembering that there is a purpose in what He is allowing in my life and that you can talk to God as to a mate about what he is doing in such a comfort.

Some of us in our church go prayer walking in response to what we feel was God's word to us. As we go we talk to God in different accents and quite often with laughter and praying puns. And just as is reflected in this relaxed song, the Lord speaks to us and answers our prayers with a great deal of love and his inimitable grace.

The album 'God Likes Me' that this song comes from is sadly long deleted and as far as I know Dave is no longer performing. This is a great shame as in my opinion; 'God Likes Me' should be compulsory listening for all Christians at least once a year! All the songs are well worthy of a close listen and all are very eloquent bits of songwriting. There are a number of different styles represented on the album; the preceding number "Song For A Carpenter" for example, is another classic.

If there is one more thing that I would like to say it is, "Dave, have you written anything else recently, 'cos that was great mate. Ta."

IT'S ALRIGHT MATE
Words and music by Dave Bryant

Well, there was I, enjoying married life
Not knowing what it was to have a barny with me wife
Then one day, the Lord up and spoke
Saying, "Son, I'm calling you to be a holy bloke"
From that day on everything went wrong
Marital bliss became a barrow-load of trouble
I thought I'd better do some praying on the double

Chorus
And God said, "It's alright mate, you're ok
I'm just doing a work on you
I've been and started it and I'm gonna finish it
Everything is looking good with you everything is tickety-boo

Well, there was I nearly touching the sky
I was riding on the crest of a spiritual high
So I thought it was a joke when God said, "Oi,
I wanna teach you to walk in peace and joy"
Then me lights went out and I hit the ground with a clout
I couldn't find the Lord for love nor money
I was down there in the dark and it wasn't very funny

Chorus
Yeh Lord, I rate what you're doing so please
Don't think that I'm ungrateful
But there are times when I'm feeling beaten black and blue

Yeh, now I'm not complaining 'cos I can see
That what you're doing is making a man of me
Life gets sore and life gets tough
But you get a lot of smooth to compensate the rough
So it's just to say, I wouldn't have it any other way
And I ain't going to worry when you put me in the fire
Just remind me to remember when the flames get higher
That you said...

Chorus

© Thankyou Music Reprinted with permission.