Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

The first book from Glasgow singer/songwriter Michael McMillan spans over 50 years of his life as told through the lyrics of his three albums 'Cold And Roofless', 'Faith To Faith' and 'Meet Me At The Cross'. The cover contains the strapline "stories from the heart of the streets" which more or less sums up the approach of both book and author to depict tales of poverty, pain and brokenness as well as hope, love and ultimately redemption through Christ Jesus. In fact, McMillan's life as a professional musician, police officer and addictions counsellor together with his own previous struggles as candidly referred to in this book, put him in prime position to offer up a spiritual solution to the problems of life and he does so with sincerity and humility whilst not missing an opportunity to point to his Saviour as to the reason why he is where is he is today. Split into three chapters, the lyrics from 30 of McMillan's songs are featured with each containing a fascinating foreword that gives insight into both the writer's life experiences and how the song in question came about. As with many lyric books, the words take on a life of their own when divorced from their melodies and this collection is no different. Songs such as "The City Mission" and "Everything Tastes Good When You Are Hungry" are all the more challenging in terms of the reader's attitude to poverty whilst McMillan's odes to his wife and offspring in the simply-titled "Song For Alex" and "Song For My Children" offer up an insight into relationships that are etched with pain but full of love. McMillan's love of word play - as evidenced in the titles of his first two albums - shines through even amidst the most sombre subject matter and, whilst the likes of "The Other Half" with its repeated use of one word may translate better in song than on paper, multiple reads of other pieces reveal McMillan's keen grasp of the English language. A short biography at the start offers up more background to McMillan's life and faith in this worthwhile anthology.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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