Artist’s None:

These five songs were painstakingly recorded over the course of two years. The songs survived a catastrophic computer failure, getting sober, a relapse of a different sort, suicidal thoughts, and a whole lot of upheaval.

We started this album as farm workers and ended it as missionaries. The first session was started in January of 2019 in Tavares, FL. The Last session wrapped up March 14th 2021 in Columbia, TN. Most of the work on this album was done in the margins, the time left after work and school and the mission, etc. John recorded all of his vocals fasting in a closet.

According to John the final product sucks, and you don’t actually care about it, so don’t fake it — we shall see what (if anything) God wants to do with this, and that's all that matters.

A Few Paragraphs In Regards to the Title and Content:

tv1⁄2 14^C (Stylized as “Half Life Carbon Fourteen”) refers to the rate of decay of the radioactivity of the isotope Carbon 14 (radiocarbon). The steady decay of radiocarbon is used to measure the age of certain organic and inorganic materials in carbon dating.

When I was writing these songs I was cornered by several religious folks because I brought up questions regarding the 6 day creation model, as well as the age of the earth. I wasn’t necessarily trying to challenge their viewpoints, I’m just curious by nature. These people in their certainty didn’t want to have a conversation with me though, they wanted to explain to me what the truth was at all costs. They didn’t want me to get in a word edgewise. So they fed me information I assume they gathered from the teachings (probably YouTube videos) of other people. (None of them were fluent in ancient history or Greek or Hebrew). They told me about how the only conclusion people can come to if they study the Bible and the ancient languages is that the earth was created both in six days, and that its age is around 6,000 years. We didn’t talk about where dinosaur bones came from thankfully.

I didn’t come out of those conversations feeling loved, but when I began to worship God in my mid twenties I did feel his love. His love covered me when I was on drugs, on alcohol, on sex, off my rocker. At all times. I don’t consider myself a learned one, but I do have a critique for the religious folk in all of us. Will you speak doctrine at expense of the hearer?

One of my really good friends found out I was a christian when I was recording his album for him in 2014. He said he liked the idea of God, but he could never blindly follow something that makes the individuals that imbibe it obtuse. He was citing this age old paradigm — the Christians believe the earth is 6,000 years old. I told him in Genesis it is written that the earth BECAME without form and void, and in the book of Isaiah its creational state is backed up — God didn’t create the earth without form and void. I got handed this interpretation from someone else by the way.... And I’m not sure what I believe today.

Some say Genesis is a poem, some say it’s a factual account, some say Moses wrote it, some say several writers, some say it’s allegorical, some say its precision is measurable, some say seven days, some say seven ages. I will not venture a guess.

There is only one thing I know. If one person being right about the age of the world, or the length of creation causes someone else to be unable to enter into relationship with Jesus, it’s vanity. We have these over inflated egos where we JUST HAVE to be right, and if people don’t believe like us, then by golly they aren’t getting into the happy place. I’m not so sure about the happy place or the unhappy place, but I am sure about God. God loves everyone, and his son Jesus died for EVERYONE. We the
Christians have created a minefield in our own image. We’ve put a flaming sword which turns every way to protect our glorified country clubs. We publish lists on our church websites of things we believe in and things we do not. We make people sign those lists, when we ourselves break the true commandments of God. How absurd and evil.

What we call Christianity is not a set of beliefs. You don’t have to believe like us to be one of us. It's a relationship. You just have to surrender to Jesus. (among other things) He’s here with us now, say it with me, “I want you to change my life,” say it with me now “I want my future to be inextricably connected to yours,” say it with me now “Please save me from this hell I experience every day, you’re my only hope.” Your life in the hands of Jesus will be better than anything you can imagine, so give him your life.

I don’t like the mean and nasty mess which is (a portion of the doctrines and actions of) the christian church (as an institution not a bride) very much. We shouldn’t defend something which God didn’t create. But I do love God, and to know Jesus is to know the love of God.

So why the title? Half Life Carbon Fourteen is my way of saying “Who cares what you say if you’re hurting people.” I’m sure there are lots of other ways to say that phrase. This is a “Who Cares” album. If you want to be like Jesus go act like him. There are so many hurting people in this world. Throw down your stupid brand and pick up your cross. Literally die for people. Stop hanging out with people that all look and sound like you, and help the hurting people. I am not a good example of this, but only Jesus ever was.

So yeah, I hope you enjoy this sucky Jesus fan fiction, and I hope you can do a lot better, go do it. Stop arguing about things that don’t matter, and go help people and love people. It’s a sad sad world, but Jesus is the King of the rejects and the projects and the subjects and also, I guess the good folks too, wherever they are.

-Jonathan Gold 3-28-21