More weirdly cryptic emails from Derek Webb, this time informing that the conflict with INO is "very real" and "not just about one word" (so we discovered) and that he's "backed into a corner." There's nothing really to say about this other than WTF, so here you go:

friends-
this is turning into a bigger deal than we expected.  as a result, we're having to temporarily _pull everything online down (can't explain now).  and to be on the s_afe side, i'm going to pe_rsonally go offline while we sort this out.  i re_ally shouldn't use my twitter account for now either so _don't expect any updates there.

make no m_istake, our trouble with the label over content i_s very real, and not as simple as one word; we're back_ed into a corner.  but we have applied all of our creative resources to th_is, working furiou_sly to create something that we believe not only subverts any leg_al issues but should also be a _pretty wild ride.

so this will be the l_ast email for a while.  we'll t_ry to lea_k information via a new tw_itter account, @ssyndrome.  you're o_n your own so start payin_g attention.  i'l_l see you _on the o_ther side-
derek

 
About The Author

David Sessions

David Sessions is the founding editor of Patrol. He covers religion for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, and is a graduate student in the Draper Program for Humanities and Social Thought at New York University. He can be reached at hdavidsessions at gmail dot com.

126 Responses to Desperate Dispatch from Derek Webb

  1. Damien says:

    If you take each letter that follows an underscore you get “Paradise is a parking lot”

  2. Jason S. Kong says:

    It seems to me that Derek Webb is trying to give people the impression that he’s going to play out what Stockholm Syndrome really is. If Derek Webb “decides to comply with the label” then yeah, it might just be a ploy.

  3. Tim says:

    Geez, never thought a Derek Webb record would turn into a Lost Alternate-Reality-Game, replete with not so subtle underscored clues (those can’t be incidental, right?) and creepy twitter profiles.

  4. Common Sense says:

    It’s clearly a fun little marketing scheme. It makes me wonder if he’s leveraging the issues with the label to his benefit or if there were ever any real problems to start with.

  5. Amanda says:

    OK, folks. If we all band together, we can get this one.

    We’ve got the email, which leads us to http://www.paradiseisaparkinglot.com which looks like an album download, but you need a verification code, and it says to: Go to Ugly Mugs in East Nashville, ask for a ‘Stockholm Latte’

    Then, there’s the subtle link at the bottom of http://www.derekwebb.com which takes you to a page with another clue (twtr, and the numbers may or may not be pertinent).

    That’s all I’ve got. Anybody?

  6. Andrew says:

    Hmm, good clues Amanda. I went to Ugly Mugs website and emailed asking about a Stockholm Latte. We’ll see if they respond.
    So after looking further we really need some help from some folks in Nashville to actually go and get the artifacts from the coffee shop…

  7. Amanda says:

    According to the “help” on http://www.paradiseisaparkinglot.com, there are 5 “artifacts” to be found.

    @ssyndrome just tweeted that the first has been found.

    I have no idea what the things are all about on the RSS feed.

  8. Tim says:

    Don’t you think that at this point everything’s good and they could release it (independently or otherwise) and they’re just making us work to actually get the album in our hands?

  9. ryan says:

    it’s not an album download. they’re audio stems. once they’re downloaded you’ll have to layer them in a program like Garageband or Protools to hear the complete track. that’s the impression i got.

  10. Christina says:

    I’m not so sure that it is a “fun little marketing scheme”. If it is, then I am disappointed in Derek.
    Tim, Derek probably cannot release the album independently or otherwise due to contractual agreements with the label. I would think that making it available for free download violates the contract – the record label is not getting any money off free downloads, which is why he has to be very careful. I am assuming that is what he meant by “but because of various legal/publishing issues we’re having to be rather careful with how we do what we need to do. that’s really all i can say for now and i’ve probably said too much.”

  11. Ray Fowler says:

    “Paradise is a parking lot” would seem to be a reference to the old Joni Mitchell song: “Don’t it always seem to go, you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone; they paved Paradise and put up a parking lot.”

  12. Super interested to see how this all fleshes itself out!

  13. Andrew says:

    All five in Nashville have been picked up. In fact a buddy of mine went and got an ‘artifact’ after I emailed him. Can’t wait to see what all happens!!

  14. Jason S. Kong says:

    Oh boy. Well I was totally off.

  15. Matthew says:

    It’s funny, I’m a big Derek Webb fan but hadn’t heard about this controversy until this morning. I happened to look at the Google Trends listing of the top 100 “hottest” searches on their search enginer, and “Derek Webb Stockholm Syndrome” was #77.
    http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends?q=derek+webb+stockholm+syndrome&date=2009-5-19&sa=X

  16. Andrew says:

    here’s some more info… go to http://www.derekwebb.com
    Click on the elipses and the question pops up what do you want?

    answer: kickdrum

    This will take you to another site and there is a big pic of derek on it and in the middle of his eye is a website.

    Type that into the web browser and the last question that will pop up is

    what time it is:
    answer: youneverknow

    Finish with a cool Video of Derek!

  17. Tim says:

    #16 Wait, I got lost after the kickdrum and eye part. What do you do after that?

  18. aaron says:

    I tried the video thing and ended up with question mark over the quick time player.

    how did you know about that in the first place?

  19. Tim says:

    #18 You just need quicktime

  20. Ethan Perkins says:

    I have quicktime. Still now video

  21. Matt says:

    I have the same problem, and I even have a Mac!

  22. jed says:

    I said to my wife when I read the first email: “if this was from anybody else I would totally think it was a gimmick.” Bummed to see that may be the case, yet I guess I’m still playing along.

    I can’t quite make out what he sings in the brief audio clip on that video, seems like it might be another clue. Sounds to me like “black eye as seen through a keyhole of my lover” or something like that?

  23. Ethan Perkins says:

    Even if it is a gimmick…who cares…Why can’t people just, as Derek said “enjoy the ride”

    I don’t care what it is, it’s great

  24. Mike in Ottawa says:

    On “Paradise is a Parking Lot” there is a bar code at the top. Can anyone figure out how to read the bar code? Is it even relevant? Interested in hearing thoughts…

  25. DeMo says:

    @Mike – It looks like the barcode may match up with each line of the stems. The first stem is lit up, and the first barcode is lit. If you count the heart, there are enough for 20.

  26. monica says:

    anyone feel like derek webb is turning this album into a LOST episode- where there are websites and other “shit” that people have to decode and formulate a theory.

    seems unreal.

  27. The result of the first download stem on PIAPL.com is 5 wav files.
    they are each brief audio clips of music, but the names of the files are a clue: apartment . in San . joined . press, . to every

    Anything come to mind?

  28. Jason S. Kong says:

    Probably a means to properly organize all the wav files when all twenty artifacts are collected.

  29. Ben, Perth: Australia says:

    I don’t know if I’ve done my maths correctly, but the first download stem resulted in 5 wav files of roughly 1 second each giving 5 seconds total music. If each of the 20 stems have the same, this gives only 80 seconds of music. That’s hardly enough for a full song, let along the whole album. Which begs the question: what are we actually downloading?

  30. jeff says:

    ive had no luck reading the barcode with a few different barcode readers…

  31. Alexander Werner says:

    @Jed, I believe it’s “Black eye from staring through a keyhole at my lover.”

  32. Tim says:

    #30 If that’s the case this is really screwed. I mean, if by the end of the twenty stems you have the whole album then O.K. I can deal with that, but if it’s anything less than the whole album whatever fun this game he’s playing may be is not worth it.

  33. Josh P says:

    I Googled the phrases from the .wav clips that are available online and one of the results was a wikipedia article on Patty Hearst. All the phrases appear in this wikipedia article.

    Who is Patty Hearst, you ask? She is one of the most famous examples of…you guessed it…Stockholm Syndrome.

    I believe this wikipedia article is going to help us put all the stems together.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patty_Hearst

    -Josh

  34. Luke says:

    #34, Josh P, how on earth did you find Patty Hearst with those phrases?!? I did a similar google and never found it, till I added Stockholm to the thread. thanks for the tip.

    On another note, Derek submitted a track to the Save Paste campaign. (visit the magazine’s website for details). I’m still deciphering the lyrics (at points he is unintelligible amidst the FX), but I did clearly catch the line “Paradise is a parking lot”.

  35. Ethan Perkins says:

    #35..
    could you send a link of the track

  36. the dude says:

    try searching exactly like this: “apartment” “in San” “joined” “press,” “to every” — luke what are you talking about with the track sent to save paste campaign? can you provide a link?

  37. Josh P says:

    Luke I searched just like The Dude said, with quotes around each phrase. Otherwise you won’t find it. I found this page first, and the Patty Hearst page was a few links down I believe.

  38. thechriswood says:

    on the original DW site (http://www.derekwebb.com) the word “real” is a hyperlink… we need to figure it out!

  39. thechriswood says:

    on the link it takes you to… http://www.derekwebb.com/r_eal.php if you type in “controversy” it changes to a number 2

  40. Tim says:

    #40 Any idea what to do after that? I’m not very good at this

  41. Tim says:

    #40

    “dubdynomite said…
    Update on my previous comment.

    The word trouble is hyperlinked in the first email as well. It links to the Relevant magazine article. If you enter the words in quotes from the article in order on the page linked in the second link, you get a downloaded file containing an mp3 of a premix of the Spirit vs the Kickdrum and a txt file containing only the characters 10-2-4”

  42. Luke says:

    For the track “Heaven”, you have to make a contribution to the “Save Paste” fund. I think you can contribute any amount that you want, and then they’ll give you access to the download vault.

    http://www.pastemagazine.com/paste/the-campaign-to-save-paste.html

  43. Matthew says:

    I don’t care that the controversy is fake, I am having a good time with all of this.

  44. Too bad I have absolutely no interest in this album…Otherwise I might have fun deciphering and editing things together. But then I don’t really have the time anyways. So, best of luck to you all, and have fun.

  45. Doug says:

    10-2-4 is associated with Dr. Pepper… I wonder if Waco is next?

  46. Mike in Ottawa says:

    10-2-4 could be the order of the first three clips to put together, 10th one is 1st, 2nd one is 2nd, 4th one is 3rd.

  47. Scott says:

    #45
    You don’t have the time to mess with all of this but you do have time to send a stupid, pointless remark to everyone else and you do have time to be a debbie downer, correct? am I getting that right?

  48. Brittany says:

    ok…i’ve definitely been sucked in, but i’m a little behind. where did you get the password “controversy” for #1??

  49. FITZ says:

    Hey if you open up The Spirit vs. The Kick Drum in a hexeditor you’ll find a lot of information that has nothing to do with mp3, like jpg and photoshop tags. Maybe there’s an image embedded in the file?

  50. Jen says:

    I am dying to play this game… but I have not once been able to get paradiseisaparkinglot.com to load for me. So I’ve just contented myself reading all these comments. :(

    Has the site been taken down? Help?

  51. jeff says:

    so… it says new intructions… where i can i find the instructions?

  52. FD says:

    Lyrics to The Spirit Vs. The Kickdrum for those interested. Could this be the controversial song? Is his new label a “Christian” label? If so, I can see how this might raise eyebrows. The third line of the “son” and “father” stanzas could be off, but otherwise I think this is pretty accurate:

    I don’t want the spirit; I want the kickdrum
    I don’t want the spirit; I want the kickdrum
    I know how it works, so I’m not dumb
    I don’t want the spirit; I want the kickdrum

    Like sex without love
    Like peace without the dove
    Like a crime scene without the blood
    I don’t want the spirit; you know I want a kickdrum

    I don’t want the son; I want a jury of peers
    I don’t want the son; I want a jury of peers
    Stares go low when you see my tears
    I don’t want the son; I want a jury of peers

    Like lies without the truth
    Like wine without the food
    Like a skydive without the chute
    I don’t want the son; you know I want a jury of peers
    I don’t want the spirit; you know I want a kickdrum

    I don’t want the father; want a vending machine
    I don’t want the father; want a vending machine
    I know, what’s your point if you know what I mean
    I don’t want the father; want a vending machine

    Like heaven without gates
    Like hell without flames
    Like life without pain
    I don’t want the father; you know I want a vending machine
    I don’t want the son; you know I want a jury of peers
    I don’t want the spirit; you know I want a kickdrum

  53. Tim says:

    #53 reminds of “A New Law” off of Mockingbird.

    #42 I lost ya here

    I have the 10 total 2 second audio clips from http://www.paradiseisaparkinglot.com/

    The names of these clips, in the order as they appear in the article on Patty Hearst http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patty_Hearst primarily in the section on “Kidnapping and the SLA” are (seperated by a colon):
    to swap : family : to every : press, : better.) : on an audiotape : joined : (inspired : in San : apartment
    arranging the audio clips in such a manner is still pretty unintelligible.

    I went to http://www.derekwebb.com/ssyndrome.php and typed in “kickdrum” when it asked what I wanted, but I couldn’t find the link in his eye.

    so where I’m at…
    http://www.derekwebb.com/r_eal.php
    1. “controversy”
    2. ?????

    I’m enjoying this.

  54. Tim says:

    alright I figured out what I was missing. I googled for that relevant magazine article that was mentioned earlier:
    http://www.relevantmagazine.com/main/slices/music/16959-derek-webbs-publicity-stunt
    and three words are in quotes in the first paragraph,
    1. “controversy”
    2. “having”
    3. “label”

    which downloads a folder “tsvtkd” with an mp3 of “The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum (Pre-Mix)” and a file just called “txt” with “10-2-4.” I know I’m repeated an earlier post…but I was a little confused, so just making sure we’re all on the same page.

    keep posting anything new.

  55. Jo says:

    maybe “10-2-4” is a possible release date. . . ???? just backwards as in releasing on 4-2-10. . .
    Just a random thought.

  56. Andrew says:

    10-2-4 is a very clear reference for those of you not in TX to Dr. Pepper. It’s part of their very early ad campaign. “10-2-4, three great times to enjoy!”
    The artifacts have also had a jpg file with Dr. Pepper logo. We know DW loves it. So hopefully he’ll share the love in TX!

  57. BGW says:

    hmmmm. I was just reading through and I noticed that #54 you wrote “I have the 10 total 2 second audio clips…” could that have any significance to the 10-2-4 text?? Just a thought.

  58. Andrew W says:

    Thanks #55 for giving help.

    About comment #34 and typed the terms into Google as well. It came up with the Wikipedia article and this site http://gist.github.com/115800 also showed up. I tried playing the audio clips in the order that they appear in this article, and it sounded like they were starting to fit together. I’m guessing as someone did earlier that the track titles and this article help us put all the bits in order.

    I’m having fun with this stuff and watching it unfold :)

  59. stephen c. berry says:

    sheesh. im just gonna wait till the album comes out. all this gives me too much of a headache…

  60. Stephanie says:

    Anyone downloaded the new Stockholm Syndrome podcast stuff yet? Speaking of Lost, there’s a video clip of Derek and some guy talking the background about timeshifting, Juliet, Bernard, etc, etc.

  61. Fred says:

    Did the Waco instructions appear on http://www.paradiseisaparkinglot.com or in the RSS feed or somewhere else entirely?

  62. Matt Harris says:

    I feel like I’m in the DaVinci Code or something. This is fun.

  63. Tim says:

    nothing too new, just got the latest batch of 5 clips from the waco artifacts. I put them in order to how I saw them in the Patty Hearst Wikipedia article again and got:

    California ~ to swap ~ members ~ family ~ to every ~ an operation ~ of food to the ~ press, ~ better.) ~ on an audiotape ~ joined ~ (inspired ~ wielding ~ in San ~ apartment

    they sound somewhat like they could be forming a cohesive song with obvious wholes still existing. post if you think the order is different.

    just downloaded the stockholm syndrome podcast (thanks Stephanie for the heads up, didn’t even know that was there). Interesting stuff:

    dw – 0:27 audio clip, my initial thought was a couple second splices of all the songs on the new cd, but there’s some repeated themes. not sure what to make of it.

    Eye – image file, just a picture of derek’s eye, same as seen when you click the “…” at the bottom of the homepage, and enter “kickdrum”

    gsp – image file, a picture of the jazz vintage vinyl section at a record store. the most prominent readable cover is “Shelly Manne & his friends modern jazz performances of songs from My Fair Lady.” No clue on this one, thoughts on what gsp stands for?

    Jimmy – 0:35 video clip, looking out a wooden back porch into rain falling on a countryside for 0:11, then a guy hitting a few notes on a bass before hitting on a song, the same song that was playing quietly in the background during the rain in the beginning. Can anybody identify the song?

    Royers Round Top – image file of some pies, I found http://www.royersroundtopcafe.com/ which is a cafe in Texas. Maybe just a hint for the Waco artifacts?

    Teepee – 0:17 video clip, an unidentifiable man (I think) shutting a teepee in the rain, throwing a blanket over his head and running out of the screen.

    Timeshift – 0:30 video clip, still shot of a drumset in some sort of music room, with background talking about characters from the show Lost and their time traveling escapades.

    Anybody know any good sights that are compiling any progress they’re making in figuring this stuff out?
    http://bloggablemusicnetwork.com/index.php/site/comments/derek_webb_heist_update/
    also there’s a “paradise is a parking lot” facebook group, which is just people trying to figure stuff out.

  64. marc says:

    Are you actually reading what you’re writing? Yikes! People, please, it’s a CCM album, not the second coming! Good Grief. I feel like I walked into a William Gibson novel….hey wait, I just read this in a William Gibson novel! Nice try, Derek. The 25 people who care are enthralled.

  65. Ethan Perkins says:

    MARC

    no one cares what you say

    join in the fun or leave

  66. Andy says:

    Just saying, found this website with an article with the EXACT words from the sound clips. check it.
    Seeing that Gist is a “social coding” site the odds are pretty dang high that it was placed for us to find, also check out the search terms. hah.
    http://gist.github.com/raw/115800/a5a3ea086d988dafd92f6e964d0a6369e554a8e9/sort.rb

  67. phoebe says:

    so..i get all the rest of it, but i don’t know where he posts the instructions. help?

  68. stephen c. berry says:

    sooooooo… while we’re all waiting around for Derek’s new album, we should just pop in the new mewithoutYou record. It’s released. Like, in CD form and vinyl and everything. The only puzzle you have to figure out is how to undo the shrinkwrap. Then you can listen to some great songs! go.

  69. As far as I can tell, there are five two-second stems released at the end of each city’s (<- spelling seems iffy) quest. This puts the amount of stems at 100, being two-seconds each, that’s 200 seconds – that’s 3 minutes and twenty seconds altogether. Seemingly, Derek has chopped up an entire song just to send out the pieces across the U.S. – there’s no way that he could have put this together so quickly, immediately, without having been up to it far before any of the “label controversy.”

    Also, if you check the wikipedia page for Stockholm Syndrome, you find that “In 2007, a group of scholars studied twelve highly-publicized cases of Stockholm syndrome, publishing their results in Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia.” If anyone has/can get access to these twelve cases, we may have some track titles or some sort of helpful information on our hands.

    Lastly, I live right outside of Greenville, SC, and the small airport that flies in most conveniently to our area is GSP (Greenville Spartanburg International Airport). On the podcast episode of “Stars”, Derek and a friend (Jimmy, I believe? from the earlier video) talk about seeing stars close up in a camera while not being able to see the lights, or whatever object they’re trying to cleverly disguise, while an airplane is flying overhead in the background. Now, they do speak of a barn – this I concede to knowing nothing about.

    My hope is that I’ve encouraged and helped us move closer to whatever Derek is trying to get us to seek. What a wonderful marketing strategy, if I must say so. Reminds me of the original game Myst…

  70. Todd says:

    on derekwebb.com, the word ‘all’ is a link that takes you to a website with the bar code/heart logo on it. click on the third bar from the left and it takes you to a video, which sounds like it has some kind of morse-code message in it.

  71. Todd says:

    The morse code said “BNA 07/03/09”. I googled BNA, and its the Nashville international airport.

  72. Hey, has anyone thought of searching for a old wooden building to go find Derek at not far outside of the Nashville airport? Natives to the area should look at the footage and try to decifer where exactly in relation to the airport or surrounding are this could be. Perhaps he’s wanted that all along?

  73. Rebecca P. says:

    This new video repeats “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning,” which is a Smashing Pumpkins song from 1997. That song is actually an alternate version of the song “The End is the Beginning is the End,” which was released on the 1997 soundtrack for ‘Batman & Robin.’ The former song appeared in the trailer for this year’s movie ‘Watchmen.’ What that has to do with anything, I do not know. Perhaps one of the related wikipedia articles will be of use in the future…

  74. Stephanie says:

    Tim –

    The “gsp” photo from the podcast is of Vintage Vinyl, which is a store here in St. Louis, by the Loop. Since Sandra is from St. Louis, I’m sure this is why he has a photo of it.

    I’m not sure what it means in the long run. I’m hoping one of the artifacts will be in St. Louis; I’m curious about all of this!!

    Also, the podcast posted a new video yesterday. Called “Stars” it’s of Derek and Jimmy talking on the back porch of a house about lights in the sky.

  75. David Needham says:

    This is probably irrelevant but the friend in the video “Stars” is Josh Moore, who is producing the new record.

  76. Mike says:

    I really hope that something close by me pops up soon. I get the feeling that this new album really is important like he says in his email. My prediction, based on Stockholm Syndrome and the lyrics to “The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum,” is that this album is all about our dependence on ourselves and our government and the safety and security provided by it all, instead of drowning ourselves in the richness of God’s love and mercy and security. That’s my thought. Ideas?

  77. Kyle Hatchett says:

    Yeah. It’s probably something like that. Stockholm Syndrome is developing trust and affection for your captor, so I would guess that the album is about the City of God falling too much in love with the City of Man.

  78. David Needham says:

    Anybody know how the new LA Tracks fit in with the past ones?

  79. David Needham says:

    N/M just figured it out…
    So here is the order that they should go in according to the Patty Hearst Wiki page:
    1. year-old
    2. California
    3. apartment
    4. to swap
    5. members
    6. family
    7. to every
    8. needy
    9. an operation
    10. donation
    11. of food to the
    12. quality.
    13. press,
    14. better.)
    15. on an audiotape
    16. that she had
    17. joined
    18. inspired
    19. wielding
    20. in San

    correct me if I’m wrong on any of these.

    these are the things if have found thus far online tell me if there is more:

    1. all these clips of songs

    2. a video of a highway scene w/ morose code.

    3. a video that seems to be the start of a music video filmed in black and white with a bunch of random shots. lots of city clips, one of a person messing with a drum pad, another of derek’s head.

    4. all the podcast videos

    5. The Spirit Vs. The Kick Drum (Pre-Mix)

    any more????

  80. I’ve been matching up the audio clips in Logic. So far I’ve found that the “California” clip and the one titled “apartment” fit together seamlessly. So the fact that those words also are next to each other in the wikipedia article indicates that could save me some time matching 2-second audio clips in the future. :)

  81. Ethan Perkins says:

    The pic in the new stem is the EMP in Seattle. I just went there. GET READY SEATTLE

  82. Here is the list of stems in the order they appear in the article if you take them all from the same paragraph. Several of these connect so far, a couple spots have three stems connecting in a row…

    1. year-old
    2. California
    3. apartment
    4. she shared
    5. to swap
    6. members
    7. family
    8. to every
    9. needy
    10. an operation
    11. $400
    12. the immediate
    13. donation
    14. of food to the
    15. quality.
    16. press,
    17. could have done
    18. better.)
    19. on an audiotape
    20. that she had
    21. joined
    22. (inspired
    23. Tamara
    24. wielding
    25. in San

  83. I meant “same Heading” not paragraph… If you don’t take it from the “Kidnapping and the SLA” heading, then “in San” should be #1… However, if you listen to that file, it doesn’t sound like the beginning, it sounds like the middle of a song to me… time will tell.

  84. Rebecca P. says:

    The photograph included with the Seattle stems is the statue of Queen Charlotte at the Charlotte-Douglas Airport in NC.

    Get ready Queen City!

  85. Jordan says:

    i’m thinking the new link to the video is morse code, but when i put it into a code translator i got BNI07/0?/00. the ? means i screwed up and that the letter was not recognizable.

    anyone else want to try?

  86. Tim says:

    I can’t find the video, where in the world is it?

  87. Jordan says:

    go to his main site. the word all is a hyperlink.

  88. thechriswood says:

    anyone have any clue as to what the morse code means…“BNA 07/03/09”? (that’s what the video under the “all: hyperlink pells out) I know that’s the abbreviation for the Nashville airport

  89. Brad says:

    <script type=“text/javascript”>
    var stationLiteWidth = “300”;//you may adjust the width
    var stationLiteTrack = “heaven-pre-mix”;document.write(’<script type=“text/javascript” src=“http://www.pastemagazine.com/script/embedStationLite.js?&#8217;.getTime()‘”><’+’/script>’);
    </script>

  90. I’ve compiled a handy spreadsheet in Google Docs for ordering the stem files.

    Let me know if you have any suggestions.

    http://hewhocutsdown.blogspot.com/2009/06/derek-webb-stockholm-syndrome.html

  91. Stephanie says:

    My bet’s the next city is D.C. The two jpgs on the latest stems are named for D.C. longitude and latitude.

  92. thechriswood says:

    the “beginning is the end is the beginning” could refer to the fact that the search will end where it began… Nashville. (BNA 07/03/09) on July 3? anyone else

  93. Alex says:

    Here is what you get in a reverse geocoder with both pictures (the duck and the mega millions pictures)

    199 N Main St, Bendersville, PA 17304

    I have no idea if this is right, but i tries a number of different ways to look it up and this kept coming up. maybe someone lives near there and can help…let me know! This is the most fun I have had with music in a long time!

  94. Michael says:

    Seems like the real joke here is that all the fans have a sort of Stockholm Syndrome. Derek took a bunch of people who marginally cared for a record, locked them up with week after week of code and mini-clips, and made them all care about his record much more than they would have originally. Maybe the joke is on us?

  95. Rebecca P. says:

    Re: #94
    I entered the jpeg file names as a coordinate pair in Google Earth; there are two options.
    (38.908818, -77.253542) points to an unassuming home on Pine Street in Vienna, VA, a town outside of DC. The opposite, (-77.253542, 38.908818), is a point in Antarctica.
    So, maybe the next city is Vienna; VA does have the Mega Millions lottery though I don’t know what the significance of the duck is. To me, it looks like a plan to put together a duck-shaped bed.

  96. clwclw says:

    new morse code up, click on “need to” at derekwebb,com and then the 14th bar on the bar code. anyone decipher it??

  97. thechriswood says:

    new morse code up. click on “need to” at derekwebb.com then the 14th bar. decipher anyone??

  98. Todd says:

    i got “6PM,GPSTOFOLLOW” someone check me.

  99. Matt in Texas says:

    I got “6PM GPS TO FOLLOW” too.

  100. Ethan Perkins says:

    I am impressed with the morse code translation from you guys…

    How are you doing it?

  101. Anything That's Green says:

    In case any of you weren’t aware, if you go to Paste Magazines website and donate a small amount of money (as low as $1, I’m pretty sure) you can get access to their download vault, which has a new song by Derek. It’s called “Heaven (Pre-Mix)” plus there are loads of other songs from great artists on there, including Derek’s wife Sandra. Incidentally, “Heaven” is the song where ‘paradise is a parking lot’ comes from.

    Keep your eyes and ears open.

  102. So basically something is going to happen at 6 pm July 3rd near the Nashville airport. Wish I still lived in Nashville!

  103. Todd says:

    ETHAN PERKINS-
    im using wikipedia.

  104. Rob Swick says:

    anyone been to giveashit.org ? if you do a whois request on the website, it shows that derek bought it back in January. Any clues as to what it is going to be used for? Maybe a forum of causes to help out?

  105. Jason S. Kong says:

    Heh, there’s the infamous ‘s-word’ that’s garnered a lot of attention these days. “53 SLA Refused.wav”

  106. Lauren says:

    Seriously…I live in Nashville and am going to be in Colorado on July 3…what poor timing!!

  107. Sven says:

    does it matter, or is it coincidence that when you enter bna 07/03/09 into google maps, it goes to a specific spot? that spot is 814 donelson pike which is a spot by the bna airport where donelson pike intersects with a airport service rd. what do yall think?

  108. thechriswood says:

    redownload stem #2!

  109. thechriswood says:

    new song is clearly about westboro baptist preacher fred phelps

  110. http://www.mediafire.com/file/n4yz1jmgawy/Freddie, Please.mp3

    For when it disappears from paradise…

  111. brad says:

    Derek Webb wants to dig latrines for Jesus. And he’s looking for a few thousand friends to lend a hand. In a world where as many as 8,000 people die each day from waterborne diseases, he says, it’s the Christian thing to do. To get the word out about his latrine campaign, Webb, a Nashville-based Christian singer-songwriter who doesn’t mince words, is planning to launch a new Web site—www.giveashit.org. The name, he said, is meant to startle people into action.

    “The twin towers fall every day in Africa for lack of clean drinking water—7,500 or 8,000 people dying every day and the church does not appear to give a shit,” said Webb, echoing evangelist Tony Campolo’s provocative challenge to churches.

    That’s something Webb, who helped found the contemporary Christian band Caedmon’s Call before launching a solo career, is determined to change. And he doesn’t mind offending people in the process, if he can get their attention.

    “Part of my job is to take language and redeem it and to use it for good,” says Webb. “This is a great opportunity for me to use language creatively to stir people to action.

  112. Joseph f. martin says:

    Maybe Derek Webb can go be a missionary and quit trying to guilt us all. When he declares a vow of poverty and stops making money for selling music, I will think of him as having credibility. Until then he is another Bono, raking in money while he lectures us. How in the hell does he know who does and does not give a shit, and who gives what? Sounds like a teenager.

  113. intrigued says:

    Joseph: Right, and your post doesn’t sound like a whiny teenager at all.

  114. Eric J Howell says:

    As for you Joseph F. Martin. You probably ended up on this site because you were tracing the SSyndrome drama. Which is a project that is releasing fans music of no charge. Except for one of the tracks which you donate as little as 1 cent to another organization from which Derek doesn’t even profit from. as far as Derek being a missionary I’m pretty sure He is accomplishing that. Let’s see, He travels around the world proclaiming His convivtions on who Jesus is, serving others such as asking his crowd not to buy shirts or CDs from his merch table, but instead give your money to Blood Water Mission. I share in Derek’s opinion that it is much wiser to send $100 to give clean water to 100 african’s for an entire year than for me to spend $3000 on a field trip for a week to stare at a bunch of naked sick people. Keep my clothes and go back and try to tell a congregation how bad it is by showing them a church friendly edited slideshow. But of course I guess it looks like he has spent a lot of his earnings on that wardrobe of his, you know I hear dark denim, white undershirts and the occasional coat are pretty comparable to the average southern Gospel preacher’s 3 piece suit. Also Derek isn’t claiming to know who gives a shit but he is asking a question which has irritated you like it will many others. Do you care more about the people that are being killed for a lack of clean water or does it irritate you more that he uses the word shit with in his message. I do admire your boldness but your research needs work. You sound like a freshmen in college who just left his first philosophy class and now you think that you can tell everyone “How it really is.” Give it a rest and read the Bible Literally without your world view. “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” Matthew 25:40

    Before you choose who you accept as credible, you may want to ask yourself if you are so anti Bono/Derek how many times have you prayed for them or sent them a letter of rebuke to challenge them. Because they have already seen the state of Africa and the ways Christians ignore it and they have sent us a letter of rebuke.

    Any response is welcome. erichowell35150@yahoo.com

  115. Todd says:

    new morse code: 36.156650,-86.774080

    coordinates to a concert venue in Nashville called the Rutledge. The calendar had “Derek Webb Industry Showcase” on July 3 at 6PM

  116. Raymond McPherson says:

    The release date of the album is 09/01/09. If you want proof and want to see the album cover (which is the black eye picture), or if you just want to preorder it, you can go here:

    http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=CD46902&item_code=WW&netp_id=636121&event=ESRCN&view=covers

  117. Raymond McPherson says:

    If you go to http://www.derekwebb.com/ and click “all,” “need to,” “be,” or “there,” there is a new link when you click the 7th line from the right. It takes you to a video titled “giveup” which shows The Rutledge where he’ll be playing a show on the 3rd of July.

    Also, on http://twitter.com/ssyndrome it shows that all five Chicago artifacts have been found and a new stem is up on http://www.paradiseisaparkinglot.com/ which includes a picture of Joel Osteen and the sound files titled (”$70 worth,” “4, 1974,” “Bank at 1450,” “been of poor,” and “jailed SLA.”

  118. Robin says:

    All Houston Stems have been found.

  119. Robin says:

    The video that has “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning” maybe referring to The Ringing Bell somehow. The first song on The Ringing Bell is called “The End” , so The Beginning IS The End is The Beginning.

  120. Jessica says:

    The picture is of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. Birmingham better get ready. An artifact might just be there next.

  121. Eric J Howell says:

    I’m pretty confident that Louisville, Kentucky is the next stop the picture looks like it maybe looking up a baseball bat… Hint Hint.

  122. robin vick says:

    that is my guess as well eric. looks like the louisville slugger museum…well part of it.

  123. Todd says:

    the scavenger hunt sites are mysteriously getting copies of Stockholm Syndrome and playing them. Waco is next.

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