Where have all the songs gone?
I for one, am pleased that there is lots of modern worship and praise music available. As a Dad with three kids ranging from 10 to 19 it’s great that they go around listing to Hillsongs United (pictured), Parachute Band and the likes on their iPods.
I also love the fact that we can have “ragey” worship in our Sunday services (praise God for the fact that our older folk are more interested in the younger folk and their friends than in their own ears!)
What bugs me though is the fact that it seems almost impossible to find music in this genre to cover the full gambit of theological needs. Where are the songs that admit we’re struggling, that we have doubts and that we need God to show up? Where are the songs that really speak of the Trinity in any meaningful way? Where are the songs that talk of God’s justice as well as His love? Where are the songs that speak of The Salvation Army doctrine?
And the answer isn’t that we should use all the old hymns… (William Booth would have expected, no, demanded that we be cutting edge).
We need new songs, but all sorts of new songs.
always enjoy reading your comments etc.
Love Dad
comment this morning re: songs
reads as if the songs in the song book are of no more use. try 734 “I,ll go in the strength in the Lord”
22. to God be the Glory
142 Christ is alive
512, My life must be ( a favourite of mine) find out why and when it was written. If you cant ,let me know and i will tell you the story.
Dad here again.
the new songs you advocate ,some very good.some terrible,
to much repetition , other okay for groups but not for congregational singing,so
like the song book ..some good some bad.
Hi Dad
Sorry if it sounded that way… No, I don’t think the song book songs are of no use anymore (but I’d love to see some arrangements that make them more usable in the youth culture we have here) – I’d also say that I reckon the Chorus section of the song book is better for response/reflection times than any of the modern songs that I know! (We had an amzing time of response on Sunday and we used “Enter enter…” and “In thee o Lord”.
Also, I’m not advocating the new songs as such. I’m reflecting that the music style of these new songs is great to reach the unchurched of today, but the lyrics do not normally have the theological depth of the traditional hymns.
And I agree – there’s good and bad in both genres!
Perhaps I’m just familiar with a fairly limited range of contemporary music, but it seems to me that there is a serious lack of material that has GOD as it’s central focus, let alone any one aspect of His character. I gave up quite some time ago on the hope that Hillsongs would start writing less self-focussed songs, with the end result that I’ve stopped even looking at their albums. Let me know if I’m missing out on something!
Hi Christine
Yep – that’s the type of frustration I’m talking about
Paul
good questions Paul
I’m sure there is a broader range of songs out there, it’s just we’re not so good at finding them … and the likes of Hillsong and Parachute make it so easy to source their songs it kind of makes it harder to go looking for the others
I’ve enjoyed the occasional older SA song at SAJ but find most are simply too hard to sing and are not suited to the music team we have available to us, or are pitched too high for most Kiwi voices
also Hillsong have moved away from singable songs over the years, in the early years of songs coming out of Hillsong they were very singable, but more recently as their own musical and performance skill has increased they have written songs to suit that more
with modern songs there’s very few that will pass the test of time and become keepers for all generations, but the same applies to the SA song book too – there’s very few in there that are keepers for all generations, but those that are are very very good
like you I would like to see some of the older songs re-scored to modern musical instruments and style … not all churches have an organ or brass band these days so the music itself is not so relevant, but often the words are
by way of example, we no longer have the music that went with the Psalms which would have originally been (largely) sung, but the words have stood the test of time
To respond to one of Gavin’s comments about song book songs being too high etc…a few years ago one of the American territories (I think Central) published a book with about 100 song book songs in easier-to-sing keys and with chords for all those pianists who can’t read music. It’s available from Trade and a really helpful resource. Most of the really good songs are in there.
I came to the Army when I was 15 and one of the things I loved the most was the music – primarily, the “Praise & Worship” meetings we had on a Sunday night. It was contemporary music and it was meaningful to me. I remember a few years later when I boarded with officers, coming home each Sunday morning asking what certain words meant in song book songs – I just didn’t understand what they were talking about!
As the years have passed, my thoughts have changed slightly, but my preference hasn’t. I still love contemporary music that is fresh, relevant and sounds good. However…
I fully agree with and appreciate the comments already made on some of the garbage we sing when it comes to the words. There’s some theological yuck out there and I think it’s just as much about it being incorrect as it is about it being too hard to understand. Surely we want to be singing songs that communicate the gospel in its entirety with words that are meaningful, true and understandable and music that is easy to grasp, remember and teach.
Interestingly, I’ve sat in church a few times over the last year or so and really grieved the fact that the older people clearly weren’t relating to the very contemporary music that was being sung. They found it hard to get their mouths around some of the words and rhythms, and clearly weren’t able to sing from their hearts (perhaps similar to how I feel when I sing some song book songs!). It makes me think about unity and respect in the Body of Christ/Family of God.
As a side note: my grandmother often reminds me of the comfort she receives when singing the old hymns. It’s something to ponder as we worship together.
I’ve been interested to observe the revival of song book songs which have been set to new arrangements and that sound really good. Two examples coming out of North America are TransMission and The Singing Company. Here in NZ, young people are really attaching themselves to these songs which are not only theologically great, but also remind us of the invigorating and inspiring early Army.
Undoubtedly we need new sources of contemporary music. Many people are going for Chris Tomlin and Matt Redman over Hillsong, Parachute and PlanetShakers. If you haven’t had a look at http://www.saytunes.com I suggest a visit. It takes a while to traul through the music, but it’s (arguably) probably got the best contemporary Salvo music from around the world.
My suggestion would be to do a search for the song writers in your local congregation. They’re there somewhere. I wish the territory would do more to uncover this talent but it’s often the songwriters themselves who hold back. At the corps I was at yesterday a girl in her early-20s sung a song that she had written in the past week. I can still hear the melody and the words in my head – it was powerful. What are we doing to encourage and promote the giftings of our own people in this area?