Religion and Ethics Forum
General Category => Literature, Music, Art & Entertainment => Topic started by: Grace of God on March 21, 2018, 09:13:26 AM
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what's your current or past favourite Christian songs??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcqria2wmg
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcqria2wmg)
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It kind of changes every day....at the moment, though, I'm going back to Don Fransisco..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYmucQyOBuA
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It kind of changes every day....at the moment, though, I'm going back to Don Fransisco..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYmucQyOBuA
Don Francisco is brilliant, went to see him when he Came to Britain, love his story telling talent in songs and he plays a fantastic guitar...
He's alive is amazing...
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Down memory lane....from the first Christian album I bought; "Here with Me" by Sheila Walsh....who, by the way, was born in the next town to mine.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB_KXJ6ILE4
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Getting near Good Friday, so.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKHa6Cm62uI
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Anodyne pap, the lot of 'em.
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Dear Grace,
The oldies are the best!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bvZ76PgFgQ
Onward you Christian soldiers ;)
But then we have the best rendition of the Lord of the Dance I have ever heard!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0aEHw3vKLg
"But I am the dance and I still go on"
Gonnagle.
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I like the Corrs' version of, 'Lord of the Dance', Gonnagle. Ta for that.
Agree with Steven about the others, so sentimental. Never heard of any of them before.
(I thought, on seeing 'You raise me up' in the margins, that it was written by Westlife (liked them)& had no idea it was a religious song!)
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Anodyne pap, the lot of 'em.
Songs and "worship songs", that is. Hymns are another matter - plenty of dross, but also plenty of wonderful stuff. I can be moved to tears by some hymns, but the most worship songs move me to is nausea and despair.
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Incidentally, that Grace of God Yoda in disguise is, the title suggests.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPpd-6X3tEo
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I’m not one but if I was I’d be listening to Iona.
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Regards Christian 'songs' I do like almost everything 'All Sons and Daughters' produce. An example:
Christ Be All Around Me..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmge-ycIkoo
As a hymn, 'Be Thou My Vision'
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
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So, what happened to Grace of God?? They appeared to have joined the forum and posted 41 comments on the same day, and then disappeared. Shame, as I agree with some of his/her views.
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Anodyne pap, the lot of 'em.
That's subjective, Steve.
Whilst I agree that a lot of worship music today is 'pap' the same may be applied to hymnody and classical worship music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Many of the classic hymns are simply bad theology, whist some modern worship hymns, while bang on theologically are bad musically - you pays your money....
But CCM is far more than worship music: as a young Christian (and not so young Christian), I found artists such as Amy Grant, Chuck Gerard, Noel Richard, John Pantry, Petra, Nutshell, Don Francisco and my friends Ian White and Sheila Walsh inspirational, good to listen to, and occasionally, every bit as moving as Bah or Handel - both of whom I love, but were equally guilty of writing Christian 'pap'.
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I’m not one but if I was I’d be listening to Iona.
Yep.
Got all their albums, been to a few of their concerts.
Joanne Hogg and Teryl Bryant (from the early line up) are still my favourite.
Eden's bridge is till reasonably good as well.
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Though about half their tracks are a folk/jazz/rock instrumental, their vocal stuff is pretty good as well. Here's Iona in concert with the All Souls Orchestra; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuethJjSex0
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That's subjective, Steve.
Whilst I agree that a lot of worship music today is 'pap' the same may be applied to hymnody and classical worship music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Many of the classic hymns are simply bad theology, whist some modern worship hymns, while bang on theologically are bad musically - you pays your money....
But CCM is far more than worship music: as a young Christian (and not so young Christian), I found artists such as Amy Grant, Chuck Gerard, Noel Richard, John Pantry, Petra, Nutshell, Don Francisco and my friends Ian White and Sheila Walsh inspirational, good to listen to, and occasionally, every bit as moving as Bah or Handel - both of whom I love, but were equally guilty of writing Christian 'pap'.
Some hymns are anodyne, and a few are dodgy theologically. ALL worship songs are rubbish, because it's a rubbish form in the first place: tediously repetitive, frequently contriving to say nothing at all, completely free of concrete images often, often glutinously sentimental, and frequently appalling theologically - e.g. "Turn your eyes upon Jesus", which is pure Manicheeism. The absolute and utter worst of the lot is "There is a redeemer", which makes me almost wish Melody Green had been on that plane along with her husband. Yes, that's over the top, of course - I'm just letting off steam: a few are just about bearable. None of them, though, can hold a candle to "St Patrick's Breastplate", or "Love Divine", or "And can it be", or "When I survey", or "Lord of the years", or "Had he not loved us", or "Tell out, my soul", or "Calypso carol" or "Lord of the Dance", or....
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyP5_xVg9DQ 'Nuff said.
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Some Kendrick for Good Friday.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oxbYxNPKYw
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Incidentally, that Grace of God Yoda in disguise is, the title suggests.
who is Yoda, apart from the star wars character??
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Dear Grace,
The oldies are the best!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bvZ76PgFgQ
Onward you Christian soldiers ;)
But then we have the best rendition of the Lord of the Dance I have ever heard!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0aEHw3vKLg
"But I am the dance and I still go on"
Gonnagle.
great choices love some of the older stuff...
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Regards Christian 'songs' I do like almost everything 'All Sons and Daughters' produce. An example:
Christ Be All Around Me..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmge-ycIkoo
As a hymn, 'Be Thou My Vision'
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heav’n’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
fantastic choice...
I love the Robin Mark version... there was a fantastic medley they did of Amazing Grace, are you washed in the blood and no not by might, love it..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCXaGxBi_c8
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCXaGxBi_c8)
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Some Kendrick for Good Friday.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oxbYxNPKYw
beautiful...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyP5_xVg9DQ 'Nuff said.
fantastic...
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who is Yoda, apart from the star wars character??
The Star Wars character I meant. Like this he talks. Maybe German he is. They as well do it.
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Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.
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Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.
Some may be, but there are some great hymns which are amongst the most sublime pieces of music written. Hymns are like any other type of music you'll have a fair number of misses, but you will get the occasional brilliant little gem. Your usual critique of God doesn't have any relevance for the purposes of this discussion.
Anyhow the first stanza of the original version is one of my favourites:
Veni, veni Emmanuel!
Captivum solve Israel!
Qui gemit in exilio,
Privatus Dei Filio,
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel
Several English translations followed from this, the most common being Lacey's version in 1906:
O come, O come, Emmanuel!
Redeem thy captive Israel
That into exile drear is gone,
Far from the face of God's dear Son.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
I prefer it sung by only male voices as I find it much more affecting and effective.
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Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.
Agreed on the nineteenth century hymnody - but what's that got to do with modern Christian songs, many of which are not worship songs and whose lyrics are far from sickly sweet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw_RZ6RPL78
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Many hymns are sickly sweet and meaningless, the god featured in Bible is nothing like they claim it to be.
Examples?
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I imagine LR is talking about hymns like this:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.
I give this as an example, but as I have already pointed out, as with any type of music you have to seek out the gems.
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I imagine LR is talking about hymns like this:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.
I give this as an example, but as I have already pointed out, as with any type of music you have to seek out the gems.
Who Put the Colour in the Rainbow. Good grief.
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Examples?
'Gentle Jesus meek and mild', is one which springs to mind. The gospel accounts don't give that impression.
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Who Put the Colour in the Rainbow. Good grief.
I know. How could they get that so wrong? It was obviously Judy. ;)
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I know. How could they get that so wrong? It was obviously Judy. ;)
;D
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'Gentle Jesus meek and mild', is one which springs to mind. The gospel accounts don't give that impression.
Once in Royal David’s City is a bit like that. ‘Christian children all should be/Mild, obedient, good as he.’ The evidence is that as a child he wasn’t obedient at all. That doesn’t make him ‘bad’ - I think it makes him interesting - but the moral lesson that the hymn writer was trying to convince children of is simply false, if the Gospels are to be believed.
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Once in Royal David’s City is a bit like that. ‘Christian children all should be/Mild, obedient, good as he.’ The evidence is that as a child he wasn’t obedient at all. That doesn’t make him ‘bad’ - I think it makes him interesting - but the moral lesson that the hymn writer was trying to convince children of is simply false, if the Gospels are to be believed.
It was written by a Victorian bishop's wife, and you have to allow something for the time she lived in. Once in Royal... has mved me to tears before now.
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I imagine LR is talking about hymns like this:
All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.
Each little flower that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colours,
He made their tiny wings.
I give this as an example, but as I have already pointed out, as with any type of music you have to seek out the gems.
Aaaaaargh!
Agreed, TV - with bells on....especially the non-PC verse which isn't in most hymn books....a bit like the vile fifth verse of the british national anthem.
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'Gentle Jesus meek and mild', is one which springs to mind. The gospel accounts don't give that impression.
Don't faint here - I'm with you...the hymn's cloying, and, like the equally trite drivel "Away in a manger" and too many Victorian efforts, drivel to be ditched.
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It was written by a Victorian bishop's wife, and you have to allow something for the time she lived in. Once in Royal... has mved me to tears before now.
To be fair; I've conducted the Christmas worship more than once....and threatebed to break several of the Ten commandments if the organist ever dared to play that particular hymn.
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Anyhow the first stanza of the original version is one of my favourites:
Veni, veni Emmanuel!
Captivum solve Israel!
Qui gemit in exilio,
Privatus Dei Filio,
Gaude, gaude, Emmanuel
nascetur pro te, Israel
Several English translations followed from this, the most common being Lacey's version in 1906:
O come, O come, Emmanuel!
Redeem thy captive Israel
That into exile drear is gone,
Far from the face of God's dear Son.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel
My all time favourite! I never tire of hearing it.
Another hymn which stirs me is 'Jerusalem' which I know many don't consider to be a hymn or Christian song- I don't care about that. The first time I remember hearing it was when I started at 'big' school, in Assembly. I was profoundly moved by the introduction, never mind the rest of the song.
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I remember a visiting Anglican using this at our Friday Assembly once (in the days before I figured out how to dodge going to it.) The silence when he announced the first hymn as "Jerusalem" was breathtaking....you could hear the fingernails of the pianist hitting the keys at the back of the hall - which seated 400.....
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The Star Wars character I meant. Like this he talks. Maybe German he is. They as well do it.
still not getting what you are going on about..
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still not getting what you are going on about..
"Christian songs your favourite", rather than "Your favourite Christian songs".
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Easter moan time; "When I survey" is a wonderful hymn - no matter to which tune it's sung. Why should nearly every hymnal miss iout the fourth verse, though - the one which starts.. "His dying, crimson like the robe...."? I think the words in that verse are just as relevent as the others.
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Easter moan time; "When I survey" is a wonderful hymn - no matter to which tune it's sung. Why should nearly every hymnal miss iout the fourth verse, though - the one which starts.. "His dying, crimson like the robe...."? I think the words in that verse are just as relevent as the others.
I agree. I believethat that verse wasa left out of hymnals because it offended the squeamish Victorians.
On the other hand, "Amazing Grace" is a not-bad hymn (though not one of my favourites), but nowadays always has the verse beginning "When we've been there ten thousand years" added, which verse was added in the 19th Century - it's not part of Newton's original - , is theologically dubious, has a different rhyme-scheme to all the other verses, contains a trite internal rhyme in line three, and has very little to do thematically with the rest of the hymn.
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Prompted by this thread I decided to look up the final verse of our National Anthem:-
"Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring
May he sedition hush
And like a torrent rush
Rebellious Scots to crush
God save the King"
Not surprised no-one sings that bit nowadays nor why Anchorman is so anti! Dreadful.
Also looked up "All things bright and beautiful". This verse is apparently rarely used because it endorses the class system:-
The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
God made them high and lowly,
And ordered their estate.
Ha ha.
StevenH I too like 'Once in Royal David's City'. Some of the songs people find sickly are liked by children, 'Away in a Manger' being one. Even I liked that when I was a child,I didn't know many Christian songs but that made me think of Christmas.
I've never heard 'Who put the colours in the rainbow'.
I remember a visiting Anglican using this at our Friday Assembly once (in the days before I figured out how to dodge going to it.) The silence when he announced the first hymn as "Jerusalem" was breathtaking....you could hear the fingernails of the pianist hitting the keys at the back of the hall - which seated 400.....
It does have that effect. I am always spellbound by it,feel close to tears at the very mention! I don't care that it's not a 'proper' hymn.
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Er.....no, that's not why the silence was profound. The words "And did those feet in ancient times walk upon ENGLAND's mountains green...." - an Anglican hymn - when 98% of the audience were Scots, might have had something to do with the silence!
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Oh yeah, maybe not a tactful choice :D. If you ever pop down south and come to my parish church I'll make sure 'Five Hundred Miles' is played for you at the end. Not a Christian song but not unChristian.
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still not getting what you are going on about..
Or - what you are going on about I am not getting still?
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Oh yeah, maybe not a tactful choice :D. If you ever pop down south and come to my parish church I'll make sure 'Five Hundred Miles' is played for you at the end. Not a Christian song but not unChristian.
Ah.....but the Proclaimers are both very much commited Christians, and shove at least one Christian song on each of their albums!
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Done deal then.
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The true lyrics for "All Things Bright ands Beautiful"
All things dull and ugly,
All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty,
The Lord God made the lot.
Each little snake that poisons,
Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom.
He made their horrid wings.
All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.
Each nasty little hornet,
Each beastly little squid--
Who made the spikey urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did!
All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all.
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The true lyrics for "All Things Bright ands Beautiful"
:) If only a few more believers would face up to the truth of those words....!
As a church choir member for years, I find, reading through this thread, the words and music popping into my head. Wonderful lmusic at times, but I simply couldn't stomach the words. It is also a pity that humanist writers have not come up with strong and powerful words for the same music.
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Why should humanist stuff come up in connection with Cristian music? A bit like eating a corned beed sarnie without the corned beef or bread.
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The true lyrics for "All Things Bright ands Beautiful"
;D
All Things Dull And Ugly (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPriOQkKd6k)
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The true lyrics for "All Things Bright ands Beautiful"
All things dull and ugly,
All creatures short and squat,
All things rude and nasty,
The Lord God made the lot.
Each little snake that poisons,
Each little wasp that stings,
He made their brutish venom.
He made their horrid wings.
All things sick and cancerous,
All evil great and small,
All things foul and dangerous,
The Lord God made them all.
Each nasty little hornet,
Each beastly little squid--
Who made the spikey urchin?
Who made the sharks? He did!
All things scabbed and ulcerous,
All pox both great and small,
Putrid, foul and gangrenous,
The Lord God made them all.
Yep!
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Vile and unnecessary. Any excuse for a pop.
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Vile and unnecessary. Any excuse for a pop.
I wouldn't put it that strongly, but it's a pity to see a thread which is not suppoed to be polemical descend into the usual attacks from non-believers.
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That's exactly what I thought & don't see the point. The thread title is 'Christian songs your favourite'.
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"All Things Bright and Beautiful" is of course very naive, but it's also rather sweet, and was after all written for children. Many of us have fond memories of singing it as kids, so stop messing with our past!
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I wouldn't put it that strongly, but it's a pity to see a thread which is not suppoed to be polemical descend into the usual attacks from non-believers.
Not all non-believers :)
Despite being one of those terrible atheists types, I have quite a strong liking for religious music of all types with the exception of happy-clappy, dippy-trippy, wishy-washy tambourine type nonsense. Probably to do with studying A level music and singing in the school choir.
As I have probably mentioned before I think Bach's Magnificat is one of the most sublime pieces of choral music written.
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Not all non-believers :)
Despite being one of those terrible atheists types, I have quite a strong liking for religious music of all types with the exception of happy-clappy, dippy-trippy, wishy-washy tambourine type nonsense. Probably to do with studying A level music and singing in the school choir.
As I have probably mentioned before I think Bach's Magnificat is one of the most sublime pieces of choral music written.
I'll go along with everything after the first comma. I detest happy-crappy "worship songs", not only because they are rubbish, but also because they are displacing decent hymns.
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Vile and unnecessary. Any excuse for a pop.
Sorry, doesn't scan.
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I wouldn't put it that strongly, but it's a pity to see a thread which is not suppoed to be polemical descend into the usual attacks from non-believers.
It wasn't meant as an attack but a humorous aside. I note that everybody took it in good humour until Robbie (not a non-believer) had her say.
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Vile and unnecessary. Any excuse for a pop.
No it isn’t. If a creator god makes the good stuff he also makes the bad; no harm in facing that.
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Chris Tomlin is another favourite of mine.
Awake My Soul
Awake, awake, awake my soul
God resurrect these bones
From death to life, through you alone
Awake my soul
Speak to me, word of God, speak to me
Speak to me, word of God, speak to me
I come alive, I’m alive when you speak to me
I come alive, I’m alive when you speak to me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWpvknKuYrg
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Sweetpea: Yes; Tomlin has a git as a worship leader. Mind you, I like much of Stuart Townwend's work...and, dare I say, Kendrick as well? Yes, some of his modern stuff has been sung into the ground, but he has also written some pretty good, thought provoking material over the last fifteen years. I hate to remind myself, but I can rememver the stuff he produced before the likes of "Servant King" and the ubiquitois "Shine Jesus shine"; much of it in a reflective folksy style - material such as "Emmanuel, God is With us", "Why do you weep?" and "Teach me, Lord"... and the closest thing he got to a 'big' sound before "Shine" - the "Battle song".
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Chris Tomlin is another favourite of mine.
Awake My Soul
Awake, awake, awake my soul [repetitive.]
God resurrect these bones
From death to life, through you alone [Doesn't rhyme with "bones".]
Awake my soul
Speak to me, word of God, speak to me
Speak to me, word of God, speak to me
I come alive, I’m alive when you speak to me
I come alive, I’m alive when you speak to me [Very repetitive.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWpvknKuYrg
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I listened, sounds like a lot of other songs to me. After listening I was directed towards this one which is a bit more catchy:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uYiHiJTN6Y
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Moderator:
Some obvious off-topic posts have been removed.
Can I just point out that this isn't the Faith Sharing Area so more latitude is allowed here (such as citing the well-known Monty Python song which parodies a hymn).