Oh, how the worm has turned. I remember a time—let’s call it 1985—when certain young music leaders (perhaps like me) could get a little frustrated with the tastes and sentiments of an older musical generation. Couldn’t they see that the rah-rah, British Empire vibe of ‘At the name of Jesus’ belonged to another time? Or that the ponderous, stately hymns of our heritage, with their neatly resolving cadences, and their third-rate Victorian poetry, were just not a suitable musical language for 1980s Australia?
Good point, Keith. (Someone else made a similar point via email.) As the Psalms show us, it's fine to have songs that call on us to sing! But two points to bear in mind: 1) very often, when the Psalms do mentioning singing or praise (not necessarily the same thing), they do at the beginning — and then the rest of the psalm is the content of that celebration and praise (the declaration of what God has done and how we respond). Our songs tend to climax with the singing, as if it all leads to that. As if that is the quintessential act of response. 2) Every second one of our songs is like this, and (I was suggesting) that tells us something about how we view both singing, and the classic response to God.
Yes, that's it. His classic solo album after the Beatles broke up. I almost called this post 'All things must pass'. And the song 'What is life?' referred to in the article is on this album.
When you get opportunity, have a listen to this fascinating podcast from The Gospel Coalition...
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/podcasts/tgc-podcast/how-revivalism-transformed-worship/
Tony, regarding your post-script — wouldn't such a criteria exclude a fair chunk of the psalms?
Good point, Keith. (Someone else made a similar point via email.) As the Psalms show us, it's fine to have songs that call on us to sing! But two points to bear in mind: 1) very often, when the Psalms do mentioning singing or praise (not necessarily the same thing), they do at the beginning — and then the rest of the psalm is the content of that celebration and praise (the declaration of what God has done and how we respond). Our songs tend to climax with the singing, as if it all leads to that. As if that is the quintessential act of response. 2) Every second one of our songs is like this, and (I was suggesting) that tells us something about how we view both singing, and the classic response to God.
Thanks for the interaction.
The picture...George Harrison. I'm thinking..."All things must pass"
Yes, that's it. His classic solo album after the Beatles broke up. I almost called this post 'All things must pass'. And the song 'What is life?' referred to in the article is on this album.