Some are great, some are awful, some are stirring, some are cringeworthy. Some are crushingly tedious, and others stick with you.
All things bright and beautiful: raw interminable tedium.
And can it be: sheer brilliance.
Jesus loves me, this I know: bang your head repeatedly off the back of the pew in front.
So here's a thread for your faves and pet hates. Also, any CCL (Christianity Compatibility Layer) comments welcome - how can atheists sing the good ones without feeling silly?
We need your help here, people!
I find it no problem to sing a song written for a woman. I don't see the need to change all the "him"s to "her"s. Similarly I am happy to sing pieces in Latin, or Italian, neither of which I can speak more than a few words of.
ReplyDeleteIt fits in the same category to me. There are some great Christian hymns that are just great pieces of art, that happen to be about a non-existent world. I think we can be fine singing them.
The best example of this for me is the Welsh rugby team. For reasons that I won't go into, their song is "Bread of Heaven" (Guide me o Thou Great Jehovah), which supporters sing very loudly and proudly at international matches. Without there being any religious context.
Ian, that's a great point. In fact, I find it a bit of a pain when sometimes you hear someone singing the cover and they *do* change the words - I wonder would the same "uncanny valley" kick in if hymns were altered to atheist versions?
ReplyDeleteBut like you say, there is no need - and "Guide me O thou Great Jehovah" is one of my all-time favourites - a really beautiful hymn.
I will also confess to loving Psalm 23, but then who doesn't. Handel's "Messiah" was on Classic FM the other day, and I loved it.
Indeed, I wonder whether this is *the* key ingredient of the "Christianity Compatibility Layer"? I'll do a bit more thinking about that - thanks for stopping by!
Can't say I'm too big on the hymns although I absolutely LOVE African American gospel music. Mahalia Jackson is wonderful! A Christian friend loaned me some of her Mahalia CDs and it was a long time before she saw any of them again!
ReplyDeleteTotally with you there, Jim. Mahalia is awesome. It's like that line from "walking in Memphis" by Mark Cohn: "tell me, are you a Christian, child? I said: Ma'am, I am tonight."
ReplyDeleteShane
ReplyDeleteYou bewilder me at times!
"how can atheists sing the good ones without feeling silly?"
You obviously do. Dare I say that perhaps it is because they mean something, whatever we think that something is.
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - rather good, try the Sufjan Stevens, 'American Melody, Alternative, version. But maybe you're not into that particular style. Dohnny know.
Decide this Doubt for Me/The Contrite Heart - William Cowper - truly awesome. (Not that we're likely to actually sing that one in church.) Too many 'believers' ;-)
Psalm 130 - Psalms of Scotland, Scottish Philharmonic Singers. If you can get it, listen out for the high notes.
Peter
Good man, Peter - Cowper is a winner. I know you sing 'em as if they were true. But then where do you draw the line? Does Jesus *really* want you for a sunbeam? ;-) How many atheists do you reckon you have in your church? Do you think there are any reasonable ways of finding out? We could set up a wee research project...
ReplyDeleteI was at a church service once and a group sang a *Christian* cover of 'Knocking on Heaven's Door' - I didn't think there was anything wrong with the original version. I do like the hymn 'Be Thou My Vision'. Music doesn't have to be specifically *spiritual* to be uplifting - one of my favourite pieces of music is from the Marriage of Figaro - it's the part near the end where the Count and Countess forgive each other. It's a beautiful piece of music, very inspiring.
ReplyDeleteValerie