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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Fuck off, popular Christian music
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
Okay, that's maybe over the top. But I found myself saying (well, shouting) that at the radio on my way home when some bloody song came on that said straight out "You're standing strong / nothing's gonna come along / that you can't handle" or some shit like that. While I've just been told my sister's cancer is .... um.
And before you jump on me for my listening choices, I was on that station at the request of my musician son, who wants to know my opinion on why all Christian pop sounds the same and what could be done to improve it.
My question is a bit different. I want to know if there is anything like a biblical lament in modern Christian pop, or is it all this "you're so victorious" shit with occasional excursions into "God pulls me up when I'm feeling down."
I would like something singable to growl at God occasionally.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Commission one from your musical son. Suggest he peruse the more desperate psalms for inspiration.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
Years ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine (highly intelligent guy from a fairly conservative Reform tradition) about this topic. I argued that this pop-Christian music style was a completely misbegotten project because: (a) Christianity has a paradoxical nature that isn't easily distilled; (b) good hymns, being unable to embrace the complexities of Christianity, do the next best thing by making a good argument for one aspect of it; (c) pop Christian music stems off from pop music, a diluted rock and roll, which by its nature is rebellious, rude, exuberant; (d) the dilution affects the content of the pop Christian - to be "Christian" requires dilution of the rebellious, sexy, exuberance of rock and roll, but it also can't embrace the more difficult aspects of Christianity - it has to be "sunny". The result is a mutual neutering of the the form (rock) and the content (Christianity). It's the musical equivalent of a suburban subdivision: a bland sameness, offensive in its sameness, incapable of conveying meaning or identity. In Animal House fashion, Christ would break a guitar against the wall. [shrug] "Sorry."
Should I clarify my position?
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
@Pangolin
While I'm not sure how sincerely devout they ever really were, I think the Violent Femmes in their "Christian" phase made an interesting stab at addressing some of the "paradoxical" aspects of Christian belief that you reference.
Jesus Walking On The Water
I like that the narrator asks "What if it was true?", thus situating himself as a non-believer nonethelss compelled to consider the possible truth of the Christian story.
Also, the song has the death and Resurrection front and centre, rather than focusing on the more easy-to-digest aspects of Jesus' story(eg. "Isn't it nice that he loved the little children?").
And I thought that Country Death Song by the same band was a nice re-working of the Kierkegaardian reading of Abraham and Isaac, except that the narrator renounces his actions at the end.
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I have the power...Lucifer is lord!
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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hatless
Shipmate
# 3365
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Posted
I agree with Pangolin Guerre's comments.
But try some spirituals. Steal Away, Nobody Knows, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, It's Me O Lord, and sing them slowly. I love the nobility and power of many spirituals.
I grew up amongst traditional hymns, and I've tried very hard to overcome my musical allergy to contemporary worship songs, but it doesn't get any easier. They seem to express a desire to be on the winning side. I just don't believe in them. They seem immediately falsified by remembering the reality of human life for ten seconds.
I could cope with one or two, but the normal usage is to sing three or four of them with much repetition over a thirty or forty minute period, and that starts to feel like manipulation.
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My crazy theology in novel form
Posts: 4531 | From: Stinkers | Registered: Sep 2002
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
But try some spirituals. Steal Away, Nobody Knows, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, It's Me O Lord, and sing them slowly. I love the nobility and power of many spirituals.
I'm not sure I see the religious content in Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child. From my recollection of hearing the song, it does fit the musical requirements of a spiritual, but the lyrcis just seem like a general lamentation.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
Because it is styled around 1970s soft rock. Because that was when the genre emerged, and it hasn't evolved since.
And it was pretty crap at the time.
People listen to Popular Christian Music because they want to be made to feel good about their faith (while on the way to a Cross Burning or Lynching, probably). It serves that purpose. TBH, some popular contemporary chart music is equally dire (I listened to a lot because they had traffic news for my work journeys).
Personally, if I want music that inspires or interacts with my faith, I will turn to Radiohead or some dark, heavy rock. But that is me, and others will not find that uplifting.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
I don't think it is fair to associate Contemporary Christian Music with the KKK.
It's supposed to be uplifting, the problem is that all of us stuck in the fat-trap that is this website are so jaded that it just sounds like nails travelling down a blackboard.
Yeah, I can't stand it either.
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arse
Posts: 10697 | Registered: Sep 2002
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hatless
Shipmate
# 3365
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Stetson:
quote:
But try some spirituals. Steal Away, Nobody Knows, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, It's Me O Lord, and sing them slowly. I love the nobility and power of many spirituals.
I'm not sure I see the religious content in Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child. From my recollection of hearing the song, it does fit the musical requirements of a spiritual, but the lyrcis just seem like a general lamentation.
Yes, it's a lamentation. Whether it's sufficiently religious might depend on who is singing it and why.
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My crazy theology in novel form
Posts: 4531 | From: Stinkers | Registered: Sep 2002
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simontoad
Ship's Amphibian
# 18096
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Posted
I'm sorry about your sister's battle with cancer. ![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif)
Get your son involved in folk music. It's the wave of the future, and you can listen to it without wanting to commit hari kari.
I know a congregation started by some serbian pentecostals that uses what you would call Christian popular music. The youf take turns playing the music and singing. Boys generally play the music, girls usually sing, but I don't think that's a rule. The thing is that the congregation itself harmonise so well that the lyric "Jesus is my one true boyfriend" becomes truly beautiful. The music serves an evangelical purpose directed to the performers out the front and their friends, but the congregation turns it into something wonderful, dedicated to God.
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Human
Posts: 1571 | From: Romsey, Vic, AU | Registered: May 2014
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
LC: quote:
And before you jump on me for my listening choices, I was on that station at the request of my musician son, who wants to know my opinion on why all Christian pop sounds the same and what could be done to improve it.
Answer to the first question: because the people who do it aren't good enough and/or original enough to make it in mainstream culture?
This is not just a problem with music, but with literature, film, TV produced for "Christians". There are good creative artists who happen to be Christian around, but their work is accepted as mainstream. Paul Cornell, for example - OK, maybe he's not such a good example, opinion is divided on what he's done to Doctor Who... but you can't deny that he's well-known.
Answer to the second question: maybe the people who actually like Christian pop music don't want it to change. Maybe they use it to hide the cognitive dissonance between how they think the world ought to be and how it actually is? *Should* we be jumping on them for their listening choices - forcing them to listen to plainsong or The Messiah (insert your own favourites here) instead?
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
It's important to distinguish between contemporary Cristian recording artists-- writing songs for concerts and radio listeners-- and contemporary worship leaders who write songs for congregations to actually sing. The two are quite dissimilar
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
cliffdweller: quote:
It's important to distinguish between contemporary Christian recording artists-- writing songs for concerts and radio listeners-- and contemporary worship leaders who write songs for congregations to actually sing.
I was assuming Lamb Chopped was talking about the former, since the OP referred to a radio programme.
Yes, there is a difference between songs intended to be performed by a soloist or small group of singers and songs intended for congregational singing. However, some leaders use songs for concerts/radio listeners in services - the worship band performs them while the congregation meditate, or whatever. So the line between songs for worship/songs for listening to is blurred.
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Erroneous Monk
Shipmate
# 10858
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Posted
Blessed be your name? (Matt Redman)
Blessed be Your name on the road marked with suffering
When there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your name.
Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say
"Blessed be the name of the Lord"
However I would understand if even that was too upbeat, and you want to curse instead.
((LC))
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And I shot a man in Tesco, just to watch him die.
Posts: 2950 | From: I cannot tell you, for you are not a friar | Registered: Jan 2006
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
Lament and sadness are not usually emotions associated with CCM, I think because it is so close to charismatic forms of worship which seem to deny that bad things happen or that we should ever feel sad about anything.
I'm fairly sure my mother has arranged (in her mind if nowhere else) some kind of "celebration" service for her funeral. I can't think of anything worse, and there is zero chance I would attend or arrange it.
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arse
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Stetson
Shipmate
# 9597
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Posted
quote:
I don't think it is fair to associate Contemporary Christian Music with the KKK.
I suppose you could link it with conservative politics generally, at least in the sense that there is often an overlap between the two tendencies.
But yeah. To say that people who listen to it are probably going to a KKK rally is a little like saying people who listen to left-wing folk-music are likely heading to a meeting in defense of the Stalinist show trials.
Posts: 6574 | From: back and forth between bible belts | Registered: Jun 2005
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
Blimey, that's dark ...
The Redmann song, is, of course unusual in that particular genre.
My wife has cancer. She's still pretty 'low-church' and doesn't like bells and smells, but she says she never, ever wants to attend a happy-clappy style service ever again.
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Jolly Jape
Shipmate
# 3296
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Posted
I think Amy Grant's Better Than A Hallelujah pretty much hits the spot.
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To those who have never seen the flow and ebb of God's grace in their lives, it means nothing. To those who have seen it, even fleetingly, even only once - it is life itself. (Adeodatus)
Posts: 3011 | From: A village of gardens | Registered: Sep 2002
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DaleMaily
Apprentice
# 18725
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jane R:
This is not just a problem with music, but with literature, film, TV produced for "Christians". There are good creative artists who happen to be Christian around, but their work is accepted as mainstream.
Yep, I get that. One thing I love about the music I like (particularly hip hop) is the ambiguity of the use of metaphor, where the listener can draw their own conclusions and inspiration from what they're listening to, whereas a lot of "Christian music" (as opposed to "music by Christians) tends to remove that complexity, rendering it rather more simplistic.
There are plenty of songs by artists that are (or at least used to be) Christian, but who you would just describe as musicians, not "Christian musicians". Pigeon John (e.g. Passion, Life Goes On and Deception) is one such example, and I liked him before I was a Christian, because he's good, but it's been really interesting to re-listen to a lot of the music I like since becoming a Christian and taking a Christian slant from them. Like Rob Bell said, Christian is a great noun, but isn't necessarily a great adjective.
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The more I get to know the less I find that I understand.
Posts: 48 | From: London | Registered: Jan 2017
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goperryrevs
Shipmtae
# 13504
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jolly Jape:
I think Amy Grant's Better Than A Hallelujah pretty much hits the spot.
Along with most things by Rich Mullins.
I broadly agree with LC's rant, but there are still a few pearls hidden in the crap.
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"Keep your eye on the donut, not on the hole." - David Lynch
Posts: 2098 | From: Midlands | Registered: Mar 2008
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Karl: Liberal Backslider
Shipmate
# 76
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Posted
I stood in the hall of triumph and gladly sang its song.
They threw me out when I changed to 'How long, O Lord, how long?' (C) Me.
'twas ever thus.
I used to like Christian Metal. But for one thing you're fishing for new artists in a pretty small pond, and one where the fish aren't selected for quality, but having the right colour scales. Then I just moved too far theologically and experientially from where most of the lyrics come from, and didn't even bother digitising my Stryper vinyl.
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Might as well ask the bloody cat.
Posts: 17938 | From: Chesterfield | Registered: May 2001
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by DaleMaily:
whereas a lot of "Christian music" (as opposed to "music by Christians) tends to remove that complexity, rendering it rather more simplistic.
Challenge. It also removes any challenge. 'Jesus makes me happy' is essentially the theme of the bulk of contemporary Christian music. Anything edgier, either in style or content, tends to find less traction. That, and the incredibly low bar for acceptance makes most of it execrable.
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
(c) pop Christian music stems off from pop music, a diluted rock and roll, which by its nature is rebellious, rude, exuberant;
One of the things pop music dilutes is rebellion. I would argue that it eliminates rebellion in most cases. One of the major significances of the Beatles is that they wrote pop music with content. It is significant because of its general absence from the genre.
Contemporary Christianity, in general, isn't about challenge and rebellion, so why should its music be?
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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Jane R
Shipmate
# 331
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Posted
Indeed. Much of it sounds like advertising jingles to me (Jesus Saves! Washes Your Sins Whiter than White!).
Christianity not about challenge and rebellion? Maybe not in the US, but in parts of the UK it can be. And you shouldn't confuse what church leaders officially say with what ordinary pew-sitters believe and do.
[ 04. May 2017, 12:36: Message edited by: Jane R ]
Posts: 3958 | From: Jorvik | Registered: May 2001
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Hilda of Whitby
Shipmate
# 7341
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Posted
I have thought for a long time that Bargain by the Who is a damn good spiritual/religious song hiding in plain sight.
The Seeker too, but I think Bargain is the superior song.
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"Born with the gift of laughter and a sense that the world is mad."
Posts: 412 | From: Nickel City | Registered: Jun 2004
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Pangolin Guerre
Shipmate
# 18686
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
quote:
Originally posted by Pangolin Guerre:
(c) pop Christian music stems off from pop music, a diluted rock and roll, which by its nature is rebellious, rude, exuberant;
One of the things pop music dilutes is rebellion. I would argue that it eliminates rebellion in most cases. One of the major significances of the Beatles is that they wrote pop music with content. It is significant because of its general absence from the genre.
Contemporary Christianity, in general, isn't about challenge and rebellion, so why should its music be?
Well, to clarify, I was saying that rnr is rebellious, not pop.
As to your comment about contemporary Christianity, I disagree, but acknowledge that my process of self-selection and blind luck has isolated me from what you describe. The previous dean of the Cathedral I attend was an intellectually engaged, bracing preacher. The current one is very much concerned with social justice. My local neighbourhood shack has a priest who does not shy away from the tougher bits of Christianity, and said shack recently had the honour of hosting Right Rev Mark MacDonald as guest officiant and preacher, who gave a superb homily on Christ, Thomas, and the reconciliation between Canada, the First Nations, and the Inuit. So my Sunday morning experience is not so much being petted, but getting slapped around a bit.
As to the above mentioned Serbian evangelicals singing something about "Jesus is my one true boyfriend," I cannot think of anything more odious. Any description of an individual human's relationship with Christ as friendship is so flawed a metaphor that it leads to multiple dead ends. The incarnate insertion of God into human history is not my friend, but something much greater, and the relationship with that has very little in common with the economy of a friendship. Friendship, on some level, requires a reciprocity, and I think that I can safely assure you that Jesus does not need me, but I him: that he will nonetheless bestow his gifts is Grace. The example of Jesus as boyfriend is the perfect example of the infantile woolliness of most CCM.
Posts: 758 | From: 30 arpents de neige | Registered: Nov 2016
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cliffdweller
Shipmate
# 13338
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
Lament and sadness are not usually emotions associated with CCM, I think because it is so close to charismatic forms of worship which seem to deny that bad things happen or that we should ever feel sad about anything.
I'm fairly sure my mother has arranged (in her mind if nowhere else) some kind of "celebration" service for her funeral. I can't think of anything worse, and there is zero chance I would attend or arrange it.
But there aren't very many traditional hymns that focus on lament either. I agree its a huge gap -- especially compared to the richness of the psalms. But it isn't a problem invented by contemporary music
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"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid." -Frederick Buechner
Posts: 11242 | From: a small canyon overlooking the city | Registered: Jan 2008
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
They moaned at Isaac Watts' hymns too:
What's all this so-called 18th Century contemporary Jesus is my beloved crap?
Far too moderm, stick with the Palms.
I don't like modern worship simply because I detest U2 and Coldplay - and most of it sounds like that!
We shouldn't really allow our taste in music to despise a whole genre of worship style.
And by the way, to the outsider, all hymns sound the same anyway. What a dirge they all are.
By the way, I'm b=very sorry for your family situation.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Mudfrog
Shipmate
# 8116
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Posted
They moaned at Isaac Watts' hymns too:
What's all this so-called 18th Century contemporary Jesus is my beloved crap?
Far too moderm, stick with the Palms.
I don't like modern worship simply because I detest U2 and Coldplay - and most of it sounds like that!
We shouldn't really allow our taste in music to despise a whole genre of worship style.
And by the way, to the outsider, all hymns sound the same anyway. What a dirge they all are.
By the way, I'm b=very sorry for your family situation.
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"The point of having an open mind, like having an open mouth, is to close it on something solid."
G.K. Chesterton
Posts: 8237 | From: North Yorkshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2004
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Gamaliel
Shipmate
# 812
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Posted
At least Watts has some merit as poetry. Yes, it's relatively simple, but just try writing as simply as that ...
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Let us with a gladsome mind
Praise the Lord for He is kind.
http://philthebard.blogspot.com
Posts: 15997 | From: Cheshire, UK | Registered: Jul 2001
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Ethne Alba
Shipmate
# 5804
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Posted
Lamb Chopped....i've taken to actually just not singing some stuff right now, as i am another who would value the opportunity to occasionally growl at God.
Posts: 3126 | Registered: Apr 2004
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lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
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Posted
Pangolin Guerre:
Christians can be challenging,* groups of Christians can challenge; but Christianity is mainstream, institutional and establishment.
This is a tangent best for another thread, though.
*In every sense of the word. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
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no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
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Posted
Shouldn't good Christian music be of the sort that you can sing with your friends while eating and drinking, and walking around? It should be at least that intellectual don't you think? Which is why the stuff that wants to stir emotions as it's only aim annoys me. But probably this is what sells. I figured this out in the days when Bette Midler (great last name in this context!) sang I Can Feel The Wind Beneath My Wings, which we thought should read "Between My Cheeks".
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Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
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Helen-Eva
Shipmate
# 15025
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ethne Alba:
Lamb Chopped....i've taken to actually just not singing some stuff right now, as i am another who would value the opportunity to occasionally growl at God.
There is a lot of really good vicious stuff in the psalms that relieves my feelings (slightly). The bits about vengeance chiefly. Also, if one is prepared to go classical, there are some mass settings where in the Kyrie you can almost feel the flames of hell licking round your ankles - Vierne Messe Solenelle is a good example.
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I thought the radio 3 announcer said "Weber" but it turned out to be Webern. Story of my life.
Posts: 637 | From: London, hopefully in a theatre or concert hall, more likely at work | Registered: Aug 2009
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
"Dies Irae" anyone? Mozart and Verde are particularly good.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
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Posted
It seems to me that the yippee skippy CCM on the radio is a reflection of the yippee skippy gospel being preached from far too many a pulpit. It's the theme music of the prosperity gospel.
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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
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jedijudy
Organist of the Jedi Temple
# 333
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Posted
My choice in worship music is very traditional, however, in a pretty dark time of my life, my song du jour tended to be Breathe. Of course, it's probably not considered popular Christian music now! It might be too ancient for that.
The song definitely doesn't have the gravitas of And Can It Be or Spirit of God, Descend upon My Heart, and it's definitely a song of repetition, but sometimes when I need a mournful song and can't string a complete sentence together, all that comes out is, "this is the air I breathe".
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Jasmine, little cat with a big heart.
Posts: 18017 | From: 'Twixt the 'Glades and the Gulf | Registered: Aug 2001
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Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mr cheesy:
I don't think it is fair to associate Contemporary Christian Music with the KKK.
It's supposed to be uplifting, the problem is that all of us stuck in the fat-trap that is this website are so jaded that it just sounds like nails travelling down a blackboard.
Yeah, I can't stand it either.
It is too far, but done for emphasis.
The problem is that I wouldn't listen to this style anyway. I prefer a different style of music.
Some people seem to feel that only "Christian" music is appropriate for Christians to listen to.
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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
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L'organist
Shipmate
# 17338
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Posted
I think you're talking about Worship Songs - is that right? IME they largely fit into the "Country-Rock" slot, and while country music may have its devotees I suspect they're less numerous in the UK than across the pond.
In the UK the same soft-rock/country fusion also seems to be one of the two most prevalent modes for people producing worship songs, the other being the Kendrick school.
The kind of modern "Christian" music I tend to listen to is by people like James MacMillan, Roxanna Panufnik, etc, etc, etc: it could be described as "popular" but only within a certain set of people.
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Rara temporum felicitate ubi sentire quae velis et quae sentias dicere licet
Posts: 4950 | From: somewhere in England... | Registered: Sep 2012
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St. Gwladys
Shipmate
# 14504
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Posted
Erroneous Monk, I was going to suggest "Blessed be the name of the Lord" but you beat me to it.
It's not always an easy chorus to sing - in fact, it's a bl**dy difficult one for me to sing, but I know it's true.
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"I say - are you a matelot?"
"Careful what you say sir, we're on board ship here"
From "New York Girls", Steeleye Span, Commoners Crown (Voiced by Peter Sellers)
Posts: 3333 | From: Rhymney Valley, South Wales | Registered: Jan 2009
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Jay-Emm
Shipmate
# 11411
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Posted
You've got a number of Kendrick ones that are, sort of, corporate laments as well.
They don't really fit your situation and they aren't pop.
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Lamb Chopped, I'm really sorry to hear about your sister's diagnosis.
Going back to your OP, isn't there's a difference here between songs to be sung corporately in a service, and songs that where the musician(s) are vicariously singing for us individually?
A lot of what is put out on Christian channels and CDs is hopelessly unsuitable for corporate use. That means it has to be justified as being designed to express our personal freight for us. So if it doesn't even try to express,
"Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines", or
"why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?",
then the entire industry is collectively defaulting both on the faithful and the God it claims to serve.
How old is your son now? Could it be his calling to change this?
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Brexit wrexit - Sir Graham Watson
Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008
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mr cheesy
Shipmate
# 3330
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by L'organist:
I think you're talking about Worship Songs - is that right? IME they largely fit into the "Country-Rock" slot, and while country music may have its devotees I suspect they're less numerous in the UK than across the pond.
No, not really. We're talking about Christian Contemporary Music, which is a genre of music with Christian themes as you might find on Christian music channels - like UCB or Premier in the UK.
Those radio channels certainly play "Worship Songs" as well, but the really soppy stuff isn't those.
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arse
Posts: 10697 | Registered: Sep 2002
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Philip Charles
Ship's cutler
# 618
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Posted
[url= https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon's_law]Sturgeon's Law[/url] applies to CCM. Discernment needed.
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There are 10 kinds of people. Those who understand binary and those who don't.
Posts: 89 | From: Dunedin, NZ | Registered: Jun 2001
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Lamb Chopped
Ship's kebab
# 5528
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Posted
I'd be happy to find a popular song (specific genre doesn't matter) that one might hear on the radio and that could be classed as a lament (by a faithful Christian--pissed off is fine, atheistic is not). Preferably several, for various occasions.
My son is nearly 16.
Besides the content complaint, I'm bugged by the fact that most of the songs I've heard appear to be muddy in their sound--as if they'd been badly recorded. It's as if there were a central roar in the music and various melody lines, vocal phrases, etc. may pop into distinct notice every so often, but there's this muddy roar like the tide behind them always that murkifies the individual instruments, voices, etc. when they aren't at top volume. I turned to a couple of other non-Christian stations and they weren't showing this problem, so I conclude the trouble is not with my ears.
I'd also like to know why 80% of the songs appear to be sung by the same (male) vocalist. The songs are credited to different names, but it's like the old romance covers where no matter who the protagonist was supposed to be, it was always the same bloody cover model with deeply improbable hair and pecs.
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Er, this is what I've been up to (book).
Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!
Posts: 20059 | From: off in left field somewhere | Registered: Feb 2004
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Athrawes
Ship's parrot
# 9594
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Posted
Not exactly contemporary, up Bryan Duncan's "Don't Look Away" might be closer to what you want. I'm at work, so I can't post a link.
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Explaining why is going to need a moment, since along the way we must take in the Ancient Greeks, the study of birds, witchcraft, 19thC Vaudeville and the history of baseball. Michael Quinion.
Posts: 2966 | From: somewhere with a book shop | Registered: Jun 2005
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
"Dust in the Wind" by Kansas? Very Ecclesiastes-like. quote:
I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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Lyda*Rose
Ship's broken porthole
# 4544
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Posted
Or "I Wanna Be Sedated". The Ramones are great, but you haven't heard it until you've heard the cover by Young@Heart.
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"Dear God, whose name I do not know - thank you for my life. I forgot how BIG... thank you. Thank you for my life." ~from Joe Vs the Volcano
Posts: 21377 | From: CA | Registered: May 2003
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