I am no participant, if I can avoid it, in the worship (music) wars; given the choice, I would see both ancient and modern instruments, genre, and such in music--to the point where I would assert that a great arrangement for Isaac Watts could well be a
heavy metal ballad. Nay, I go further; at a certain point, I would argue that
Chickenfoot might do better than a lot of church organists and worship teams, and not just because of the obvious skill of Anthony and Satriani. Listening to the poem has a lot to do with the message, and those guys know how to listen to the poem and express it well.
Along those lines, there are some modern, and some ancient, songs where people have just forgotten the point where a song is a poem with a tune--somehow mumbling is good enough for them. So in their
dishonor, here's a little ditty. (with apologies to Elton Roth)
I have a song that someone gave me
It was sent from who knows where
and it's a good thing it was sent for free
for for a tune they did not care, cause
....in that song there is no melody
there is no melody, and not a harmony
in that song there is no melody,
there is no melody to sing...
I love to "serve" upon the praise team
it's so fun to stand up there
but every one below just wants to scream
that the tune they cannot bear, for
...in that song there is no melody
there is no melody, and not a harmony
In that song there is no melody
there is no melody to sing
I'll spare you the excruciation of a third verse, and my daughter notes that the namesake hymn (In my heart there rings a melody) doesn't have very good harmonies. But that said, those who would obey Scripture and bring a new song into worship need to remember that if the tune doesn't lend itself to singing, neither does it lend itself to memory and teaching. And here's
something for fun.
