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Monthly column on hymns and songs

Going for a song

By definition, dictionaries are always playing catch-up. Sometimes they take it slowly, sometimes fast, but they are always a yard or two off the pace. They are for ever recording what people have already meant by the words they speak and write. They can never say, 'From now on, this is what you must mean by using this word'.

So we cannot always expect them to know what Christians are talking about. Especially when we hardly know ourselves. These deep thoughts are stirred by the way we use the language of songs.

What, for instance, is or was a Gospel song? They have been around for a century or so. My 1995 Dictionary has not discovered them yet, though it does recognise 'Gospel Music'. Let me try some descriptions which may fall an inch or two short of definitions, but may help to fill the 'Letters' page for a couple of months.
Gospel songs began in America. They are heartfelt, personal, and usually consist of two or more stanzas with a quickly learned refrain. They rarely switch tunes; words and music go together. The rhythm is strong, the chords basic, the melody easy to pick up. You don't need (though you often get) a choir or group to help you. They are not difficult to write, but because there are so many of them, a lot will never make it.

They will be centred on Jesus, what he has done for me, notably in salvation, and what he means to me. Many of the same phrases pop up in different songs. At their worst, they are superficial and derivative jingles which trivialise the very gospel they aim to commend; at their best, they reach the hearts of ordinary people with what they need to hear most.

So where do Scripture songs fit in? They must be actual Bible words set to music. So the tune has to wrap itself around the text, which is primary and will not fall neatly into rhyming stanzas. The first Scripture Songs were from the 1611 AV (King James) Bible, but now they come from any conservative version. The non-conservative ones are unlikely to be used by those who want to sing the songs. Again, there are good and bad.

At its worst, a Scripture song picks a sentence already well-known and wrenches it from its context. We are not truly hearing God's word at all, but extracting a fragment that (we think) suits us. We stay in the comfort-zone and ignore the warnings. At its best, it will help to plant the word in our hearts in a painless, memorable way.

So we get to Worship songs. I've now given up on my dictionary. If I say '1970s' someone will prove me wrong, but the term is newer than the first two, and wider than either. The religious far right will reject them as mere entertainment, though some are positively soporific. The length and style are variable, though many are regarded as incomplete unless you sing them twice. See this column, passim; another danger of doubling up is that it encourages sloppy writing, since the music group can make almost anything sound 'worshipful' - to use a common rubric. You only have to glance at the words to see that many are music-driven. At their best, their freshness and flexibility balance the formality of foursquare hymns, and if they avoid repeating what a hundred others have already said, they can show sparks of original, imaginative creativity while staying faithful to Scripture.

How are we doing so far? And what about Choruses? Watch this space.

Christopher Idle