Monthly column on hymns and songs

Last month this column made a brave attempt at distinguishing gospel songs, Scripture songs and worship songs. Before we go on, while these labels have some value, they are all misleading if we press them into anything more than a rough and ready guide.

The first fall short of the gospel; the second are not truly Scripture; the third have no more to do with worship than any other item in the service, or for that matter with what you do on Monday morning. The standard length for 'A time of worship' is three score years and ten; see Psalm 90 and Romans 12.

That some older readers scratch their heads and complain, 'But you're talking about choruses!' Many churches still use this word to describe the song spot or time for less formal musical items. It has an older and more varied history, through Greek tragedy, oratorio, opera and all. But the 'Hallelujah Chorus' is noticeably different from the evangelical songs which used to be covered by the word. Again, my dictionary is no help. Christingle, download, football hooligan, are all there; chorus in our sense, no.

You would think that a chorus is a repeated refrain to something else which is written in verses or stanzas. 'O come, let us adore him' springs to mind. That is how this usage began, and many choruses from 'When the saints go marching in' to 'Trust and obey' shed their primary text somewhere along the line. Many of them lost their verses when they arrived in 'CSSM Choruses' (later 'Scripture Union Choruses'), 'Youth Choruses', 'Elim Choruses' and the like. Many who sing them are surprised to discover there is more to 'O the love that drew salvation's plan' than the snippets they learned at Sunday School.

Quote of the year

Here I pass on a comment which deserves an entry in some 'Quote of the Year' selection. The younger conference members asked if the traditional diet could be supplemented by some choruses. 'Show me a good chorus', replied the leader, 'and we'll sing it'. Leaving aside the assumptions behind that refusal (for such it was), it ranks as a classic 'Heads I win, tails you lose' trick. What reply would be both courteous and appropriate?

You could list, off the cuff, a dozen 'choruses' which are biblical, singable, and sensible. But you know that anyone who wanted to could pick holes in any of them. The same mindset would have problems with most of the Psalms, let alone the Lord's Prayer.

You could apply the same logic to hymns, sermons and prayers. 'Show us a good metrical Psalm', you could say, 'and we'll sing it'. Or, in the unlikely event of this conversation ever repeating itself, you could try: 'To give that answer with its implied critical judgement, you must have considered quite a lot of choruses. Which ones do you think come nearest to being acceptable? What are the best qualities in those you pick out?' If that produces no response, call his bluff. (It will be a 'him'.) Say, 'Show me a perfect Bible translation, and I'll use it'.

Maybe it is time after all to drop the word, or keep it for its many other uses, including 'refrain'. Another word may come along soon, and we shall know what we are talking about. Maybe.

Meanwhile we left out one vital category of song. Folk songs have given much to our sung praise over the centuries. But what are they? I leave you with a Thought for the Month from the late great Louis Armstrong. 'They're all folk songs', said Satchmo; 'I ain't never heard a horse sing'.

Christopher Idle

© Evangelicals Now - February 2003
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