Comments on: Give Me the Old Songs. And the New Ones

By: jc

jc — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 04:37:00 +0000

Hello everyone. Please tell me what are your favorite modern hymns. I can think of a few right now:
Wonderful, Merciful Savior
How Deep the Father’s Love for Us

Please add to the list.

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By: Heather A

Heather A — Sat, 21 May 2005 17:13:00 +0000

At the risk of sounding redundant, I have to add my agreement to d) all of the above. I love the contemporary praise music; but some of it seems very shallow and over-repititive. I also have recently fallen back in love with the older hymns. They help connect me to my Chrisitan heritage, across the denominations. I attended a women’s retreat with First Methodist about a month ago, and the most meaningful songs we sang that day were “Peace Like a River” and “Holy, Holy, Holy”. Singing those two songs with my lilting soprano blending with the rich alto of my “spiritual mom” beside me was the most precious time of the retreat for me. Singing those old hymns to the instrumental accompaniment with my fellow Christian sisters reminded me that these songs connect all of us together as Christians. My forerunners in the faith, Church of Christ, Baptists, Methodists, they all grew up singing those old hymns, and I think they will be a uniting bridge for us for years to come.

Thanks for this great post, Mike.

By: Keith Brenton

Keith Brenton — Sat, 21 May 2005 12:35:00 +0000

A thought I had a few days ago when I read this post, but didn’t have time to leave a comment:

At one point or another, every song is new.

I blogged about Hard-to-Sing Hymns in March - and they are still of concern to me. The folks who’ve posted comments have added to the list of songs we should really reconsider.

By: Larry

Larry — Thu, 19 May 2005 22:55:00 +0000

Kay and I sat on the 2nd row at Southern Hills church in San Antonio while Fernando sang and played the piano while being accompanied by a cello.

It was Good Friday evening 2-3 years ago. His “Home” cd might be my favorite.

Give me Jesus.

By: Alice

Alice — Thu, 19 May 2005 19:05:00 +0000

now, Brandon, I know you read this blog…

By: Deb

Deb — Thu, 19 May 2005 12:47:00 +0000

Okay, this might throw a spanner in the works, but here goes …

Does anyone out there miss:
1. The wonderful tactile feeling of actually holding a Hymn Book in your hands?
2. Turning the pages as fast as you can as soon as Brother Song Leader mentioned the name of the hymn to be sung?
3. Knowing the page number in the Hymn Book when the title is mentioned?
4. The smells you got from the hymnal when you were fanning the pages as you were hurrying to find hymn to be sung?
5. Being so glad to have the notes on the page in front of you, because it was fun practising how to sight-read music? (Great for helping young musicians grow in their musical talents.)
6. Wondering whom all from the ‘olden days’ might have used that very hymnal you were holding?
7. Focusing at the names of the God-gifted composers and lyricists who blessed us during the worships whenever we sang their songs? Who were these saints?
8. Wondering (perhaps during a sermon that was either boring or one you were not old enough yet to comprehend) what events inspired these composers/lyricists to produce their musical offering(s) during the times they lived?
9. Checking out all the resources in the back of the hymnal, including the scripture references and hymn suggestions for special times of the church year?
10. Holding a hymnal today?

I remember how sad I was the first time, several years ago now, when I mentioned ‘hymnal’ to my students and they just stared back at me, blankly. A lot of the above points were integral to my life in church worship as a child. The hymnbooks, I guess, aided greatly some of my learning styles. Many children today still have these learning styles, but they are not being addressed.

Now, at my age, when disease in my knees makes it difficult to stand to sing, I feel lost when I can’t look through others standing to see the words on the screens. In our churches, the hymnals have been removed for cheaper books that only contain the hymn texts, with no notes to read. (The senior discount card is still a good distance away from me, although I have been shocked to be contacted by the AARP!)

I relate to many of the other comments. But I was just wondering if any of you remember how blessed we were to grow up with a hymnal that had all the neat bits right there at our fingertips?

Blessings!

By: MarkS

MarkS — Thu, 19 May 2005 11:27:00 +0000

I’m still trying to get Ryan to learn “Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life”. I also love “When all thy Mercies.”

By: JD

JD — Thu, 19 May 2005 10:43:00 +0000

One thing is for sure … song selection is an emotional talking point. Everyone has a different idea about the atmosphere and feeling the songs create. I’m grateful for new ways of expressing ancient ideas. The growing trend is a return to the older songs, though. David Crowder Band last year released a CD of old hymns… including the ‘ebenezer’ song someone mentioned. That song is one I’ve heard lots of people make fun of. I read the background of that song and then looked at the words again. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing is an amazing song. But you don’t have to like it… and that’s the blessing of the songs … there’s one for your heart. God will see to that.

By: Gem

Gem — Thu, 19 May 2005 01:58:00 +0000

Whenever we have the old vs new song discussion at our congregation, I often wonder if the churches of 50 - 100 years ago were having this discussion about some of the very songs we’re discussing. How many were saying “I love these new Fanny Crosby songs, but we shouldn’t get all caught up in these new faddish songs. What’s wrong with Old 100th or Ode to Joy?”

It’s all in your perspective, I guess.

By: Jared Cramer

Jared Cramer — Thu, 19 May 2005 01:21:00 +0000

Hey Mike,

I also love the old hymns. Though I have many CD’s of contemporary praise (Zoe Group, Acappella, etc), I haven’t been able to find many recordings of acappella hymns (not that I have anything against instruments, I just like the acappella hymns). Anyways, I found this site tonight and have spent the past hour and a half listening to it, so I thought I would pass it along to your readers. It’s from the Kleinwood Church of Christ in Spring, TX:

http://www.kleinwood.com/mp3_downloads.html

By: saa

saa — Thu, 19 May 2005 00:59:00 +0000

i grew up in the churches of christ but hooked up with the anglicans… even so, ‘great songs of the church’ follows me everywhere. that is, it’s a permanent part of my library. i pull it out from time to time & sing. the a capella arrangements of those particular songs are perhaps one of the most important distinguishing features of the church — they distinguish the churches of christ from other christianities, and give a sense of unity or continuity to folks who move from church to church. so ‘blest be the tie that binds’ actually binds folks with all sorts of beliefs and opinions. while i don’t have any problem with the introduction of praise music… i keep a hallal cd in the car… i do get a sense of homelessness when i visit a church of christ and don’t know any of the songs…

By: TL

TL — Wed, 18 May 2005 21:32:00 +0000

I don’t miss any of the old songs ’cause that’s all we sing. They don’t have a lot of new stuff in the songbook! But when I’m in the car… that’s when I can sing some praise songs!

By: Danna

Danna — Wed, 18 May 2005 21:18:00 +0000

I read yesterday’s and today’s blog this morning.While I was making my coffee, I kept singing “Be Thou My Vision”. A couple of hours later I went to Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) and the first song we sang was, you guessed it, “Be Thou My Vision”! I agree with what almost everyone else has said; I love the new songs, but I love the old as well, even those Stamps-BAxter songs!! :o)

By: mchristophoros

mchristophoros — Wed, 18 May 2005 20:02:00 +0000

I had to add one more.

At a recent home worship meeting, one of our folks (nostalgically for 70s college days) wanted to sing “Lord of the Dance”, which disastrously was in the little song book we were using. Cringing inwardly, I led us through it. When we were done, one of the brothers remarked, “After that, why don’t we sing “Little Brown Jug”?

Michael

By: mchristophoros

mchristophoros — Wed, 18 May 2005 19:54:00 +0000

For me Missa Solemnis would be the ultimate in music of faith. Our kids can’t stand it. They want to sing “Back Back Train and Get Your Load”, whatever on earth that is supposed to mean. We really need give and take here, don’t we?