I Didn't Sing In Church Today

  Have you ever wondered how some songs get to be popular?  I mean pop songs with lyrics that are either innocuous or downright bad. As an example, I’m thinking of a song by The Amazing Rhythm Aces called “Third Rate Romance” in which the singer details the account of two people coming together in a cheap motel for a one night stand.  That’s not the kind of uplifting thing I usually want to be associated with.  But truth is that the song has a catchy chord progression and a rhythm that is infectious.  I find myself singing it and I’ve got it on my iPod.  But I don’t want to be associated with the lyric.  However, some songs just have that great music that makes you want to hear the song.  That may be why I like Il Volo, for the most part I like what they sing.  Listen to “La Luna Hizo Esto” and try NOT to like it.  And then look up the translation of the lyric.  Rough translation of the title is The Moon Did This.  It’s the moon’s fault that the singer is falling in love.  Great song and great lyric.

Listening to the lyric is easier when the music is pleasing.  Everyone’s taste is different and something that I may like, someone else may not.  But sometimes it behooves us to listen to and understand the lyric regardless of whether or not we like the music.  I had the privilege of sitting next to my cousin Wayne’s wife in church this morning and listening to her beautiful voice.  The first song was “Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning” which is an upbeat song and fun to sing.  I started to sing but by the second verse I was just humming, listening to Minae.  The next song was “Again We Meet Around The Board.”  I’ll admit that I’m not enamored with the music by George Careless and so had pretty much ignored the lyric by Eliza Snow.  But because Minae was singing so beautifully I took it in.  The lyric is masterful.  The song speaks of the Christ’s atonement.  One line in the second verse reads:  “He left his Father's courts on high, With man to live, for man to die.”  That single line tells of the sacrifice that Christ made for each of us.  He left paradise to come here to teach us and literally to die for us.  Such power in such few words.

Minae sings so wonderfully, her voice crystal clear and every note spot on.  It was a pleasure to hear her this morning but even more so that because of her voice I got to examine the verses of the songs that were sung.  Minae’s personality goes along with her voice; she’s bright, cheerful, intelligent and caring.  All of that comes through in whatever song she sings. Now I’m going to go listen to all of those Rolling Stone songs I’ve sung all my life and see if there’s really anything to hear.