ER is talking church music over at his place and that got me to thinking... it'd be cool to see what folk like to listen to in terms of church music.
At my church Jeff Street, we are in some ways pretty eclectic musically. It's one of my favorite parts about Jeff Street. While we certainly lean towards the acoustic folk sound, we pull from all over the map when it comes to hymns sung and, especially, special music.
A partial list of songs that we sing congregationally or have had as special music include:
Orphan Girl (flawlessly sung here by Emmylou Harris)
John McCutcheon's Hallelujah! The Great Storm is Over
Dylan's The Times, They are A-Changin'
Wayfarin' Stranger (sung here by the headbanger, Jack White, of the White Stripes which is apparently one of those rock and roll musical bands)
Oh, Happy Day
Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World
Cluck Old Hen (played here by Allison Krauss)
Bob Marley's
Redemption Song
John Prine's Spanish Pipe Dream, (AKA, Blow Up Your TV)
Eyes On the Prize (sung here by Sweet Honey in the Rock)
I could go on and on. I love the music we sing at our church. How 'bout you? You have favorite gospel or church-ish songs? Feel free to list some (with links would be all the better!). Jeff Streeters: Have I left out some quintessential Jeff Street songs?
Ok. I've taken a few days to think about hymns and needed to consult the Episcopal hymnal this morning. First, I'd say that, I'll Fly Away is one of my favorites. And I like hymns from many genres, particularly if the lyrics are good, Great is Thy Faithfulness, How Great Thou Art, Jesus Joy of Loving Hearts, By the Marks, A Mighty Fortress, but one that I love but have never sung is in the current Episcopal hymnal. The lyrics are by W.H.Auden and are from his Christmas Oratorio or whatever. Here are the lyrics,
ReplyDelete"He is the Way. Follow him through the Land of Unlikeness; You will see rare beasts And have unique adventures.
"He is the Truth. Seek him in the Kingdom of Anxiety: You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.
"He is the life. Love him in the World of the Flesh: And at your marriage All its occasions shall dance for joy."
This is my favorite.
brd
Blogpost thief! :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat was that one you mentioned called "Throw Out the TV" or something??
The lyrics to the first coupla verses of Spanish Pipedream (which has the chorus, "Blow Up Your TV...") and has been sung on Turn Off Your TV week.
ReplyDeleteBlow up your TV
John Prine
She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well, she pressed her chest against me
About the time the jukebox broke
She give me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke
Blow Up Your TV, throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus on your own
I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
Cause I knew that topless lady, she had something up her sleeve
She danced around the room awhile and she did the hoochy cooch
Yea sing a song all night long tellin' me what to do
Blow Up Your TV, throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try and find Jesus on your own
My favorite song we sing at my church is "Tu Has Venido La Orilla" ("Lord, You Have Come To The Lakeshore").
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful title. Can you give us a few words?
ReplyDeleteNever mind, I found them:
ReplyDeleteLord, you have come to the lakeshore
looking neither for wealthy nor wise ones.
You only asked me to follow humbly.
O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me,
kindly smiling, have spoken my name.
Now my boat's left on the shoreline behind me;
by your side I will seek other seas.
You know so well my possessions;
my boat carries no gold and no weapons;
But nets and fishes -- my daily labor.
You need my hands, full of caring,
through my labors to give others rest,
and constant love that keeps on loving.
You, who have fished other oceans
ever longed-for by souls who are waiting,
my loving friend, as thus you call me.
=====
Beautiful.
And thanks for the list, brd. I'll have to say that I don't know a few of yours either, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteA lot of Enya music does it for me, although its spirituality can get iffy.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite hymns are currently "Victory in Jesus" and "Great is Thy Faithfulness". But I just discovered "Old Rugged Cross", which is very theologically rich.
But I'm basically a contemporary worship guy.
Eh, OK. But damn if it doesn't just about lose all its flavor in translation. Here's how I heard it:
ReplyDeleteTú has venido a la orilla
No has buscado ni a sabios
Ni a ricos
Tan sólo quieres que yo te siga
Señor me has mirado a los ojos
Sonriendo has dicho mi nombre
En la arena he dejado mi barca
Junto a ti buscaré otro mar
Tú sabes bien lo que tengo
En mi barca no hay oro ni espada
Tan sólo redes y mi trabajo
Tú necesitas mis manos
Mi cansancio que a otros descanse
Amor que quiera seguir amando
Tú, pescador de otros lagos
Ansia eterna de almas que esperan
Amigo bueno que así me llamas
It title in Spanish is usually Pescador de Hombres
It is, if memory serves, a Guatemalan Canción de Liberación. In North America generally a song like this would be seen as evangelical, persuading you to be a Christian. In the countries of origin just about everyone already is a Christian (or a Christian and some other religion at the same time such as Acumbe or Santeria) so the purpose of the songs isn't evangelical, but rather to persuade you to joint the "Overthrow the Government for Jesus" movements.
Eleutheros, I never considered it to be "evangelical" but rather rebellious. For me, it is a powerful song about what it is to be a follower of Christ..who I consider to be a rebel.
ReplyDeleteWe always sing it when our Spanish speaking members join us in worship. It's a wonderful experience to hear it sung in both languages at the same time accompanied by the pipe organ. It always brings tears to my eyes.
"But damn if it doesn't just about lose all its flavor in translation"
ReplyDeleteA Spanish speaking person just came into my office. I showed her the Spanish and English. She had never heard of the song, but said there were several misspelled words in the Spanish, but that the English translation of it was excellent. Nothing was lost in the translation.... according to her. Spanish is her native tongue. She is from Cuba.
Marty,
ReplyDeleteI went over the song very carefully again and there are no misspelled words in it at all. I'm scratching my head as to what would give rise to such a comment. What? As if disparaging the transcription makes the comment less valid?
Dan's translation is more or less accurate, but not 'excellent.' There of course had to be some poetic license to make the English fit the rhythm of the song.
But no way does the line:
But nets and fishes -- my daily labor.
carry the same poetry and majesty as:
Tan sólo redes y mi trabajo
'sólo' is 'alone' or 'only'
'tan sólo' is 'so alone'
But in English we don't have such a poetic phrase as 'so only'. So this line would be "So (much) only nets and my labor."
The three lines of that verse are more literally:
You know well what I have
In my boat there's no gold or sword
So (very) alone nets and my labor.
Much more poetic than the English to my ears. But what do I know, I couldn't find one misspelled word in the song, eh?
"Tu Has Venido La Orilla" ("Lord, You Have Come To The Lakeshore"). I love those lyrics, Spanish or English. Wow.
ReplyDeleteOur church has a couple of other Latin American-originated songs we sing fairly regularly.
ReplyDeleteCuando el Pobre (When the Poor Ones)
Which goes something like this:
When the poor ones who have nothing shares with strangers,
When the thirsty water give unto us all,
When the crippled in their weakness strengthen others,
Then we know that God still goes that road with us,
Then we know that God still goes that road with us.
Also, Paz, Queremos Paz (Peace, Give us Peace) is a fun-to-sing, beautiful song.
Eleutheros,
ReplyDeleteYou're right. No misspelled words in your version..I was showing her one I found on the internet. They looked the same to me...I don't know a word of Spanish. My appologies. Btw, I never thought your comment was less valid. I just wanted my friend's opinion on the English interpretation.
Dan,
ReplyDeleteI happened to come across this page by accident and thought of you. I thought you might get a kick out of it. I didn't realize the rivalry between Ohio and Kentucky was so brutal!
BTW, I enjoyed this post and the comments.
Glad we can agree on something...
ReplyDeleteYou familiar with Uncle Earl, Daddio? Bluegrass/folk/old-timey group? They're coming to Louisville next week. Great stuff.
I'll look them up. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. Pure. I'm listening to a YouTube performance as i write.
ReplyDeleteBTW, we agree on MANY things...it's just that we are 180 degrees different on a few things. (As you wisely noted when first we met.)
hi my name is Tony im from Peru i wonder if somebody know the song ill fly away but in spanish..we liked this song in english and ive been tryin to get this song in spanish or maybe this song is in spanish but with another name..plz if u could help me with the lyric in spanish version plzz .. my e-mail is .... toch68_4@hotmail.com thnxx sorry for my english jeje.. :)
ReplyDeleteUn gran día dejaré este mundo, Yo volaré.
ReplyDeleteA una tierra do estaré seuro, yo volaré.
Yo volaré a la gloria, yo volare
Algun día, Cristo yo veré, yo volaré.
Las tinieblas dejaré atrás, yo volaré.
El dolor, las pruebas nunca mas, yo volaré.
Like that?