The Ugly Comtemporization of Worship Music
Why do people always feel the need to add "modern-day" choruses to traditional hymns? This morning at chapel, I was hearing a beautiful, old-fashioned hymn, Fairest Lord Jesus; one of my favorites. Suddenly while in the midst of worship, something jarring occurred: a displaced, stereotypical Tomlin-esque chord progression appeared alongside of a key change.
At first, my mind questioned whether this was turning into a medley (which honestly made me queasy, judging by where the tune was going). Sadly, the answer was much, much worse. Cheesy, contemporary lyrics flashed on the screen, going hand and hand with a pop-worship melody. Once the atrocity was over, I sighed with relief.
This has been done with many songs, including with When I Survey, several variants of Amazing Grace, and others. Why does our culture do this? It's as though people feel a need to update things to make them "fit." just because "Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus" is the standard of musical art today doesn't mean that it's the best. This kind of beauty can be found culturally, and the appeal of these old hymns is in their structure and language. Such a jarring, out-of-place experience inhibited my ability to worship, and honestly, ruined a beautiful song in my opinion.
This isn't to speak against well-intentioned people who are trying to make the oldies "accessible" for a new generation. This is to tell them to stop. I know you mean well, but this isn't about changing the past. It's about writing the future.
For the record, my personal opinion is that worship music is defined by the attitude in which it was written. If an artist writes a "filler song" in order to complete a 12-track album, then perhaps its formation was not as focused on Christ as it could have been. Modern worship songs run at a dime a dozen. Many older hymns did, as well. What we sing of those are the ones which remained and survived the centuries; the best of the best. However, those authors wrestled with theology and understanding as they penned those songs, oftentimes spending years on each one. Their time and culture became a part of their songs. I want to take this opportunity to implore Christian songwriters, especially young ones, to create their own music, music which sings of the best parts of our culture and of the Church in America. Let's stop borrowing ideas belonging to others and create something beautiful and representative -a snapshot if you will- of today's Church that we can pass down to future generations.
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