First Thoughts put out their ideas for the ten worst hymns of all time and what followed was a long trail of comments that are worth reading for their narrow minded, unimaginative, pompous, self-righteous displays of pig ignorance. The tithe of dissenting commenters were rightly upset by the vitriol. It simply boiled down to a personal dislike of the style of music, whatever they wanted to dress it up as, and a fear of any text that smelt liberal. (Note to right wing catholic bloggers – don’t read Amos, he’s a red.) Obviously, not all the songs of the 70s and 80s will last, but those that resonate with assemblies will and be joined by new material with the best surviving. Cathedrals can continue their museum pieces but they won’t work in the suburbs.
At the As One Voice conference last week they had a delightful historical sing through these years including many of these songs, which admittedly have suffered more than their fair share of uninspired renditions over the years. Played sensitively and sung enthusiastically they all shone. Perhaps these old warhorses just need to be looked at with fresh spectacles.
As a perverse entry into this fresh look how about a mildly bossa version of Here I Am, Lord, number four on the list.
[audio:https://www.sixmaddens.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Here-I-am-Lord.mp3|titles=Here I am Lord]
I agree with your summation of the comments. Obviously these people are so spiritual that their musical appreciation exceeds that of the thousands of common people who have enjoyed these works for years. Good to see though that the scribes and pharasees have learned to use the net eh?