Contemporary Worship Music

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There is an old joke about country music that comes to mind for this discussion.

What do you get when you play a country song backwards?

You get your truck back, you girl back, your dog back, your money back, your…

Ed
 
Ed Dixon said:
I think a similar view exists for country music, which almost always tells a very clear story.
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Country music and contemporary Christian have been churned out of the same Nashville factories. I'd rather listen to Johnny Cash and Al Green :cool:
 
mshilarious said:
Country music and contemporary Christian have been churned out of the same Nashville factories. I'd rather listen to Johnny Cash and Al Green :cool:
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Not all of it. Kutless, Audio Adrenalin, Casting Crowns, Hillsong, and Michael W. Smith have some pretty good music.

Ed
 
Ed Dixon said:
I think a similar view exists for country music, which almost always tells a very clear story. Rock is another story, where the music itself and feel may be more of a factor.
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It's not the story, it's the word choice. Good country lyrics can tell the story, but use comfortable words that don't stick out like a sore thumb.

I am arguing semantics again. The way I see it, you would never mistake a "contemporary christian" song for a traditional song, because the words are not artfully used in the same manner that they are used in traditional music.

It's the sneak attack that is most effective. That's why Creed (who I hate) was arguably more effective preachers than any other christian musicians. the fans liked alkie's voice and abs and their sound, and may have discovered the message (and found it to be more compelling) afterward. When you hit the audience over the head with "Died on the cross", they are jarred from participating intensely in the music (even as a listener).
 
Ed Dixon said:
Not all of it. Kutless, Audio Adrenalin, Casting Crowns, Hillsong, and Michael W. Smith have some pretty good music.

Ed
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See, you put W on that list, and it keeps me from checking out the rest. I had roommates that forced me to suffer through him in college, and I don't want no more.

Do you seriously think W belongs on a shortlist with the Reverend?
 
I'm not understanding your point.

Sometimes music writers really want some aspect of the song to stick out like a sore thumb. Somethimes they are successful at it and sometimes not, but it's their choice how to do it.

Ed
 
mshilarious said:
See, you put W on that list, and it keeps me from checking out the rest. I had roommates that forced me to suffer through him in college, and I don't want no more.

Do you seriously think W belongs on a shortlist with the Reverend?
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Yes. I really like some of his music. Check out "I See You". It starts very slow and subdued, but ends quite differently. Almost a "Journey" sound at the end.

Ed
 
Does God have a sense of humor? I certainly hope so. Seek out "The Hand Of The Almighty", by John R. Butler. I would post the lyrics, but it's much funnier if you just let yourself be ambushed by listening to it.
 
How many big names covered of Breathe and Heart of Worship?
 
mshilarious said:
Wow. Wow. To quote Meg Ryan, I have no response to that.
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I assume you are referring to one in the list, but don't know which one that is.

Ed
 
Ed Dixon said:
I'm not understanding your point.

Sometimes music writers really want some aspect of the song to stick out like a sore thumb. Somethimes they are successful at it and sometimes not, but it's their choice how to do it.
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I am arguing for more effective Christian music. You say "Sometimes they are successful and sometimes not." This seems to be a relatively cavalier attitude when it comes to souls. I am in no way bearing witness to anyone, but I'd think that the whole point is not to express yourself (which sucks 99.99999% of the time) but to reach hearts and minds with the message. To quote jack black, "I can zippity doo dah you a song, but it would be false."

I think it is the watermark of poor songwriting when the lyrics distract you and don't lay with the rest of the song. Perhaps "poor" indicates taste. "Ineffective" may be a better word.

You obviously "like" these christian acts and will accept them warts and all because you like the message and aren't critically looking at the execution. You hear a song and like it and that's good enough. Well, I listened to it and don't like it, but I will go one step further by trying to examine why it's crap with the hope that someday, a Christian musician will work for his audience and package his sacred message in a manner that is essentially the industry standard of mass media.
 
It's when the message sounds forced that these things really fall down.
It's awful when the lyrics are a square peg forced into a round hole.
 
I don't think anybody got saved from hearing "My God Is An Awesome God."

Although Jim Carrey doing "MY Singing Made Jesus Run Away" is funny as hell.
 
cephus said:
I am arguing for more effective Christian music. You say "Sometimes they are successful and sometimes not." This seems to be a relatively cavalier attitude when it comes to souls. I am in no way bearing witness to anyone, but I'd think that the whole point is not to express yourself (which sucks 99.99999% of the time) but to reach hearts and minds with the message. To quote jack black, "I can zippity doo dah you a song, but it would be false."

You obviously "like" these christian acts and will accept them warts and all because you like the message and aren't critically looking at the execution. You hear a song and like it and that's good enough. Well, I listened to it and don't like it, but I will go one step further by trying to examine why it's crap with the hope that someday, a Christian musician will work for his audience and package his sacred message in a manner that is essentially the industry standard of mass media.
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I understand your point, but I think we just have different views. Having worked with both Kutless and Audio Adrenalin, the positive effect they have on youth is hard to miss. Perhaps there are groups that do it better, but their way works pretty well.

Every performer has warts. You generally take the good with the bad for any of them. I really like most of the Beatles stuff, but did not like the White Album. Casting Crowns has some really good selections and some less good. Same for most groups, regardless of genre.

Ed
 
c7sus said:
I don't think anybody got saved from hearing "My God Is An Awesome God."
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I'm not sure that is a safe assumption. The range of things that have led to folks being saved is very long list.

Ed
 
I'm more likely to be converted from my love for the FSM by Burning Spear than anybody else I think. I am heavily into the old roots stuff right now though.

If you haven't heard him I highly reccomend "Door Peep" as a good sample of his stuff.

Noodly stuff aside, what religious music do other non-religious people like?
 
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I think we have to return to the origin of the label "contemporary Christian". It came into vogue in an attempt to distance a new pop-flavored music from the existing genre of gospel. In doing so, there was an inherent devaluation of the term "gospel" among the young fans of CC, and it created a division between the styles of music.

I think that was a critical mistake. Gospel, whether of a country or R&B style, is generally superior music to CC. R&B artists have never had any trouble migrating between popular and gospel styles. Gospel influenced popular artists, such as Johnny Cash and Ray Charles. CC has influenced no one outside of its insular sphere.

So while the non-religious are not often fans of gospel music, it's still much more common than a non-religious fan of CC music. That's for a simple reason, the music has higher intrinsic value. I've seen a 13yo kid bring down the house singing "I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" on Showtime at the Apollo. I think there are few CC artists that could manage that with their tunes.
 
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