Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Could this be the worst congregational song ever?

We've been to 5 different churches in our last month of holidays. Some encouraging things happening around the place.

In our travels I was introduced to this song for the first time. It's interesting. Some wild metaphors. I was singing hesitantly through the hurricane and ocean bits, then I stopped when I got to the red words. What do you think?

He is jealous for me 
Love's like a hurricane, I am a tree 
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy 
When all of a sudden, I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory 
and I realize just how beautiful You are and how great your affections are for me. 
Oh, how He loves us so 
Oh, how He loves us 
How He loves us so. 

Yeah, He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves. 

So we are His portion and He is our prize, 
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes 
If grace is an ocean we're all sinking 
So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss and my heart turns violently inside of my chest 
I don't have time to maintain these regrets when I think about the way 

That he loves us, 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves 

He loves us, 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves us 
Woah, how He loves 

13 comments:

  1. John Mark McMillan.
    Funny what gets popular.
    Worship Leader magazine listed this as 14 in their top twenty worship songs of the last twenty years.

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  2. A lot of people love that song. And love singing it congregationally. I can't imagine singing it in my context. But I'm not convinced it was written as a congregational. It's a good song to listen to - maybe it should've been left at that.

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    1. But the incarnation is not a bit like a sloppy wet kiss from God! A sloppy wet kiss is what your great aunt gives you - kind of inappropriate and yucky. Not profound. And the hurricane and ocean metaphors sound more like an abusive relationship - God's love is something that hurts us.

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  3. Oh my. There are no words. I have never heard the song, but as a poem, well ... (and as you say, I can do without a hurricane-like love).

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  4. We have just moved and are visiting different churches. We have heard some 'interesting' songs as well.

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  5. I just listened to it on youTube. As well as the questionable lyrics, I didn't really find the tune particularly interesting either although it certainly was repetitive so I guess that might be why people who aren't very musical might get into singing it congregationally??

    But I agree with you. The lyrics are pretty bad. I couldn't have sung the sloppy wet kiss line either.

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  6. Yeah, there's no way I'm singing that. Before you even get to the sloppy wet kiss part, I get stuck at the "I am a tree". I just don't stand and sing stuff like that without feeling stupid. I'm not a tree.

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  7. Thanks for that moment. Beautiful.

    Just to pile on, I particularly liked the way that the fifth line found it necessary to address God directly. Or at least, I presume it's that, rather than the congregation is particularly beautiful.

    In short, wow. It's up there.

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  8. I'm resisting the youtube link... It's almost like they were *trying* to demonstrate the wrongness of God-is-my-girlfriend songs

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    1. I feel badly about my previous comment, now that I know it was written the day after his best friend was killed... the tree and hurricane image takes on a more poignant meaning..

      I still don't like the sloppy wet kiss line (I think he might have changed it to 'unexpected kiss') but otherwise I actually have changed my mind and really like the song.

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  9. Ergh! Bleacgh! That's taking Jesus-is-my-boyfriend to new lows...now it's God-is-my-dog; at least that's the image conjured in my mind about the 'sloppy wet kiss'.

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