Sunday, January 22, 2012

Subpar Christian Songs: Majesty (by Hillsong)

Heard this for the first time today. It was so incoherent I just had to write this.

Here I am, humbled by your majesty,
Covered by your grace so free.
Here I am, knowing I'm a sinful man,
Covered by the blood of the lamb.

Now I've found the greatest love of all is mine,
Since You laid down Your life,
The greatest sacrifice.

Majesty
Majesty
Your grace has found me just as I am
Empty handed but alive in Your hands
We sing
Majesty
Majesty
Forever I am changed by Your love
In the beauty of Your Majesty

Here I am humbled by the love that You give,
Forgiven so that I can forgive.
So here I stand,
Knowing that I am Your desire,
Sanctified by glory and fire.
And now I've found the greatest love of all is mine,
Since You laid down Your life,
The greatest sacrifice.

Majesty, Majesty.
Your grace has found me just as I am,
Empty handed but alive in your hands.
Singing Majesty, Majesty.
Forever I am changed by Your love,
In the presence of Your Majesty.


So here's the huge problem. What does Majesty have do with the rest of the entire song?

Nothing!

Nothing at all!

What went wrong here?

You're singing a song about being saved by grace, by the blood of the Lamb. Suddenly BLAMMO! You're singing "majesty ..." and your brain is going "what ... Where am I? What song is this now?"

It's conceivable that a connection can be made. But they didn't bother to do the hard work of actually making it for you. As such it seems more like a personal meditation with a gaping hole that someone decided was "good enough" to let loose upon the world.

Subpar Christian Songs: Jesus Messiah

I'm aware that any song may be particularly meaningful to someone, so ... Sorry if this is one of yours. But I think we need to promote excellence in Christian music.

He became sin
Who knew no sin
That we might become His Righteousness
He humbled himself and carried the cross

Love so amazing
Love so amazing

Jesus Messiah
Name above all names
Blessed Redeemer
Emmanuel
The rescue for sinners
The ransom from Heaven
Jesus Messiah
Lord of all

His body the bread
His blood the wine
Broken and poured out all for love
The whole earth trembled
And the veil was torn

Chris Tomlin writes some great songs. I was shocked to find he wrote this one. It's terrible in the ways that matter.

First and most crucially, the music itself does not suit the song at all. It's too upbeat for the subject of the verses. Then there's the lazy addition of "Love so amazing".

The chorus is ok until the last line. It's like he ran out of steam and couldn't figure out what to insert. So he went with another lazy choice: "Lord of all."

Bleah.