October 22, 2005
Literary analysis II
The question I'm asking myself right now is this: "Do I even bother with Chris Tomlin?" He's written a lot of very popular praise songs, including:
"Here I Am"
"God of Wonders"
"The Famous One"
"Shout to the Lord"
"In the Secret"
He continues to be an exceptionally popular CCM artist and his songs are sung in thousands of churches across the English speaking world.
But there's a problem, and that problem is this: Chris Tomlin is an atrocious poet. In fact, he's just so bad that I'm reluctant to post a take-down of his lyrics, because any such activity on my part would almost certainly be received with dismay and reflexive, irrational criticism. But I love sticking forks in sacred cows, so I'll go for it, and let the stones fall where they may.
In order to keep this at least interesting, I'm going to eschew such steamers as "In the Secret" and try to do one that actually manages to seriously predicate. Like "Come Let us Worship"
--
Come, let us worship and bow down
Before the Lord Most Holy
Before the King of Glory
Come and lay your burdens down
Before the Friend who's faithful
Before the One who's able
For He is our God
And we are His people
[Yes] He is our God
And we will never be forsaken
Come, let us lift our voice in praise
Unto the Rock of Ages
Unto the God who saves us
Come and glorify His name
All the earth together
All the saints forever
You are our God
And we are Your people
You are our God
And we will be with You Forever
--
Okay, unlike most of Tomlin's songs, this one actually has recognizable subjects and verbs. Which is a good thing. But not enough to make it an even halfway decent poem. We've still got no meter or rhyme, no real progression of thought. It seems to me like a series of spiritual-sounding phrases thrown together in basically random order.
The following is "Lord, With Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee" by one Francis Scott Key, generally better known for penning the Star-Spangled Banner (hey, it's not his fault the tune is unsingable!)
--
Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise Thee,
For the bliss Thy love bestows,
For the pardoning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows:
Help, O God, my weak endeavor;
This dull soul to rapture raise:
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise.
Praise, my soul, the God that sought thee,
Wretched wanderer, far astray;
Found thee lost, and kindly brought thee
From the paths of death away;
Praise, with love’s devoutest feeling,
Him Who saw thy guilt-born fear,
And the light of hope revealing,
Bade the blood-stained cross appear.
Praise thy Savior God that drew thee
To that cross, new life to give,
Held a blood sealed pardon to thee,
Bade thee look to Him and live.
Praise the grace whose threats alarmed thee,
Roused thee from thy fatal ease;
Praise the grace whose promise warmed thee,
Praise the grace that whispered peace.
Lord, this bosom’s ardent feeling
Vainly would my lips express.
Low before Thy footstool kneeling,
Deign Thy suppliant’s prayer to bless:
Let Thy grace, my soul’s chief treasure,
Love’s pure flame within me raise;
And, since words can never measure,
Let my life show forth Thy praise.
--
That's just a really good poem, music or no. I'm going to offer forth an axiom for evaluating songs used in worship: if the lyrics aren't worth anything without music, they aren't worth anything with music. None of Tomlin's lyrics I've been able to uncover have any value at all, they all depend on the music they're set to to deliver some kind of emotional punch. This, my friends, does not constitute worship in any way that I'm able to define it. But "Let Thy grace, my soul's chief treasure, Love's pure flame within me raise" certainly does.
While in some ways i may agree with your criticism of the music, I think you are merley stating opinion. If a Christian can worship to some of these well intentioned songs, then who's to say that they cannot. I think one of the problems with the PCA is the general eltism and intelluctualism that permeates the church. Many PCA churches and indivudual members see themselves as somehow better because they don't worship to those silly little worship choruses. They sing hymns by John Calvin and lesser known obscure authors. This attitude was demonstrated by many Covenant students in my time there. Just becuase i enjoy singing Chris Tomlin does not make me lesser Christian, a stupid Christian, or a Christian with bad taste.
Posted by: Nathan at October 22, 2005 11:48 PMWhile I would never question the sincerity of anyone's worship (well, maybe Benny Hinn) praise songs such as the ones Ryan spears above are spiritual babyfood wholly unsuitable for maturing Christians.
Posted by: Nat at October 23, 2005 08:46 PMAnd that is an unfair comment and totally unfair to judge anyone's Christian maturity based on if they like a certain type of worship song. I know many mature Christians who worship with similar songs. This argument reminds me a lot of the Pharisees and Sauducees, they think they have it all figured out and they do all the right and proper things. They have all this knowledge and they miss the main point of Jesus. If Jesus is being worshiped and lifted up, then i don't see how you can make such a harsh comment.
Posted by: Nathan at October 23, 2005 09:17 PMNathan: you're just wrong. You're not doing yourself any logical favors in accusing others of being Pharisees. This may be tu quoque, but you've got an ad hominum. The argument I'd advance is that Jesus is not being "worshiped and lifted up" by such tripe. Witness the fact that a goodly number of "praise songs", particularly those written by Tomlin, don't actually have anything explicitly to do with Jesus. Remember that song "In the Secret" that goes "I want to know you..."? Care to tell me how anyone is supposed to know that it's supposed to be about Jesus? And this is a perfectly acceptable way of "worshiping and lifting him up"?
Liking Chris Tomlin doesn't make you a "lesser" Christian, nor does that as such make you a stupid person, but it certainly does certify your bad taste.
Posted by: ryan at October 24, 2005 05:36 PMNathan: your response is exactly the kind of response I said I was worried about.
Posted by: ryan at October 24, 2005 05:38 PMI did not mean for it to come across as accusing anyone of being a Pharisee. It was just an example of someone who thought they had it all figured out and would not listen to another side. I did not mean it to be insulting or mean spirited. I sincerly apologize for any offense. In response to the "In the Secret" song, wouldn't the context and any explanation by a worship leader explaine what it meant in the song? I do think you are assuming things based on personal taste. You may not like these songs, but that doesn't make them "tripe". I beleive Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Matt Redman and others are sincere believers that are impacting a generation with their songs. You call them emotive, but emotion is part of or spiritual lives. It is not based on emotion, but emotion is a part of it. How could it not be? We are passionate people that were meant for another world and our emotions are gogin to tell us significant things about God. We are created in his image. By emotion, i don't mean fake spiritual highs, i mean sincere emotion in reaction to a God that loves us. This argument bothers me as someone who works with youth and sees how God has changed their lives and one of the ways they express themselves are through some of these worship songs. I am very careful about what songs we sing and use. And i always want teaching of the word to be central. Worship flows from that. I know that in the past, I have been hurt by this argument when people want to say that what I have worsipped with is not good and I should not worship with. I love hymns, i love the truth and theology that are packed into them. I also love simple songs of praise. I don't see why fellow Christians see the need to trash on these things. How can you question a sincere worshipper that is worshiping?
Posted by: Nathan at October 24, 2005 07:30 PM"Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Matt Redman and others are sincere believers that are impacting a generation with their songs."
I'll give you that one. But the impact I see them having is being towards marginal literacy with reflexive, unreflective, undirected responses to vague spiritual feelings, not productive worship of the Lord of Hosts. A lot of their songs fail to contain well-formed subject-verb pairs, making it pretty hard to tell what, if anything, is actually being said.
"How can you question a sincere worshipper that is worshiping?"
If you'll read carefully, you'll find that I never actually did that. What I did say is that the songs suck. There's a big difference.
"You call them emotive, but emotion is part of or spiritual lives. It is not based on emotion, but emotion is a part of it."
Again, read carefully. You'll find that the person who introduced emotion into the discussion was you, not anyone else. In this discussion, have I criticized praise songs for being emotive? Not as far as I can tell.
What I've argued is that they're bad poetry, an assertion you have yet to discuss. I then proceed to argue that bad poetry has no place in proper worship, an assertion that you have also failed to discuss.
Try again?
Posted by: ryan at October 24, 2005 08:15 PMThe first mention of emotion was yours:
"None of Tomlin's lyrics I've been able to uncover have any value at all, they all depend on the music they're set to to deliver some kind of emotional punch."
As far as them being bad poetry, I just think that is an opinion. You may hate it and think it is simplistic but I don't really know what that has to do with anything. It's a matter of taste. I suppose if there is an impartial way to judge poetry on a scale or something, the songs might not measure up, but I don't think you can put poetry on that scale. Poetry is about the reader and what they are getting out of it, in my opinion. I admit, I am not a literary scholar who has spent time looking at the elements of poetry. Just like movies and books, some may enjoy them others may not. I'm not sure if this is relevant, but as far as the poetry in old hymns, it bugs me how the authors would make words rhyme even if they didn't. I've never understood why that is ok. Maybe that is a proper poetic device and if you know, explain it to me. And what of the songs that come directly from Scripture. Tomlin, Redman, Giglio, Shane Barnard all of these guys have songs that they take directly from Scripture. Would your criticism still be the same or would it be the music that you don't like? Just to calrify, I am not a Christian music listener for the msot part. I would rather rip my own ears off than turn on J103. There is alot of mediocore, recylced crap out there. I however, do think that alot of the worship leaders that have been mentioned are doing it right and well. Tomlin's lyrics may be vaugue on thier own, but, as a worship leader he introduces the songs and leads the body in worship that is based on a Scripture and the songs are a take off of that Scripure. I think the songs are meant to be part of a whole and not necassarily just individual. Tomlin is involved heavily with the Passion ministry that has been doing some great things over the past few years. I think it's important to see the fruits of these guys labors. Matt Redman is involved with revival among oung people in Europe, Tomlin as mentioned above, is invovled with Passion, Giglio (who is a pastor but also pens alot of worship songs) is the founder of Passion. Is God using these songs? I think the answer is yes from what I have seen and heard. John Piper is a frequent Passion speaker and he sees the value of the ministry. Passion recently has been embracing many of the old hymns. Tomlin has a new version of the hymn "Take my Life". I just see that these guys are doing some awesome things for God and He is getting the glory. That seems like worship to me. I'm not saying there isn't a fine line that needs to be walked, but, for me the evidence is there in the fruit of the ministries.
You start to deal with my argument, but are still mostly missing the point. Let me spell it out: I don't give a pair of fetid dingoes kidneys whether or not you or anyone else thinks Tomlin's "ministry" is genuine or not. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. I also am not particularly interested in the sincerity of one's worship, whether as a category or in particular. It's beside the point. And while I was the first one to bring up the word "emotion" I wasn't using it perjoratively. My point had more to do with Tomlin's use of music as a crutch to prop up what is essentially terrible poetry, not whether or not emotion is appropriate in worship. Obviously it is, but it should be based on knowledge of God, not orchestrated pop music formulas, and I'll argue hat guys like Tomlin use far more of the latter than the former.
My point is that Tomlin writes bad poetry, and I've tried to explain why. It's got no structure, is exceptionally vague, and seems to rely overly much on being explained for its message. You've all but conceded this point: the songs need to be explained by the worship leader for them to make any sense at all.
Tomlin's participation in the "Passion" ministry (...what the blazes is this anyway?) has absolutely no bearing on the quality of his verse. Which sucks. You're the one hung up on whether or not what Tomlin does constitutes worship, and whether or not "these guys are doing awesome things for God", a point which is subject to debate. My point is that he can't write a poem to save his neck, let alone anyone else's.
It's time to take off the kid gloves. Here's a real stinker:
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there.
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait,
Only for You,'cos I want to know You more;
I want to know You,
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more.
I want to touch You,
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more.
Puh-leaze! The mere fact that he's writing about God is absolutely no excuse for this crap. Sacred poetry should be better than everyday stuff, not worse. He can't even come up with a second verse, so we wind up singing the same thing, over, and over, and over. This is ludicrously bad, adolescent, sophomoric, verse. There's no metaphor, no imagery, no progression of thought, no allusions, no metrical structure, nothing. I can't even make a theological critique, because there isn't enough substance to critique. It's vapid. I'll take Bob Dylan any day of the week.
Posted by: ryan at October 25, 2005 12:04 AMTime heals all tunes. (get it?) We've got many contemporary crappy songs because there were always crappy contemporary songs. We don't have as many from the past because people stopped singing the crappy ones.
But we've got some left. My favorites are the railroad hymns and of course the temperance hymns.
Are you at your station ready,
For the near approaching train?
Are you fully contemplating
That a pass you will obtain?
Is there some important matter,
You have left behind undone,
That will keep you hesitating,
Till too late to make the run?
Refrain
O be ready for the glorious Gospel train,
Quickly make your preparation,
And your passport have in hand;
O be ready for the glorious Gospel train,
It will take you safely over,
To the glory spirit land.
Has your title been recorded,
That no question can be made?
Does your preparation warrant,
That you shall not be delayed?
When you see the headlight gleamings,
As around the curves they climb,
Have you any fears and doubtings,
That you’ll not get in on time?
Refrain
Are your garments nicely fitted,
That accepted you may be,
As a guest on board for Heaven,
Trav’ling for eternity?
Do you hold the bloodstained banner,
Of Emmanuel in your hand,
With your claims inscribed upon it,
And a ride for Heav’n demand?
Refrain
’Tis the only signal, brother,
That will make your passage sure,
That will stop the mighty engine,
And a seat to you secure;
That will give you close connection,
And a never failing hand,
That will take you safely over,
To the glory spirit land.
Refrain
__________________
Life is like a mountain railroad, with an engineer that’s brave;
We must make the run successful, from the cradle to the grave;
Watch the curves, the fills, the tunnels; never falter, never quail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.
Refrain
Blessèd Savior, Thou wilt guide us,
Till we reach that blissful shore;
Where the angels wait to join us
In Thy praise forevermore.
You will roll up grades of trial; you will cross the bridge of strife;
See that Christ is your Conductor on this lightning train of life;
Always mindful of obstruction, do your duty, never fail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.
Refrain
You will often find obstructions; look for storms of wind and rain;
On a fill, or curve, or trestle, they will almost ditch your train;
Put your trust alone in Jesus; never falter, never fail;
Keep your hand upon the throttle, and your eye upon the rail.
Refrain
As you roll across the trestle, spanning Jordan’s swelling tide,
You behold the Union Depot into which your train will glide;
There you’ll meet the Superintendent, God the Father, God the Son,
With the hearty, joyous, plaudit, “Weary pilgrim, welcome home!”
Refrain
____________
’Tis Thine alone, almighty Name,
To raise the dead to life,
The lost inebriate to reclaim
From passion’s fearful strife.
What ruin hath intemperance wrought
How widely roll its waves!
How many myriads hath it brought
To fill dishonored graves!
And see, O Lord, what numbers still
Are maddened by the bowl,
Led captive at the tyrant’s will
In bondage, heart and soul.
Stretch forth Thy hand, O God, our King
And break the galling chain;
Deliverance to the captive bring,
And end the usurper’s reign.
The cause of temperance is Thine own;
Our plans and efforts bless;
We trust, O Lord, in Thee alone
To crown them with success.
Normally I don't tend to go for Gospel songs, as a lot of them are subject to the same critiques as I've leveled against Tomlin, but even the best just aren't my style. These, however, are pretty decent poetry. Nice extended metaphor, interesting structure, etc.
Posted by: ryan at October 25, 2005 03:46 PMI haven't been commenting, Ryan, since we pretty thoroughly agree and you've been holding your own without trouble. But I must interject here that an extended metaphor is no virtue if it is an extension of an extremely bad metaphor.
Train metaphors, I fear, are in that category. Same for bottle metaphors. Card-playing metaphors are allowable, but only if you're Dylan and you're recording "Blood on the Tracks."
Posted by: mesh at October 25, 2005 04:47 PMPoint taken.
Posted by: ryan at October 25, 2005 04:54 PMJames Ward did a version of that second railroad hymn at North Shore's "relaxed Sunday evening" about two months ago. It was, I think, an overextended metaphor, though the chorus is OK, at least when James Ward sings it. "Blissful shore" is way cliche, though.
Posted by: Evan Donovan at October 26, 2005 11:16 PMRyan.
"In the Secret" has a second verse, rather Pauline.
~
I am reaching for the highest goal
That I might receive the prize
Pressing onward, pushing every hindrance aside, out of my way
'Cause I want to know you more
~
And...that song was written by Andy Park, not Chris Tomlin.
Posted by: Tuggy at October 27, 2005 12:21 PMAnd now for some thoughts.
Sometimes "bad poetry" grates on my nerves too, but one thing that I think Andy Park is onto here is a kind of prayer that I've found myself in many times.
Consider the fact that the brain *sometimes* functions in a less than linear fashion. Have you never prayed thoughts to God - feelings, even?
Before you get all over me on that, consider the Christians who have been deaf their whole lives, to whom written English is truly a foreign (or at least fully second) language. I have the privilege of knowing several of these people at my church in Pennsylvania. They truly do not use words like we hearing folk do, even the ones who are fairly fluent in English. They think in feelings, in motivations, in cause-and-effect, in visual coincidences. Their everyday experience of reality is different than ours.
Now, unless you're going to tell me that these people are handicapped, unable to worship in the way that humanity is supposed to (and if you knew how brilliant some of them are - one is a top engineer - you wouldn't), could you not concede that we might worship God with impulses of thoughts, with word association, that don't have to follow the rules of well-crafted literature?
I can say with decent surety that a song like "In the Secret" would make a lot more sense to some of my deaf friends than some of the beautifully worded things we get to sing. Not that they're stupid, but because you can actually worship God richly through very few words. (Of course we can with many words too - I'm not negating that.) When I am in my most earnest prayer, I find this happening (partially because God keeps interrupting me, stopping me from over-explaining what I expect him to do) - that I start praying with very few words, expressing in waves the longings and the love and the unsolvable knots of confusion around situations that hurt.
Ryan, I love the well-crafted, richly textured, theologically robust, musically profound hymns (and there aren't really THAT many of them that fit that description, sadly!). I prefer them to songs like "In the Secret." But I think some of your "bad poetry" is not bad prayer and not bad worship, even in corporate settings.
They're often meditations, ruminations, on texts and truths in which a mature Christian would do well to spend some time soaking himself.
Lamentations 3 (ESV)
25 The LORD is good to those who wait for him,
to the soul who seeks him.
26 It is good that one should wait quietly
for the salvation of the LORD.
Psalm 51 (ESV)
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Ryan! For pity's sake!
"Shout to the Lord" was written by Darlene Zshech.
"God of Wonders" was written by Steve Hindalong and Marc Byrd.
There, now you have several more people to criticize. Just check that you're dealing with what they've actually done, please.
Posted by: Tuggy at October 27, 2005 01:05 PMYea dude.
I'm kinda jumping in way after this debate is over...
but I think "The Famous One" is the only song in your list that was written by Chris Tomlin. None of those other ones were written by him whatsoever.
Those songs are . Horrible for worship in comparison to something with substance, like The Love of God, or A Debtor to Mercy Alone.
But in all reality, I think Chris Tomlin is one of the few in CCM that are keeping modern worship from committing (hm...maybe that would be a good thing....) Chris Tomlin I think is the only CCM writer that DOES have any substance (I'm not saying as much as some of the beautiful hymns....but nevertheless, I can't think of any CCM worship artist that has better lyrics - Jars of Clay does, but they don't write corporate worship songs) Check out, for example Wonderful Maker. It's decent stuff....The best CCM worship I've seen yet, at least....
Posted by: Ryan Musser at November 23, 2005 12:40 AM