Music from the Responsible Puppet
The Responsible Puppet writes:
Several years ago I wanted to teach my kids the weekly bible verse from our church's five year bible memory program so I started making up songs. One of the pastor heard about it and asked us to sing at the yearly bible verse kick off. After that, people started asking us to record.Just to be clear, this is the RP's deal, not mine.
We started off slow and rough and we have now produced five CDs. The most recent CD is the entire Sermon On The Mount (every word, every verse), using several musical styles and the gifts of nearly fifty musicians and multiple song-writers. It's good, main stream, not highly-produced family-friendly music. It includes the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer and many other favorite passages.
Labels: Christianity, music
54 Comments:
We've found some great bible verse memorization songs on YT. I passed these onto my wife.
This is awesome! Sharing it on my FB page.
Will check it out and share with my Awana kids.
Got any songs in the style of Psykosonik?
:)
But seriously, that's pretty cool.
Thanks, Vox.
Music is a powerful tool. We've used songs to help our kids memorize scripture since they were pre-school and it's simply astounding how much they retain even from those early years. Way to go RP.
Purely excellent.
i wish i didn't have such a strong negative reaction to this. The sermon on the mount... singing it? It just seems so incredibly disrespectful... it totally robs the reverence and awe.
I mean.. mockery doesn't have to be deliberate.
I'm sorry to hear that Nate. I haven't heard that response before.
You can't put reverence and awe into songs?
Bought it. It'll be great for the grandkids.
Thanks, JMAC!
Disrespectful to internalize the Word using one of God's favorite means of praise, Nate? Really? It is difficult to revere and be struck with awe over verses one cannot remember.
"The sermon on the mount... singing it? It just seems so incredibly disrespectful... it totally robs the reverence and awe."
Well I can understand where you're at, but I think there's two sides; I mean for instance, Bach's St. Matthew Passion would beg to differ, but granted that's an extreme case. Me, I suffered through I don't know how many high-school productions of Godspell, because all my friends were constantly getting snared in the cast (high school drama club: the secret skeleton key to a rewarding romantic life for nerds!). I found that stuff sometimes unbearably mawkish, but sometimes really insightful with a good director. It depends.
Keep in mind that the Sermon on the Mount was sort of the exact opposite of awe: God gave the law to Moses on Mount Sinai in thunder and lightning and spectacular CGI pyrotechnics we presume, given His penchant for big-budget Cecil B. DeMille miracles at the time, but with the Sermon on the Mount, some homeless guy just sat on a hill and told everybody the truth. (The hurricane went past, but the LORD was not in the hurricane. After the hurricane came a little peeping sound. When Elijah heard it, he went out and hid his face. [I paraphrase, my memory is not perfect and I'm too lazy to google it.])
There's as much to be said for simple settings as there is for grand ones. The thing I think that is always not sufficiently emphasized is the phrase, which sounds like mere connectivity but which is really the heart of the matter: "But _I_ say to you..." thus creating this gigantic mind-fuck of levels of authority. Jesus is not speaking hermeneutically or interpretatively as a rabbi, but as the Author of the work in question. That had to be a shock.
"They were astonished, because he taught them as one with Authority." That is the thing that keeps one awake at night.
jamsco - Can you clear up the differences between the available CDs? 1 and 5 contain completely different verses, and there are no sets 2-4, correct?
I mean at Amazon.
Daniel: "1 and 5 contain completely different verses, and there are no sets 2-4, correct?"
That's correct. I can see how it would be confusing. We are currently working on set 3.
I put links to purchase your cd on my website, thehiddenmanna.org
"You can't put reverence and awe into songs?"
Of course you can.
well... Bach could... Brahms could... Shostakovitch could... Wagner could...
Like I said... I wish stuff like this didn't rub me the wrong way. I see the point of it. But somehow there in my head this all gets wound up in the christian ghetto blob... and the label "bad" gets thrown on it in my head.
I hate to say it... but I fear you are being blamed for Stryper.
I hate to say it... but I fear you are being blamed for Stryper.
That's funny and there's no way around it.
JMAC, one of your links didn't work quite right.
Also JMAC, just for the record - Vox wasn't a part of producing the CD. But if he ever wants to use his keyboard skills we'd totally take him.
Looks like an excellent tool. Reminds me of the old Schoolhouse Rock cartoons. They seemed kind of stupid at the time and I didn't think I was even paying attention to them but I've never forgotten the lyrics to "Conjunction Junction".
Nate: "Like I said... I wish stuff like this didn't rub me the wrong way."
And here I was half expecting your complaint (or Vox's) to be that we shouldn't focus on the Sermon on the Mount because it wasn't meant to be applicable to all people.
But if he ever wants to use his keyboard skills we'd totally take him.
I appreciate that. But we're still not letting you in the Posse. It's for your own good.
Reminds me of...what was it...
GT and the Halo Express.
Good stuff.
This comment has been removed by the author.
By the way - Here's the Kinetic Typography video that we made for one of the a Capella songs.
I deem it to have sufficient reverence and awestruckness.
Hey, Stryper was a lot of fun in their day.
"Solll-jah's... So-wol-jahs!!! Under command!!!"
I do enjoy Stryper. Cheese ball hair metal, as cheesy as the other cheese ball hair metal bands from that era. The fact that they were like 17 or 18 when they first started should be accounted for.
"I do enjoy Stryper.'
You're dead to me.
"And here I was half expecting your complaint (or Vox's) to be that we shouldn't focus on the Sermon on the Mount because it wasn't meant to be applicable to all people."
No see Jamsco.. unlike Calvinists..we can actually read... and think.
You've known this for sometime. I don't listen to Megadeth as much anymore. When the mood strikes, I will rock some Holy Wars.
"You've known this for sometime. "
Shutup music zombie.
Well if you really want to use music to get people to hear the Gospel and believe, you don't even have to do a setting of literal scripture. Why, you could use this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-3ndXJZUUY
and then this, once they're really ready to hear the Word...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlbunmCbTBA
Both to my mind are far more persuasive arguments for the existence of God than many a logical tract. Some of those guitar solos are much more logical to me, and are doing philosophy on a far more rigorous basis, than the Tractatus.
"Then Richie, Richie said, Hey man let's dress up like cops, think of what we could do! Something, something told me, Hey, you better not."
Dig.
Nate,
i would like to see you do commentary at the Dove Awards.
Sincerely
cheddarman
Haha! Nate would have a stroke if he had to watch the Dove Awards. They still giving out awards to Jars of Clay?
Nate,
In my original email to Vox, I wrote this sentence which he elected to not include in his post:
"Obviously Nate can have a free copy if he can get me an address to send it to, but I'm afraid he'll be disappointed in the percussion, which is not extensive."
That offer still stands. If I get your address I'll send you a CD. You know at least one of your kids (assuming you have any!) will like it, and (to use an argument I know you love) if a child learns even one verse, it will have been worth it.
I don't usually go for the Bible stuff (I'm Agnostic...OK, I don't like Organized Religion(tm) and avoid church if possible), and I gotta say, I sat through the whole Matthew 5 video, and actually enjoyed it.
I think you guys hit on a pretty good idea there. Way to go.
Thanks, Factory!
This is fantastic! Heading over to Amazon right now! Thanks so much!!!
Karen
This program has been on my radar long before I heard of any Jamsco.
I like it - where can I get the sheet music for a small group choral presentation?
"Obviously Nate can have a free copy if he can get me an address to send it to, but I'm afraid he'll be disappointed in the percussion, which is not extensive."
Well Nate's on record as saying drums never belong in religious music anyway so just forget it.
Excellent, Jamsco, especially in this day and age when it's so much easier to shoot off one's big mouth on blogs than make the effort to create something really worthwhile.
Jamsco, the next one should be the Westminster Catechism. With drums. For Nate. In all seriousness, if a song is scriputally sound, edifying to the believer, and generally singable, it is work that will certainly bear much fruit. I'm sure it's better than the Superfun "Worship" Rockband cranking out Jesus is my boyfriend crap that is so prevalent today. We use a lot of songs to help our kids learn, and we'll certainly give it a try.
Excellent, Jamsco, especially in this day and age when it's so much easier to shoot off one's big mouth on blogs than make the effort to create something really worthwhile.
This is so, so funny to me right now. You think shooting off one's big mouth on a blog is wasting time? YOU HAVEN'T SEEN WASTING TIME YET!
But you will. Oh, how you will....
Worship music should be played on bag pipes...Highland bag pipes.
Sincerely
cheddarman
You think shooting off one's big mouth on a blog is wasting time?
I clearly, and simply, stated that it's much EASIER to blog than to actually create something worthwhile. Regardless, I'm glad your comprehension of my comment was so very amusing to yourself.
I clearly, and simply, stated that it's much EASIER to blog than to actually create something worthwhile.
You are misreading Vox's tone. But later, everything is falling into place.
""Obviously Nate can have a free copy if he can get me an address to send it to, but I'm afraid he'll be disappointed in the percussion, which is not extensive."
That offer still stands. If I get your address I'll send you a CD. You know at least one of your kids (assuming you have any!) will like it, and (to use an argument I know you love) if a child learns even one verse, it will have been worth it."
How can you not know that I have kids? hell Josh and Waterboy have made an internet career of mocking me as a daddy blogger!
As for music...
1) you misunderstood. I said drums have virtually no place in worship music. religious art music often employs percussion and in masterful... glorious ways. For crying out loud... I'm meeting a guy tonight to start organizing a church percussion ensemble.
2) my kids' musical tastes range from Five Finger Death Punch to The Offspring to A7X to Shostakovitch to Johnny Cash.
Nate: "How can you not know that I have kids?"
How can you not know that I know you have kids? I've posted on my RP blog about your dadding. I suggested last month at your blog that you restart dad-blogging.
So, given your kids electic tastes, do you want a CD?
Jamsco... I would consider it an honor. some place I can email you an address?
Nate, check your facebook messages.
Post a Comment
NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS. Anonymous comments will be deleted.
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home