Postmodern Hymns and why most music about religion sucks

Let's face it, the list of non-hymn music about religion that most people find appealing is shorter than.......the checkout line at Sak's Fifth Avenue (ok, that sucks). When I think of good religious music I think of two things: hymns, and non-hymns.

Hymns I love (click to listen to a MIDI version)= Abide With Me, Nearer My God to Thee, Come, Come Ye Saints (All is Well), The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and most every Christmas Carol. I also love Onward Christian Soldiers, but sadly Mormons don't sing it with the zest that Baptists did at Vacation Bible School when I was a kid. "With the CROOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSS of JEEEEEESSSSSSUUUUSSSS, GOING ONNNNNNN BEFORRRRRRRRE!" shaking the rafters of the church. Mormons sing it well, but without the gusto of their Protestant brethren. Mormons do sing other hymns well. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir has few equals.

Hymns I DO NOT love = Oh How Lovely Was the Morning (I LOATHE this hymn, not the words, but the key, notes, rythm, etc.), More Holiness Give Me, or Sweet Is the Work.


There is other music about religion that isn't necessarily appropriate for the quiet reverence of a Sacrament service, but that equally fill me with the rapture and elation of a joyful noise. Even though they may not be about the same god I worship, I enjoy Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky," Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crystal Blue Persuasion," George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" and The Byrds "Turn Turn Turn" taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1. This is good music. Given the pervasiveness of religion in our history I find it odd that there isn't more music about religion.

Reggae is one music that has embraced religion and done it well. Most reggae artists that sing about religion are Rastafarians.

Taken from wikipedia:
Rasta, or the Rastafari movement, is a new-religious movement that accepts Haile Selassie I, the former emperor of Ethiopia, as Jah (the Rastafari name for God incarnate, from a shortened form of Jehovah found in Psalms 68:4 in the King James Version of the Bible), and part of the Holy Trinity as the messiah promised to return in the Bible. The name Rastafari comes from Ras Täfäri, the pre-coronation name of Haile Selassie I. The movement emerged in Jamaica among working-class and peasant black people in the early 1930s, arising from an interpretation of Biblical prophecy based on his having been the only African king in the world, and his titles of King of Kings, Lord of Lords and Conquering Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5). Other factors leading to its rise included black social and political aspirations, and the teachings of their prophet, Jamaican black publicist and organiser Marcus Garvey, whose political and cultural vision helped inspire a new world view. The movement is sometimes called "Rastafarianism"; however, this is considered improper and offensive by Rastas. "
<<<<< Marcus Garvey
...
Bob Marley and the Wailers have some of the most beautiful religious songs of all time. I don't worship Haile Selassie, but if I sing them about my God, they are beautiful and precious to me, just the same. Look at these lyrics to One Love:

Let them all pass all their dirty remarks (One Love!);
There is one question I'd really love to ask (One Heart!):
Is there a place for the hopeless sinner,
Who has hurt all mankind just to save his own beliefs?
One Love! What about the one heart? One Heart!
What about - ?
Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning (One Love!);
So shall it be in the end (One Heart!),All right!
Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel all right;
Let's get together and feel all right.
One more thing!Let's get together to fight this Holy Armagiddyon (One Love!),
So when the Man comes there will be no, no doom (One Song!).
Have pity on those whose chances grows t'inner;
There ain't no hiding place from the Father of Creation.

Those words bring joy and elation to my heart and soul, two fruits of the Spirit. I love reggae music and Bob Marley's words so much that I named my firstborn, Marley, after him. Roll your eyes if you want, but the music speaks loud and certain Rasta concepts are spot on in my opinion. The is no hiding place from God, the Grand Other Whose Gaze Cannot Be Avoided.

So what do the faithful do when they want good music that's not all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll? I'm not saying that music has to be about god--that could get boring. I'm saying that there isn't enough and what there is nowadays sucks some serious ass. Christian rock is vapid and tedious. "My God is an Awesome God" has zero cool factor, and what's worse, I don't really feel any passion in the lyrics. Sure they are poetic and nice and stuff, but I don't feel anything when I hear them. Jars of Clay had some nice songs but that was 10 years ago. Mormon pop is some of the worst music I've ever head. Where is the passion, the good beats and rhythms, where is the soul in the music about souls? I want someone to make me believe in Jesus by their words. I want someone who sings from their soul. Writing music for mass consumption about god, Jesus, Jah, Jehovah, or even Ganesh will not move me unless it's meant to move me.

Life is for living, we all know, and I don't want to live it with mediocre music. Enter a Hassidic jew you may have heard of, Matisyahu. I believe that he is singing from his soul. Watch this video.

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2668921?htv=12

Sure its gimmicky to you, but he is orthodox and apparently lives the lifestyle: he is not a poser. I believe him. Check out the lyrics to his song:

You're all that I have and you're all that I need
Each and every day I pray to get to know you please
I wanna to be close to you, yes I'm so hungry
You're like water for my soul when it gets thirsty
Without you there's no me You're the air that I breathe
Sometimes the world is dark and I just can't see
With these, demons surround all around to bring me down to negativity
But I believe, yes I believe, I said I believe
I'll stand on my own two feet Won't be brought down on one knee
Fight with all of my might and get these demons to flee
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Hashem's rays fire blaze burn bright and I believe
Out of darkness comes light, twilight unto the heights
Crown Heights burnin' up all through the twilight
Said, thank you to my God, now I finally got it right
And I'll fight with all of my heart, and all a' my soul, and all a' my might
What's this feeling? My love will rip a hole in the ceiling
I give myself to you now from the essence of my being
And I sing to my God songs of love and healing
I want Mashiach now, time we start revealing Bridge:
Me no want no sinsemilla That would only bring me down
Burn away by brain no way my brain is too compound
Elevate on my soul you're a fire in my sound
Like the sun over some rain earning up to a cloud
Torah food for my brain let it rain till I drown
Thunder! Let the blessing's come down
Strip away the layers and reveal your soul
Give yourself up and then you become whole
You're a slave to yourself and you don't even know
You want to live the fast life but your brain moves slow
If you're trying to stay high then you're bound to stay low
You want God but you can't deflate your ego
If you're already there then there's nowhere to go
If you're cup's already full then its bound to overflow
If you're drowning in the waters and you can't stay afloat
Ask Hashem for mercy and he'll throw you a rope
You're looking for help from God you say he couldn't be found
Looking up to the sky and searching beneath the ground
Like a King without his Crown Yes I wanna get down
King without his Crown Yes I keep fallin' down
You really want to live but can't get rid of your frown
Tried to reach unto the heights and wound bound down on the ground
Reelin' him in, reel in him Where ya been Where ya been for so long
It's hard to stay strong
I've been living in galus for a life too long
I said where you've been
Where ya been for so long?
...

I believe that young man. I believe him.