A random post about Music...

I love music.

I love lots of different kinds of music. *Notice I did not say ALL kinds of music. I really have a hard time with Rap(although I will bust out a little DC Talk every now and again.) and I really can’t do a lot of that New Age instrumental stuff…

I love the way we have certain kinds of music that we “need” when we are in a certain mood. Being goofy with friends requires Soundtracks…preferably old school Disney, i.e. Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Mary Poppins (A must!), Sound of Music(Duh), Annie, and the list goes on and on…
If I’m in a “get it done” mood, I need Kelly Clarkson, Reba, Big Band, Standards i.e. Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Doris Day, Julie London, etc. There are some soundtracks that I need for this time too… Hairspray, Mamma Mia!, Princess Diaries 2…

If I’m in a “get my praise on” mood, I absolutely MUST have Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir…nothing gets me into a praise time faster that havin’ church with the BTC. I mean, when you have them singing “How Great Thou Art”, or “Days of Elijah”, or “I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy” or “Thou, O Lord”, it’s almost impossible to not have church. I also need CeCe, Travis Cottrell and the Living Proof team, and my home church, Fairview Baptist Tabernacle, has recorded 2 cds that are amazing! Partly because I know everyone on there, and also because they really rock!

If I’m in a “need to ponder the great things of life” mood, I like to have Fernando Ortega, Chris Rice, Norah Jones, Josh Groban…and, believe it or not I have some soundtracks for this mood as well! ;) Love the Notebook because it bounces back and forth between slow and jazzy and happy and swinging…good for the constantly changing moods that come when you ponder the great things of life.

If I’m in a “want to feel like a kid in church again” mood, there is only one kind of music that will do. Hymns…I LOVE hymns! I think I probably have more hymn compilation cds than any other type of music. I have instrumental hymns, I have classic hymns, I have modern hymns, and a host of countless other varieties…I’m not sure if I could pick my favorite style…there are some times when only the good old classic style will do. And not just the typical hymns either. You know the ones I’m talking about…Amazing Grace, How Great Thou Art, Just As I Am, Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, Sweet Hour of Prayer, and the list goes on. No, my favorites are ones that most people haven’t heard of, or if they have they are typically a little older than me! ;) Hymns like Day by Day(Not the one from Godspell), Wonderful, the Matchless Grace of Jesus, Breathe On Me, Be Still My Soul, He Keeps Me Singing, Heavenly Sunlight, Heaven Came Down, Lead Me to Calvary, and I seriously could go on and on…there are soo many songs that have changed my life in different ways. Songs that when I hear them, I am instantly transported to a specific time and place or a person comes to mind because it could have been their favorite hymn. There are some songs that I smile soo big when I sing them because I remember singing them with my sister or family…while we would never mock the hymn or the powerful words that we’re singing about, we would sing it in a certain style or change up the rhythm or something…just for fun, and it was all because we loved the song. For instance, whenever I sing He Keeps Me Singing, and my sister isn’t there, I have to keep myself from adding the words “in my heart” after “Fills my every longing” or saying Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, really fast instead of the way it’s written. And just now, I think I know where we got that…my Great Grandfather on my Mom’s side was a Nazarene Preacher and he also sang. My whole family grew up singing and I’m pretty sure I can remember at some family gathering, we started a family hymn sing…someone must have changed up the chorus of He Keeps Me Singing. It’s fun and when you think about the words you’re singing…There’s within my heart a melody, Jesus whispers sweet and low, Fear not I am with thee, Keeps me singing as I go…it totally fits to have a great big smile on your face as you sing it!

A lot of the time people associate hymns with old school, old church, behind the times and the elderly…and it really ticks me off! I mean, seriously, why in the world do we feel the need to try and hide the fact that we like hymns? Or that we even enjoy singing them? When I say that I love hymns I tend to get a look like, really? Eww, I mean, they are soo old or boring…but the truth of the matter is, most people today don’t want to think when they sing…I’ve heard some people say that they don’t understand half the words used in the old hymns, like in A Mighty Fortress when it says a Bulwark never failing…who knows what a Bulwark is? No one? Okay then, let’s not sing it. *sigh* I did not intend for this to turn out into this sort of post, but I just get really upset when people try to belittle the hymns and all the great melodies and words that are in them. To me it’s a sign of disrespect and judgmental to act like your music is better and holier than the old hymns. Now, hear me…I’m not saying that everyone is this way, or that everyone has to love hymns. But I do think that it shouldn’t be something that turns your nose up or makes you shut down when you hear it start up. Nor do I think it should be any different for those who don’t like the modern day hymns or the praise and worship that is in a lot of churches today. I just think that a lot of importance is misplaced and I wish it wasn’t so. If there is something I can do to keep the future generations from forgetting about the hymns then I will do it…I will play the baby hymn cd in the nursery of my child, I will buy the VeggieTales and let my kids learn the hymns through Bob and Larry singing to them in the car and I will teach my kids how to learn to read musical parts from the good old hymnal.

Sometimes music becomes something that distracts us. Sometimes it becomes something that will uplift us. Sometimes music becomes the avenue in which God speaks to us. Sometimes He will use a song that we have heard all of our life and this time, we will hear something that we have never heard before and it will totally change our life. Music can play such a big role in our life. It’s up to us if we let it be a positive one or a negative one.