The Bible and Music

I randomly had this idea when listening to the Moana songs that the kids I nanny adore. The youngest one’s favorite is You’re Welcome. When listening to the drums at the beginning it reminded me of something we had thought about in class where a group took Genesis 1 and planned to start off with silence and then bring in the music. So, thats what I tried to do here. I found the karaoke version of the song and recorded myself narrating it, thank you damaged vocal chords, in garageband and then created the song. It has Genesis 1:1-3, 6, 8, 9, 27, Genesis 2:1, Psalm 34:5, Psalm 28:7, and Psalm 16:11 NLT. I thought that the upbeat feeling and the percussion helped create a sense of newness and joy with the verses from the Bible. I throughly enjoyed making this, despite my dislike of my own voice. I added the Psalms because there felt like there was a lot of empty space without them and I had already selected the parts of Genesis that I wanted to use and did not want to add too many words, fearing they would be lost in the music.

It was kind of nerve racking to go on the second day, mostly because I do not like talking in front of larger groups of people and that everyone else’s projects were so cool that I did not think mine would measure up. I really liked all the creativity that everyone displayed and their politeness in watching and enjoying my presentation. The different ways that everyone incorporated their verse, either by using direct quotes of it or by reworking the story was very interesting. The different styles of work also showed that everyone has their own way of thinking about things and connecting them to music or other creative aspects.

It was really cool to see all of the projects people were working on. I really liked the different ways people went with how they brought the music and their Bible verse together. I especially like how Nick Bentz included dancing in his. His use of repetition and movement really helped bring a greater impact than just the text and music would have made together. I also was very impressed with those that could sing and rap and create their own music from scratch with such great success.

I really liked combining a Psalm that is pretty important to my family with a passion of mine, photography. I was especially pleased when my sister agreed to help me out by modeling for me. It was really cool to create this story of someone returning to their belief in God and being awestruck by the amount of love given to them. To receive that amount of love is unfathomable but so exhilarating. I think that the verse changes the song lyrics from being about a romantic relationship to about a relationship between a believer and God.

I had a different idea to rework some lyrics to a song to make it about the Bible but never got around to doing anything recording wise with it. Here are the lyrics I came up with to change of ABC by the Jackson 5:

You went to school to learn kids
Things you never, never knew before
Like “I” before “E” except after “C”
And why 2 plus 2 makes 4
Now, now, now
I’m gonna teach you
(Teach you, teach you)
All about Jesus
(All about Jesus)
Sit yourself down, take a seat
All you gotta do is repeat after me

A B C
It’s easy as, 1 2 3
As simple as, do re mi
A B C, 1 2 3
Jesus, you and God
A B C
It’s easy as, 1 2 3
As simple as, do re mi
A B C, 1 2 3
Jesus, you and God

……

Oh, A B C
It’s easy as, 1 2 3
As simple as, do re mi
A B C, 1 2 3
Jesus, you and God
A B C it’s easy,
It’s like counting up to 3
Sing a simple melody
That’s how easy God can be
That’s how easy God can be
Sing a simple melody
1 2 3
You and God

Here are the lyrics to my final song!

The Story of David and Goliath

Final Reflection D&G

I wasn’t able to make it to the final class, but if it went anything like the first day I am sure you all did an amazing job. I am excited to listen to the finished works and read your reflections on your process.  Good luck on finals everyone! I hope you all enjoy my finished piece.

We got to look at some rough drafts of presentations. I was so surprised with all the hard work that was done for these projects. It was amazing how creative some people I had gotten. The class was really respectful and nice when it came to giving feedback, most of us were just impressed by what was done. I didn’t realize we had so much talent in the class room that was truly amazing to see. I was so nervous to share what I had done especially after hearing other people. People were so nice and I had worked really hard so I was happy that people liked what I came up with. I am excited to listen to some of the finish products. I cannot wait.

Madi Woodall
Self Analysis
PCA
McGrath

Prior to this project, I used to listen to the song Leroy Brown quite a bit, and more times than not I would have the tune stuck in my head. When researching different bible stories and verses, I was listening to this song and thought, who are some bad people in the Bible? I came across the story of David and Goliath and I knew that that was perfect. It took me a while to perfect the lyrics, but once I had I knew that I had done what I really wanted to do with the project. I continuously recorded the song as I was never quite satisfied with how my voice sounded, and am still trying to work on a finalized copy, more for myself than anything.
With a song as catchy and well known as Leroy Brown, I was nervous to present because I was afraid that I had messed up the song or lyrics. However after listening to everybody else’s drafts, I realized that there was no judgement no matter what I did. None of us are perfect and no matter what we make mistakes. We were all in support of one another and our journey throughout this course. I realized when working on this project that I should never be afraid to express myself in a musical way, even if I don’t feel that my work is quite good enough. This project made me feel comfortable singing again, and I hope to have the opportunity to work on something else. Learning about the bible and how it influences music and is intertwined into everything that we listen to was an incredible experience, and even though I did not necessarily pick this course, I have absolutely no regrets in taking it.

Lyrics:
In the valley of ole Elah
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware
Of a man named Goliath of Gath

Now Goliath more than trouble
You see he stood about 9ft 9
All the downtown maidens call him Tree Top Lover
All the Philistines call him sir

And he’s bad bad Goliath of Gath
Baddest man in the whole damn path
Badder than ole king Saul
Meaner than one of Satan’s dogs

Now Goliath, he’s a champion
And he’s never been beat before
He likes to wave his bloody sword
So everybody knows
He’s got a custom engraved chest plate
He wears gold around his waste
He’s got 32 feathers in his helmet for fun
He’s got a razor in his shoe

And he’s bad bad Goliath of Gath
Baddest man in the whole damn path
Badder than ole king Saul
Meaner than one of Satan’s dogs

Now a Friday bout a week ago
Philistines wanted to fight
And at the edge of the camp
Stood a man name David
And who that boy looked right
They sent there big man on in
And trouble soon began
And Goliath of Gath learned a lesson
Bout messing with the people of gods plan

And he’s bad bad Goliath of Gath
Baddest man in the whole damn path
Badder than ole king Saul
Meaner than one of Satan’s dogs

Well the two men took to fighting
And when they pulled him from the floor
Goliath took a stone from David’s ole shot
And the big man was all gone

And he’s bad bad Goliath of Gath
Baddest man in the whole damn path
Badder than ole king Saul
Meaner than one of Satan’s dogs

Finalized song: