The Bible and Music

We started off class with a biblical allusion presentation on the song “Rivers of Babylon”. It was very interesting. After the presentation, we listened to different versions of the same song. The 4 songs were very different from each other. Two of the versions were reggae and disco. I liked the disco version the best. It was very interesting how different the songs were. Even some of the lyrics were changed. We then listened to the two different versions of “Mary Did You Know”. Once again these songs were very different from one another. I prefer the Pentatonix version.It’s all about different interpretations.

I am so excited! I finally figured out exactly how I want to go about my final project. I picked a song that I love and listen to every day and I am going to tell a story from the Bible with that music in the background. I have much more work to do, but I can’t wait to see how it all comes together in the end. Maybe this project isn’t as hard as I was making it seem!

In today’s class we got to take a look at the first final project. It was interesting to see someone else’s interpretation of the assignment but it made me a bit afraid that I was doing my assignment completely wrong. I now understand that there are different ways to go about the project. We also got to hear different versions of the same song which was really nice. I never really thought of songs being sang more than one way but the more I thought about it we hear these things everyday. There are so many songs that I hear now that are just newer versions of older songs. I can’t wait to see more final projects and listen to what everyone came up with!

Today in class, we looked at how their are different versions of similar songs. People often like certain versions of songs, over others. Something about a different version, makes their experience of the song better. I found this to be interesting, because it is very true for me. I like certain versions of songs, more than others. This is because I like what the artist did, to make it their own. We looked at different versions of Hallelujah, which was interesting to hear how different artists adapt that song. We then filled out the course survey and were able to get out early.

I found it quite interesting how the same songs could be interpreted across several genres and artistic styles. It really highlights how one religious image can be interpreted several ways across the board. I think it is also important to note how different artists can interpret the same biblical imagery in different lights. For example, Lady Gaga interprets Mary Magdalene much differently than Andrew Lloyd Weber does.

In class today, we started our focus with reggae music and the culture from Jamaica. We listened to the song, “Rivers of Babylon” by The Melodians. The Melodians were a band from Jamaica and came out with this song in 1972. We discussed the setting of a biblical text that this band utilizes in their song writing and what makes their music unique. I have always enjoyed listening to varieties of reggae music, but never really researched their culture and religious beliefs. There are several versions of the song, “Rivers by Babylon” and each one has a different voice with altering instruments that give the song individuality. The song produced by The Melodians changed entire lines from Psalm 137 and even chose to copy lines straight from the biblical passage to insert into their lyrics. This was interesting to me because I wanted to get a better grasp on setting a biblical text to music and my project is similar to their style in that I will insert some of my own ideas and some will come straight from the chapter in the Bible that I am looking at. We continued the class by looking at different versions of songs like, “Hallelujah” and what makes each version different.

We finished the class by discussing the idea of popular music having biblical text connections and what stuck out to each person in doing the scavenger hunt. I was surprised by the variety of types of music that had biblical allusions and how many songs that the band U2 had that somehow related to The Bible. Several of my choices in the Scavenger Hunt were from this rock band.

Today in class we talked about biblical allusions in popular music. Something that was interesting about U2’s song 40 was that it is actually a musical rendition of psalm 40. This is different from other songs we have talked about in class or that I found for the scavenger hunt because those just alluded to the Bible, making small references, but these songs are actually taking text from the Bible and making it into music. Some of the allusions that pop up in pop culture are not made intentionally, but rather have become common references and it you didn’t have the knowledge of the Bible, you would not know that it was an allusion.

During class on Monday we discussed how student wellness affects student learning, particularly how it is important to get enough sleep to able to think in class and do assignments properly. This is especially relevant with the semester coming to a close because all of my classes are wrapping up with their final projects and when studying for finals, it is important to also get enough sleep so you can drop all your knowledge on the exam or the final project. In addition to this, we also discussed our final project for this class, and I need to write up my reflection for the process I went through when I did it a few weeks ago.

In class we discussed the final project. We had the chance to ask questions and figure out what we needed for the final project. Some people needed help getting started. I had already finished my project so I asked how to present my song to the class. It was suggested that the song be presented through so form of singing. We then discussed who is comfortable singing alone and how we can be more comfortable singing together. So the option I think I’m going to go with is the option of teaching my song to the class and having us sing it together. I still have a bit of concern with this because the beat can be hard to get sometimes. I am trying to find a good karaoke version to sing along with. My backup plan is singing it myself because I know how the beat goes.

I am currently looking at passages from the Book of Ruth as my inspiration for my final project. I find the character of Ruth fascinating and think she could be expressed well. I am also looking at the Book of Revelation because I love the drama of so many of the passages. I had an idea to maybe incorporate my dance background by actually making this a into a whole video in which I perform to the passage. Also, I don’t like the idea of rewriting a pop song with a bible passage because I think it distracts from the meaning of the passages so I think I’m going to use some ambient music and read the passages more loosely especially if I will be dancing to it.