Month: October 2020

An important conversation that arose within class was the Bible and its relationship to “covers” of songs in pop culture. I never realized how important the role of ancient language was in the interpretation of Psalms. Originally, these were written to rhyme in ancient language, which explains how the meaning has evolved over time. Many different translations try to match the rhyming quality of the original author, skewing the definition of the word slightly. This is a lot like covers of songs in modern society, as different techniques and genres of the remakes can completely change the experience for the listener. I never thought of this analogy before, and also often forget that there is music in the Bible at all. Hearing the same passages in Christian pop rock in the same few songs on the radio, it’s hard to remember that these Psalms are part of a larger work, with much more context.

I have been exposed to many Psalms and translations into songs because I grew up in the church and was part of a choir. Just a short time ago, I took on the task of reading through the whole book of Psalm. Through the influences around me, I have found a liking in Psalm 139. This is because in choir we sang a song composed by Alan Pote titled Psalm 139 and it is one of the chapters that I refer to it often as it relates to my life. What the verse encompasses is simply that God knows you and knows your every movement, struggle, and who you truly are. Each year the people who graduated from our choir would come back and we would all sing this song. With every year we would have a bigger and bigger group because of the number of people who graduated. When we sang this song together it was such a powerful moment in which we could all relate to each other and unite in this one song that we all knew. The message always rang clear through the congregation and through the singers. I know it resonated with me. It is something that I can find strength in and other people can too. When there is a shared feeling of comfort, people can unite with a common goal. Not just in this one Psalm, but in many Psalms, people can relate to the struggles and joys that are felt by the narrator. I believe therefore the book of Psalms is one of the most relatable books in the Bible. It is so convenient to get to as well (most of the time you can open the Bible in the middle and you will be in Psalm). It is easy to find something that is in Psalm that at one point in time anyone could relate to.

Psalms, and music in general, have had a huge impact on my faith life.  Starting from a young age, I often listened to Christian music, attended Mass regularly, sang along with the songs (because they say singing is praying twice:), and getting involved in the ministry.  Having played instruments for 15 years, I have been able to be more insightful to how music can give so much meaning to words that initially don’t make much sense to us.  Often times, when singing the psalms during Mass, I have a realization or connection that all of a sudden comes to me, and I suddenly know why the psalm was chosen to go with the particular Scripture readings for the day.  The psalms are often some of the more catchier tunes that are short and easy to get stuck in my head, so I will end up singing them all throughout the day.  Additionally, I thought the idea of interpretation and the use of music to convey a particular meaning was very interesting.  It got me thinking about some of the Gregorian chant that I have heard videos of, and I got to thinking about how far our “music” has come.  I attended an Eastern Orthodox Church one weekend and was very surprised to find that a lot of their songs are just chants.  There were only a few pieces that had maybe a few notes or chords on piano, which I found very different from my typical Mass.  Because I have had music in my life since a very young age, I have learned how much work goes into creating expression and emotion in what is initially words typed on a page.  Starting as a poem, it’s interesting to see just how one line can turn into what seems like a struggle to get through by notation and rhythm selected.  I also find it very interesting to see how each Church may adapt its own “style” to their psalms that they sing.  Often at my church, our piano player will write a different tune to go with the words of the psalm, or sometimes they use the same tune for two different psalms.  I find it very interesting to compare and contrast music between churches.  It has allowed me to reflect on my personal preferences with music involved in the Mass.

The psalms were written by King David and his contemporaries throughout Israel as God continues to interact with the ancient Judean people. They are constructed with meter to be sung and chanted, and they are written with poetic form. Many are incredibly prophetic of the New Testament, others are great repetitive prayers, and some were written with praise of God as its purpose. Psalm 50 in the Septuagint is of particular importance to the Orthodox Church as it is the only psalm which is recited in its entirety during the Divine Liturgy. It is recited by the priest during the Cherubic Hymn as he prepares for the holy oblation, this is prior to the Epiclesis in which the priest blesses the gifts for them to become the body and blood of Christ. This psalm was written by David after his encounter with Bathsheba whom he had and affair with, he asks the lord for forgiveness repeatedly for the sake of repentance.

Psalm 137 stood out to me out of the other psalms we had to read for today’s class. Line 9 of psalm 137 is rather barbaric and cruel for a song in the Bible. The context of psalm 137 is the writer sings about the ones who plundered them mocking him to sing a song of their land. The song is very vengeful, the writer speaks about wanting to kill the children of his enemy and how it will be a joyous occasion.

The Melodians song, “Rivers of Babylon,” is an adaptation of psalm 137, and has a very different tone than reading the text without any music. The Melodians version has a somber and depressing tone to it while psalm 137 reads as a very aggressive and hateful passage. It’s ok for the Melodians to adapt and edit out parts of a psalm to make it their own, that’s part of their creative freedom.

In class today, we talked about the importance of music in the Bible in the book of Psalms, and we even listened to some songs by artists that used a few verses from certain Psalms. I have always known that this book of the Bible were actually songs, which has always made me wonder what they would have sounded like when they were originally written. It was interesting to listen to the songs that used a Psalm, while the band was also using their own style and really made this song their own. What is interesting and something that I have never thought about is whether this is their own interpretation of this Psalm, or have they taken complete possession over the song they made and just added a few verses from a Psalm? It is fascinating how U2 used these verses, which have always meant to be music but are written in a book as text, and combining them with their own style and genre of music.

Something else that I was brought to my attention was how books and texts are not as subject to change in interpretation as music can be. In music, you can use lyrics as a base and really apply any genre or style of music or variance of pitch you want. In books and other texts, there is one less dimension, lacking the ability to change the sound or pitch like music can. I have never thought of music in this way, but it now makes sense why music can be so powerful: because it has this extra dimension that can be subject to change.

I thought the reading for today was very interesting. As a non-religious person but someone who did grow up occasionally attending church, I never really thought about how much religion was a part of our American culture in a way much greater than just religion being an aspect of culture. The idea that the Bible is the best-selling book ever I thought was fascinating, especially compared to the fact that many Americans could not name the 4 gospels, the 10 commandments, or even the first book in the Bible. On the other hand, like we saw in class today, you have religion being portrayed constantly in popular culture like in song. I find it pretty interesting and quite powerful spreading the message in the Bible in different forms of culture and make it relatable, but I wonder if people who are very religious would disagree and why.

It is interesting how many psalms I have heard of before. I did not grow up reading psalms, but I am familiar with some of the lines in parts of different psalms. For example, Psalm 23 starts with “The Lord is my shepherd”. I have heard this line before although I cannot place where I heard it. It is interesting dissecting the psalms and looking for the deeper meanings behind them. When comparing translations, it is odd that there are so many different interpretations of the psalms.

I think it’s interesting that we don’t really know what the music of the Psalms sounded like. The research into ancient instruments reminds me of the excavation of the house that showed Israelites in Israel, something else I find interesting. I especially find it cool how there may be a back and forth in the rehearsal of the Psalms in ancient times. It’s be cool to know as it may reveal new meaning in the Psalms.

In regards to the question in class regarding music and if a “cover” is the same as the original, I think as long as there is a noticeable amount of deliberate change to the song then it is a different song.

I found the dive into pop culture interesting, as someone that likes to know random facts about pop culture these were nice additions to my repertoire. This is something I’d like to see in class more, but I understand the class agenda goes outside of pop culture.

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.” When I think of Psalms, The Divine Shepherd is the one that usually pops into my head. The reason for this goes all the way back to when I was in fourth grade Sunday School. Our teacher was an older man who promised to give any of us who memorized this Psalm a two dollar bill. Obviously all of us forth graders were to preoccupied with the idea of getting the bill to understand why he was incentivizing us to memorize this Psalm. This Psalm is one of the most popular Psalms, and one of the most important in my mind. It tells us the importance of God, and how God will always protect us and lead us in life. This is very different than the Psalm before it, Plea for Deliverance from Suffering and Hostility.  This Psalm is from the perspective of a person in suffering, and someone who is asking God for help. These two Psalms work well together to show God’s way, for in the end of Psalm 22, the suffering person thanks God for everything he has done. This leads into Psalm 23, which shows us God in all his might and how he will always lead us. These two Psalms show us the work of God. First, you suffer and you cry out for God to help, and he does. Because of this, you follow him because he is your shepherd and will always help you to find your way.