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Contests Demos

Carry Me

In 2001 a call went out from a new group called Crimson Bridge for songs that would fit their style. I seem to remember them wanting something to the effect of

  • songs from a Christian perspective, but necessarily only for Christian audiences
  • themes that dealt with the weightier issues of life and faith
  • mature perspective (i.e. teeny bopper songs wouldn’t fit this group of women)
  • something their multivocal group could sink their teeth into

I don’t know that I ever heard back from them. (You wouldn’t believe how many people request songs and then don’t even respond to your submission. At least have the decency to acknowledge that you received the submission; preferably you should take the time to let them know why their song didn’t fit the project. But no, I’m not bitter.)

I came across this demo the other day and gave it another listen. I’ll be up front and say that the demo is cheesy. Fair enough. But I still kind of like the song itself. It’s written from the perspective of a person who is at an undisclosed juncture (illness? midlife crisis? failed relationship?) and is praying one of those nothing-to-lose honest prayers of doubt and faith that mark such crossroads.

I know this kind of straight up CCM pop is not everyone’s cup of tea, but expand your hipster horizons and give it a listen: Carry Me, MP3.

VERSE 1
The days are filled with coffee,
and the nights last for days.
You never know where your life is going
But I didn’t think it would be this way.

How could I have seen it coming?
What could I have done to prepare?
Of all the places I thought I’d end up
it would be anywhere but here.

CHORUS
If Your love moves mountains,
and Your love soothes seas,
then I need Your love to reach down
and move and soothe my soul. I need your love
to carry me.

VERSE 2
Who am I to question?
I’m in no place to make demands.
But you’ve led me into this wilderness
and I’m trying to understand:

Should I see hope on the horizon?
Should I find comfort in the past?
Right now I’m in between
and I don’t know how long it will last.

CHORUS

BRIDGE
Your love has brought me here today,
to a place where I can’t see my way.
O Lord, there’s nothing I can do
if Your love doesn’t carry me through.

VERSE 3
Nothing in this world is forever.
It burns like dew in the morning sun.
But longer than the earth will spin
Your love goes on and on.

CHORUS

Categories
Arrangement Church Congregational Songs Live Retuned hymn

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty/Praise the Lord, O My Soul

I found an MP3 on my computer the other day, and to tell you the truth I don’t know what it’s from. It’s my arrangement of “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty” that includes the added refrain “Praise the Lord, O My Soul.” I’m pretty sure it’s played by Church of the Servant’s Guitarchestra, because it features the soulful accordion stylings of Kurt Schaefer. But is it a service recording? Something I recorded during rehearsal? I really don’t know.

But I liked its relaxed vibe, so I thought I’d share it: MP3

You can find a list of my hymn arrangements here. I’m in the process of uploading the whole lot to hymnary.org, but I will accept email requests in the meantime.

Categories
Church Congregational Songs

Christ Has Died

Churches of a liturgical bent usually include the “memorial acclamation” as part of their communion liturgy. The leader says “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith” and the people respond with “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” This not only makes for good liturgy, but is a profound miniature creed.

Here, both parts are sung. The introduction is given to the leader–probably a cantor/soloist, but it’s wonderful when a pastor/priest is able to sing the liturgy. The acclamation is sung first by the choir (in this case a choir of Gregs) and then repeated by the congregation (of Gregs).

Christ Has Died: MP3, PDF

Categories
Church Congregational Songs

The Body of Christ

As I worked on Cardiphonia’s Songs for the Supper project, I wrote lots of sketches before settling on “O Lamb of God” as the one I’d record “for real.” I recently got a chance to complete and record a few of the other ideas. The first is “The Body of Christ.”

In many churches, passing of the communion elements is accompanied by the words “The body of Christ, the bread of heaven” and “The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation,” to which the recipient answers “Thanks be to God.” Here are those words in musical form. I imagine the song being used as a meditative refrain that the congregation can sing while passing the communion elements, similar to Taizé’s “Eat This Bread.” I plan to write Taizé-style descants as well. The first blog reader who schedules this song for a service and requests the descants (with a few days’ notice) gets them for free!

The Body of Christ: MP3, PDF

Categories
Quirky

Theophiles: Theo Dumb Dumb

Disclaimer: I did not make up the character Theo Dumb Dumb, nor did I endorse or encourage it. (Except writing this theme song…)

I don’t know how the super hero Theo Dumb Dumb came to be, but it seems he is a likable character whose clumsy foibles always save the day. My favorite part of this recording is Theo’s spoken introduction: “here’s a true story that I made up.” Very funny.

It is fitting to end our 12 days of Christmas with a rousing little earworm that finds the whole Scheer family singing along. Won’t you join us?

Theo Dumb Dumb

Categories
Quirky

Theophiles: Rubberbandman

When the boys invented Rubberbandman, I didn’t have the heart to tell them he already had a theme song. A good one. So I just went ahead and invented a new one. Make sure to listen for Theo’s narration in the middle. He’s been working on his rhyming, and spontaneously came up with the ingenius, “He’s like an elastic waist/but without all those suntans/so clap your hands/for Rubberbandman.” That’s my boy!

Rubberbandman

Categories
Quirky

Theophiles: Fartman

In our last three days of Theophiles, we’ll finish with three new super hero theme songs.

Simon and Theo have been drawing lots of comic books lately. And what’s a comic book without a super hero? In this case, the super hero is named Fartman. His super power, of course, is releasing noxious fumes that fell evil doers. Yes, this counts as high humor for an eight year old.

Fartman

Categories
Quirky

Theophiles: Jingle Bells

Are you ready to faint from cuteness?

When Theo was three or so, I put him to bed and then about a half hour later I heard sounds coming from the room he shared with Simon. It’s not unusual for Simon to fall right asleep while Theo–our night owl–is up another hour thinking about whatever it is boys think about while they lay in bed. But on this particular night, there was a different sort of sound emanating from their room.

As I got closer to the bedroom, I heard a strange version of Jingle Bells. It seems Theo had learned the song (at least the first phrase) and was rehearsing it over and over with the gusto of a punk rock front man. I grabbed my pocket recorder to document the unfolding bed time concert. What you hear here is only a portion of the whole recording. Listen closely at the end, to how Theo responds when I finally walk into the room: Jingle Bells.

Simon, by the way, slept through the whole thing

Categories
Quirky

Theophiles: Yisha Boo

How long, you wonder, has this bath time songwriting been going on?

This recording is from about three years ago, when Theo was five. For some reason he was saying the nonsense syllables “yisha boo” over and over again. I liked the way it sounded, so I added some chords. I think this has the potential to become the “We are the Champions” of this generation’s children. Join the movement! MP3.

Categories
Quirky

Theophiles: Who Is Dumb?

The Scheers are an affirming lot. That’s why bath time produces no Barney-style “You’re special” mantras, but instead a song called “Who Is Dumb?” This may never win the Scheers a spot on the Disney Channel, but it has a certain allure for a certain kind of little person–Simon heard the song and joined right in. Maybe you should, too: Who Is Dumb, MP3