The Alternative Hymnal

because lots of christian music sucks...

The Waifs – Here if you Want

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As the very first set of lyrics to be posted to this blog I felt that I should post something Australian, there’s nothing quite like some acoustic Australian folk to warm the cockles of your heart. The Waifs are Vikki, Donna (both sisters) and Josh, their music is normally acoustic and use great melodies and harmonies. This song on the EP is actually a live recording and unfortunately hasn’t made it on any of their cd’s as yet but the live recording is very clear and great to listen to.

I’ve used this song both in prayer time and in a worship soundtrack, the other day i used it in a worship service for some young people who were doing the 40 hour famine.

Here If You Want
by The Waifs
Album: EP London Still (Released June 2002)

i could hazard a guess
but i’ll never know
why you put these walls up
i can’t get through
it’s as though you want
to be lonely and blue

sometimes it feels
like nobody knows
you wanna be alone now
hidden from view
feels as though the whole world
is comin’ for you

maybe i know
maybe i don’t
makes no difference you know
i’m here if you want
here if you want
here if you want

people don’t hunger
only for food
how easy that would be
so basic and crude
there’s so much more you need
just to help nourish you

so if you’ve decided
you’ve hungered too long
and your sick and tired
of being alone
i want you to know
i’m here if you want
here if you want
here if you want

maybe i know
maybe i don’t
makes no difference you know
i’m here if you want
here if you want
here if you want
here if you want
here if you want

Everclear – Wonderful

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Everclear - Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile
I’ve chosen a song from left field for this post, Wonderful by the band Everclear. Everclear did some great stuff, this cd in particular had a great version of “Brown Eyed Girl.”

Now, not all songs are songs that could be used in a worship setting, some are great for opening discussions on issues, this one in particular I’ve used in a small group setting as a conversation starter.

A brief version of “The Worlds most Dangerous Bible Study” appears in an audio format on the Princeton Theological College’s website here, in it Eric Elnes uses this song as a base for his discussion. It was probably the first time I really took a good look at this song, I knew it, I could sing it (kind of) but really didnt think much about it. Eric provides a sample lesson plan for the use of the song in this way here (pdf file), If you feel like it, use some of his stuff and alter it to fit your group’s settings.

Jeremiah 20: 7-18
You pushed me into this, GOD, and I let you do it. You were too much for me. And now I’m a public joke. They all poke fun at me. Every time I open my mouth I’m shouting, “Murder!” or “Rape!” And all I get for my GOD-warnings are insults and contempt. But if I say, “Forget it! No more GOD-Messages from me!” The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones. I’m worn out trying to hold it in. I can’t do it any longer! Then I hear whispering behind my back: “There goes old “Danger – Everywhere.’ Shut him up! Report him!” Old friends watch, hoping I’ll fall flat on my face: “One misstep and we’ll have him. We’ll get rid of him for good!” But GOD, a most fierce warrior, is at my side. Those who are after me will be sent sprawling– Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves, a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget. Oh, GOD – of – the – Angel – Armies, no one fools you. You see through everyone, everything. I want to see you pay them back for what they’ve done. I rest my case with you. Sing to GOD! All praise to GOD! He saves the weak from the grip of the wicked. Curse the day I was born! The day my mother bore me–a curse on it, I say! And curse the man who delivered the news to my father: “You’ve got a new baby–a boy baby!” (How happy it made him.)Let that birth notice be blacked out, deleted from the records, And the man who brought it haunted to his death with the bad news he brought. He should have killed me before I was born, with that womb as my tomb, My mother pregnant for the rest of her life with a baby dead in her womb. Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb? Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears, and what’s coming is more of the same.
from The Message

Anyhow, the lyrics…

Wonderful
by Everclear
Album: Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile

Hey, ain’t life wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful… Isn’t it wonderful now?
I close my eyes when I get too sad
I think thoughts that I know are bad
Close my eyes and I count to ten
Hope it’s over when I open them
I want the things that I had before
Like a Star Wars poster on my bedroom door
I wish I could count to ten
Make everything be wonderful again
Hope my mom and I hope my dad
Will figure out why they get so mad
Hear them scream, I hear them fight
They say bad words that make me wanna cry
Close my eyes when I go to bed
And I dream of angels who make me smile
I feel better when I hear them say
Everything will be wonderful someday
Promises mean everything when you’re little
And the world’s so big
I just don’t understand how
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes
Tell me everything is wonderful now
Please don’t tell me everything is wonderful now
I go to school and I run and play
I tell the kids that it’s all okay
I laugh aloud so my friends won’t know
When the bell rings I just don’t wanna go home
Go to my room and I close my eyes
I make believe that I have a new life
I don’t believe you when you say
Everything will be wonderful someday
Promises mean everything when you’re little
And the world is so big
I just don’t understand how
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes
When you tell me everything is wonderful now
No
No, I don’t wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now
No
No, I don’t wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now
I don’t wanna hear you say
That I will understand someday
No, no, no, no
I don’t wanna hear you say
You both have grown in a different way
No, no, no, no
I don’t wanna meet your friends
And I don’t wanna start over again
I just want my life to be the same
Just like it used to be
Some days I hate everything
I hate everything
Everyone and everything
Please don’t tell me everything is wonderful now…
I don’t wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now

The Crowd – The Cat Empire

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The Cat Empire is another Australian band that combines hip hop with jazz and dance, full of funk and reggae they don’t need to beg for their fans to dance to their music. This particular song was a surprise for me, to find a couple of songs on a cd that I can use in a church setting, or that speak to me in a spiritual way is always a great surprise.

Young people (At least in Australia) will know this song and even if they don’t they’ll find that it speaks to them in many ways. I have used this song a couple of times with images and lyrics on a screen as a benediction. The lyrics asking God to unchain people’s hands and feet to allow them to dance in the streets and meet people is a great image to have as people leave the worship space to continue sharing themselves and God in their schools and workplaces.

2 Samuel 6:14
David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might.

The Crowd
by The Cat Empire
Album: The Cat Empire

Lord unchain my hands
let me sing inside the crowded trams
let me dance among the traffic jams
we’re going to sleep
on the St Kilda sands

Lord unbind my feet
let me mingle with the good people we meet
water rising up into the street
unbind my feet

‘The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
petals on a wet black bough”
Ezra Pound found the formula
our houses are rectangular
but life is curved not angular
so when things start to strangular remember
rain still falls on the halls of power
new babies being born every hour
and the eagle keeps watch on the old clock tower
over me…

CHORUS

On the train I refrain from sitting with head and shoulders bowed
they told me time is of the essence
no wandering allowed
but then I saw a pretty girl
whose features stood out in the crowd
went ten minutes past my stop waiting for her to look around
I’m just another clown kicking around in Melbourne town
cooling out, relaxing watching the
world go round
so if you ever have the time
and you want to go drink some wine
I’d rather greet you with a smile
than greet you with a frown…

Lord unchain my hands
let me sing inside the crowded trams
let me dance among the traffic jams
we’re going to sleep
on the St Kilda sands

Lord unbind my feet
let me mingle with the good people
we meet
water rising up into the street
unbind my feet

– H Angus – This song contains a quotation from the poem ‘In a Station of the Metro’ (1913) by Ezra Pound

One Giant Leap – Braided Hair

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The One Giant Leap project brought together two absolute champions who went on a world journey with their apple mac interviewing people and musicians on things like death, happiness, God and death. The result was a beautiful dvd and cd that was mixed together from their interviews and travels. There’s no other word than genius to describe this project, because it’s probably the most beautiful collection of words, sounds and images that I have in my collection.

When Jamie Catto and Duncan Bridgeman joined forces to create the project 1 Giant Leap, they embarked upon a global journey that included Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, India, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, America and Europe, equipped solely with a digital video camera, a laptop and a vision – to capture and weave together a unique fusion of sound, image and spoken word from some of the world’s most happening musicians, authors, scientists and thinkers and to explore ‘The Unity in the Diversity’. more here

The dvd has a video of “Braided Hair” on it as well as “My Culture” which will be another addition to this hymnal at a later date. I decided to add Braided Hair today as I have now decided to include the video in my service this Sunday alond with Faithless’ “We Come 1.” The video is on the dvd and the cd single for Braided Hair.

It’s also nice to hear Speech’s voice in a song again, it’d been a while.

Braided Hair
by One Giant Leap Ft. Speech And Neneh Cherry
Album: One Giant Leap

Yo we was talking earlier and I was telling you talking bout life
I feel like life is like braided hair
Its sorta like twist you know
Bout braided hair like twist
You know three strands twist together
Ultimately you get to where you wanna get to

From the same dirt from the heels of my ancestors
The naked roads and the fields where the pain festered
And I wonder where the hold came from
In the deeps of my heart make me yearn for the drum
It’s the same place where the cross is burned
The same place where the loss was earned
It’s the place where the floss was yearned
Gold teeth and bling ice on the ring baby sure

Chorus: We’ve all got things that are hanging about
Things that make us cool,
Things that make us whack,
Things that make us mad
Things we wish we never had done
But they’re just the things that make us real
Not the maps to guide where we go from here
The road twists and braids our hair
Until we all get there

I like that I don’t know some mysteries
Ancient things and beginnings
Excited about the day when I don’t have to hear all the theories
My scalp needs some grease
It’s the same place where the crosses burned
The same place where the loss was earned
The only way we all can learn
Is if we have these braids with the twist and turns so

Walking in the race of life
Looking for my own pace
Not always wanting to but I have to
Sometimes feeling like I’ve bitten off much more than I could chew
But the wind goes though my hair
Lifts me up with ease not a crease
Hair full of grease no weave embracing me
It’s you I see
I am you and you are me I see yeah
I am you and you are me I see

We might survive as brothers yeah or perish here as fools
Go place your bets
Don’t bet too soon
You might find me in another
Feels like someone you once knew
You know that face yeah we all do
Braided hair (what’s it all for?)

Everclear – Wonderful

by

cEverclear - Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile
I’ve chosen a song from left field for this post, Wonderful by the band Everclear. Everclear did some great stuff, this cd in particular had a great version of “Brown Eyed Girl.”

Now, not all songs are songs that could be used in a worship setting, some are great for opening discussions on issues, this one in particular I’ve used in a small group setting as a conversation starter.

A brief version of “The Worlds most Dangerous Bible Study” appears in an audio format on the Princeton Theological College’s website here, in it Eric Elnes uses this song as a base for his discussion. It was probably the first time I really took a good look at this song, I knew it, I could sing it (kind of) but really didnt think much about it. Eric provides a sample lesson plan for the use of the song in this way here (pdf file), If you feel like it, use some of his stuff and alter it to fit your group’s settings.

Jeremiah 20: 7-18
You pushed me into this, GOD, and I let you do it. You were too much for me. And now I’m a public joke. They all poke fun at me. Every time I open my mouth I’m shouting, “Murder!” or “Rape!” And all I get for my GOD-warnings are insults and contempt. But if I say, “Forget it! No more GOD-Messages from me!” The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones. I’m worn out trying to hold it in. I can’t do it any longer! Then I hear whispering behind my back: “There goes old “Danger – Everywhere.’ Shut him up! Report him!” Old friends watch, hoping I’ll fall flat on my face: “One misstep and we’ll have him. We’ll get rid of him for good!” But GOD, a most fierce warrior, is at my side. Those who are after me will be sent sprawling– Slapstick buffoons falling all over themselves, a spectacle of humiliation no one will ever forget. Oh, GOD – of – the – Angel – Armies, no one fools you. You see through everyone, everything. I want to see you pay them back for what they’ve done. I rest my case with you. Sing to GOD! All praise to GOD! He saves the weak from the grip of the wicked. Curse the day I was born! The day my mother bore me–a curse on it, I say! And curse the man who delivered the news to my father: “You’ve got a new baby–a boy baby!” (How happy it made him.)Let that birth notice be blacked out, deleted from the records, And the man who brought it haunted to his death with the bad news he brought. He should have killed me before I was born, with that womb as my tomb, My mother pregnant for the rest of her life with a baby dead in her womb. Why, oh why, did I ever leave that womb? Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears, and what’s coming is more of the same.
from The Message

Anyhow, the lyrics…

Wonderful
by Everclear
Album: Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How to Smile

Hey, ain’t life wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful… Isn’t it wonderful now?
I close my eyes when I get too sad
I think thoughts that I know are bad
Close my eyes and I count to ten
Hope it’s over when I open them
I want the things that I had before
Like a Star Wars poster on my bedroom door
I wish I could count to ten
Make everything be wonderful again
Hope my mom and I hope my dad
Will figure out why they get so mad
Hear them scream, I hear them fight
They say bad words that make me wanna cry
Close my eyes when I go to bed
And I dream of angels who make me smile
I feel better when I hear them say
Everything will be wonderful someday
Promises mean everything when you’re little
And the world’s so big
I just don’t understand how
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes
Tell me everything is wonderful now
Please don’t tell me everything is wonderful now
I go to school and I run and play
I tell the kids that it’s all okay
I laugh aloud so my friends won’t know
When the bell rings I just don’t wanna go home
Go to my room and I close my eyes
I make believe that I have a new life
I don’t believe you when you say
Everything will be wonderful someday
Promises mean everything when you’re little
And the world is so big
I just don’t understand how
You can smile with all those tears in your eyes
When you tell me everything is wonderful now
No
No, I don’t wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now
No
No, I don’t wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now
I don’t wanna hear you say
That I will understand someday
No, no, no, no
I don’t wanna hear you say
You both have grown in a different way
No, no, no, no
I don’t wanna meet your friends
And I don’t wanna start over again
I just want my life to be the same
Just like it used to be
Some days I hate everything
I hate everything
Everyone and everything
Please don’t tell me everything is wonderful now…
I don’t wanna hear you tell me everything is wonderful now

Love is the Law – Paul Kelly

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Continuing the Australian flavour the next song in the Hymnal is by singer/songwriter Paul Kelly. When this cd came out in 2001 we were just getting over the events of 9/11 and in Australia we were going through even more discussions over refugees and detention centres. Some might suggest that not much has changed, which only serves to make the lyrics of this song more powerful.

The cd single of Love is the Law comes with 3 remixes, use this anywhere, use it everywhere… Just use it.

This will not be the only Paul Kelly track in the Hymnal

Love is the Law
by Paul Kelly
Album: Nothing but a Dream

Though I speak in tongues of angels
And in many tongues of men
Though prophecy may sing through me
Without love I’m nothing

Though I understand all mysteries
And can see the story’s end
Though my faith can move mountains
Without love I’m nothing

Love is the law, the law is love
Love is the law, the law is love

You may give away your riches
Do good deeds in the sight of men
You may be strong against temptation
But without love you’re nothing

Without love you’re jus useless
Without love you’re living in hell
Without love you’re so hollow
An empty horn, a clanging bell

Love is the law, the law is love
Love is the law, the law is love

Love can suffer hardship
Love is touch and kind
Love is never envious
Or puffed up with pride

Love is always truthful
Love is never stale
Love is always hopeful
And never dreams that it can fail

Love is the law, the law is love
Love is the law, the law is love