Entrance: Send Down the Fire (Haugen) AOV 2/164
Psalm: Lord Send Out Your Spirit (Zsigray)
Gospel Acclamation: Halle Halle Halle (Unknown) AOV 2/46
Gifts: Holy Spirit Come (Mangan) AOV NG 67
Communion: Christ be Our Light (Farrell) AOV 2/3
Lord to Whom Shall We Go (Herry) AOV 1/6
Thanksgiving: Enemy of Apathy (Bell-Maule) AOV 2/75
Recessional: The Spirit Lives to Set Us Free (Lundy) AOV 2/165
This is a fun, if lyrically simplistic, reggae song written by a committee. The lyrics are by Tony and Lynn Melendez and Augie and Dawn Leal with music by Tony Melendez and Augie Leal.
The text is at spiritandsong. I can’t find a downloadable copy of the sheet music to purchase so you may have to get it in Spirit & Song Vol 1. You can hear the original here.
These people are commendably joyous while struggling with the syncopation, but throw in a key change to mix things up.
This song by Steve Angrisano and Tom Tomaszek has verses based on a prayer by St Francis and a chorus that isn’t. It is singable but best as a vehicle for private prayer rather than a communal rite. I suppose the you could sing “our” rather than “my” and it would help.
The text is at spiritandsong where it can be purchased for download. You can hear the original here. There is a good MIDI file for the song here.
My backing is an awkward jazz version that is best just for learning the tune.
This duo have fine harmonies:
This is essentially an uptempo chant by Tom Tomaszek that rocks along nicely and is not too hard to sing. It is a beatitude from Luke 11:28 or maybe Ps119.
The text, which is just repeated for as long as you need to, is at spiritandsong. It can be purchased as part of a collection at OCP. You can hear Tomaszek’s version at his My Space page.
My backing follows the arrangement in Spirit & Song with a long instrumental introduction and brings in the harmony line after the first repetition.
For those who are thinking, “There isn’t enough autotune in Catholic music,” the Arch Street Band have something for you.
This is a song by Rich Mullins that I have heard about for years but never actually heard until now. In Mullins’ sadly short life he wrote some pretty good songs, some of which come up soon, but I doubt this is one of them. Mullins’ songs haven’t been heard of where I have played and so I missed the debate on whether this song was suitable for liturgy because of its popularity with young people back in the nineties.
It wasn’t — it is a solo vehicle with far too many notes crammed together for an assembly (OK it’s meant to be call and response), the text is a scatter gun of images from all over the place and the chorus sounds like a hair metal singalong — but that makes it fine for some P&W settings. Stealing lines from Irving Berlin is one way to highlight a poorly written lyric if that was the intent, but I somehow doubt this song was tongue in cheek. I love rock music and think it can be used liturgically, but am not a fan of this style so I am probably biased against this song. This document tiptoes around the issue.
The text is at spiritandsong. You can buy an SATB version at sheetmusicplus but since this is a guitar song you probably don’t need more than the chords which are all over the net.
This clip shows Michael W. Smith just getting the crowd singing along the chorus and dispensing with the verse altogether.
This is the original with the call and response verse.
I’m blogging Spirit and Song Vol 1 and have got to the section called Prayer and Praise songs. That means that these songs are less likely to have a liturgical function and are more likely to be solo vehicles. If I skip a song that means I’ve already blogged it in the past.
Tom Booth‘s “Cry the Gospel” is a fine P&W song whose extreme syncopation in the refrain makes an assembly’s task difficult. A good indicator for me is that if I am entering an awful lot of 16th notes for the melody in BIAB, it is probably a song for solo voice. That said, it has a call and response refrain and so is obviously intended to be sung with a least a choir. You can hear his original, rather restrained, version here.
The text is at spiritandsong. The sheet music can be purchased for download at OCP.
This is a video of Tom Booth performing with a choir in a mass setting, where it looks a performance with the camera angle revealing no obvious participation from the assembly.
In a different setting outside of a mass, the song comes into its own as Booth teaches as he goes and gets the call and response going:
Entrance: All the Ends of the Earth (Dufford) AOV 1/76)
Psalm 47 (O’Brien)
God mounts his throne with shouts of joy;
A blare of trumpets for the Lord.
Gifts: Blessed Be Our God (McKenna) AOV NG 13
Communion: Bread Broken, Wine Shared (Horner) AOV 2/155
We Are Many Parts (Haugen) AOV 1/86
Thanksgiving: Holy Spirit Come (Mangan) AOV NG 67
Recessional: You Are Mine (Haas) AOV 2/2
I’ll have a short break from blogging. I’ll be back in a week or so.
This is the last of the communion songs in Spirit & Song Vol 1. It is written by Mark Friedman. It is simple and singable and worth considering.
The text is at spiritandsong and can be purchased in a collection at OCP. You can hear the original here.
My backing isn’t as gentle as suggested.
These kids are great:
These are enthusiastic at least.
I wouldn’t have thought of this text from Revelation as a communion song, but Ricky Manalo did and that’s all that matters. It is a pretty and singable song.
The text is at spiritandsong where the sheet music can be purchased for download.
My backing adds the harmony line in the second repeat of the refrain.
This is a nice version:
This song by Dana Scallon should not work. The verses are messy with lots of short notes, there are two key changes, and counter melodies from nowhere in the sixth verse if you last that long. But, it is a really catchy singalong and has room for guitar solos if you are that way inclined. I’d love to give it a try.
The text is at spiritandsong and you can hear a snippet and buy it in an collection at OCP.
