This is from the Songs for Mass collection by Keryn Morehu and Dianne Simmons and you can buy it at their website.
I actually find this song rather hard and we sing it with the timings smoothed out a little. My backing is, however, as written. It is also laid back jazz and probably unsuitable except to learn the tune.
When we don’t use Frank Andersen’s song of this name we use John Foley’s and it is really a very good song that everyone participates in for singing. There is a sample to listen to at OCP where you can buy the sheet music as well. You can hear the whole song here. There are some interesting versions on YouTube: one with harmonica, one with karoake reverb, a choir and an assembly. None of them really capture being in a group going for the crescendo, which I suggest you do.
My backing is a render of a strange MIDI file I don’t even remember making* that has an awful lot of tracks going on but should be adequate to learn the song in the unlikely event you don’t already know it.
1. O let all who thirst,
let them come to the water.
And let all who have nothing,
let them come to the Lord:
without money, without price.
Why should you pay the price,
except for the Lord?
2. And let all who seek,
let them come to the water.
And let all who have nothing,
let them come to the Lord:
without money, without strife.
Why should you spend your life,
except for the Lord?
3. And let all who toil,
let them come to the water.
And let all who are weary,
let them come to the Lord:
all who labor, without rest.
How can your soul find rest,
except for the Lord?
4. And let all the poor,
let them come to the water,
Bring the ones who are laden,
bring them all to the Lord:
bring the children without might.
Easy the load and light:
come to the Lord.
* It is possible I did not make it, of course, but it sounds to me like I’ve entered a lot of notes manually and then added it to a MIDI based on a BIAB file.
This gathering song by Michael Mangan probably really is just for children this time. It is also available in the Sing Your Joy collection. There are two claps in the first line of the verses after “called” and “Lord” and a bar of clapping between the verse and chorus.
Chorus
Come together let’s celebrate, sing a joyful song.
We are part of one family and God’s love for us is so strong.
Verse 1
Baptised we are called, as children of the Lord.
Gathering here to worship and adore.
Chorus
Verse 2
Calling us by name, different yet the same,
Gathering here to praise God’s holy name.
Chorus
Verse 3
Blest with such great things, we come to praise and sing,
This is another of Michael Mangan’s songs for children that I must have done at a children’s gathering when my children were younger. It is an advent chant really, and nothing in the lyrics would stop it being used for everyone. It is available in the Sing Your Joy collection.
This song is one of the most looked at on this site, which is a testament to the quality of Michael Mangan’s song. However my post has problems that are not entirely of my making, but that I should try to fix. By the way, if you don’t want to get As One Voice: the Next Generation to get this music, you can get it in a collection at Litmus Publications.
The music we used for years had no notes for the second and third verse, so we just guessed how it went and when I made the backing I used the bones of an old one and didn’t redo the notes for the second and third verse so they are all wrong and that makes learning the song from my backing, which is the whole point of the thing, very difficult.
The other problem is that the song has been completely redone by Michael with a completely different arrangement, including the chords and notes and lyrics being altered.
In addition the backing I made wasn’t very good so I’ve had two more goes. The first is a better version of the way we play it, with the notes for the second and third verses somewhat sorted out:
Verse 1
We come from ancient dreamtime,
From the bush, or by the sea.
We come from a thousand city streets,
We are the rich and lowly,
We are the poor and strong,
We come to share this moment,
Gathering here, singing one song
Chorus
With our hearts on fire with the love of Jesus Hearts on fire, let’s spread the Word Hearts on fire, feel the Spirit blazing Hearts on fire Called to live the Good News in this land Setting hearts on fire, with our hearts on fire Setting hearts on fire
Verse 2
We long to live in freedom, we yearn for unity
We dream of justice, joy and peace
Spirit fill us with your power
Jesus help us live your call
O Creator give us wisdom
So we will be Good News for all
Chorus
Verse 3
We are the voice of Jesus
We are His hearts and hands
We are His body in our land
Stand up! Live the story
To all the world proclaim
Go out to all creation
Lighting the fire, fanning the flames
Chorus
The second is the arrangement in As One Voice: the Next Generation, which in retrospect, is what I should have done in the first place. This has the different first verse:
Verse 1
We gather as one people, called to share this mystery.
We bring our joys, our hopes, our dreams.
We are the rich and lonely, we are the poor and strong.
We come to share this moment,
Gathering here, singing one song. etc.
I hope this helps. I still think the original arrangement is far superior, but I will admit it nearly killed me to play until I got used to it.
I think we only used this for one Easter when we had a real music director who didn’t work out. Apart from the verses being too high, probably designed for a cantor, it sounds a fine song by David Haas. You can hear a sample and buy the music at GIA here. The echoing descant is good if you can bring it off.
If you are just using guitar it suggests capo 1, so just forget the capo to bring it down a semitone, or better yet bring it all the way down to F.
Just to remind myself, I’ve already blogged As One Voice Volumes 1,2 and Next Gen and am currently working through a miscellaneous file of songs we have done at church over the years that aren’t in As One Voice. Maybe they should be the As One Voice X-Files.
That means I’m also trying to figure out where these came from, as they were often found by musicians before my time and sometimes they are hand written. I can remember being so annoyed at having to read one of these scraps that I made a printed copy on an old version of a notation program and years later magically found a copy of my version when helping out at a church miles away.
This is a two part round by Jack Miffleton, that can be purchased at OCP. It has uses for any dark/light symbolism, but I’d love to hear an assembly do it as a round as the Easter Vigil procession enters.
My backing is a render of an ancient MIDI file that appears to have been made from scratch rather than my usual method of using Band in a Box.
Christ is light, in him there is no darkness.
Come to him and he will give you light.
This is a song for children by Michael Mangan that I’ve played at first communions. There’s a fair bit going on rhythmically for a kids song, with triplets and the hanging dotted notes in “shine our light” and “shine shine shine” to contend with, but that makes the song memorable. You can buy it as part of the “Sing Your Joy” collection here, which would be an asset for any church wanting fully conscious and active participation by children.
Verse 1
We gathered here today, we shared God’s word,
We are chosen children of God, we have been called on to serve.
Chorus
For we are children of the light, going on our way,
Keep it burning bright, we’ve got to shine our light,
We’ve got to shine, shine, shine, ev’ry day.
Verse 2
God’s hands are laid on us, our faith confirmed.
We go to witness now, we are God’s voice here on earth.
Chorus
Verse 3
We remembered Jesus’ life, as we shared His meal,
The Spirit sends us out, open our hearts to God’s will.
We used this Advent/Christmas sing by Marty Haugen for many years and I still think it is a beautiful piece of music.
The text is here (scroll down). You can hear a sample at GIA here. I can’t find a single sheet for sale there, but it can be purchased here.
The very last line of the last verse is followed by an echo.
In the middle of a hot summer at Christmas time it is hard to get enthusiastic about lines like “warm our winter night” and that might be why we give it a miss now.
I've worked my way through the As One Voice books and other collections making backings on Band in a Box to help me (& you if you're interested) learn new songs for church. This is aimed at churches and musicians that own the collections but haven't exploited them fully. If you don't have them they are certainly worth buying. This site is educational, nonprofit and designed to enhance the commercial prospects of songwriters. This site does not distribute copyrighted sheet music.
Disclaimer
Any opinions expressed here are personal views and not the responsibility of any Church.
All music backings posted are created by myself and the intention is for them to be used to learn the songs. If any copyright holder wishes me to cease publicising and promoting their wares and directing people to where sheet music can be legally purchased please let me know.
Mason’s “Mass of Glory and Praise”
To access my backings for Paul Mason's mass go to Feb 2011 in the archive.
