Another wonderful song from Amanda McKenna is “The Way”, No 131 in AOV NG. I’d play it somewhat faster than the 100bpm suggested. I’d love her horn section but I’ve made do with MIDI horns for my backing.
The last line of the music should have a tie over “days.”
Refrain
The way, the truth, the life in the body of Christ.
Geoff Bullock’s lovely ballad, “The Power of Your Love,” is No130 in AOV NG. The stated speed of 94 is just a little breathless and could be slowed a little.
There are many versions on the net to purchase for download (eg music notes) and there is a choral version here.
You can listen to two versions of this song here, the original Hillsong version and a remix two version, along with some interesting and funny self descriptions. Neither is the version on the AOV NG CD, which is Geoff Bullock solo singing the original version but without the Hillsong bombast. The solo version on the site has subtle changes to the lyrics, especially in the first verse and chorus, which I suspect indicate some emotional maturity and reflection.
Verse 1
Lord I come to You [Lord you come to me]
Let my heart be changed, renewed [And as my heart is changed, released]
Flowing from the grace [This miracle of grace]
That I have found in You [Gently sets me free]
And Lord I have come to know
The weaknesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love
Chorus
[You] Hold me close
[You] Let Your love surround me
Bring me near [For you come near]
[To] Draw me to Your side
And as I wait [And in Your life]
I will rise up like the eagle [I’m rising…]
And I will soar with You
[As] Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love
Verse 2
Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me
And Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
By the power of Your love
Chorus
Verse 3
Lord, you’ve come to all
With hope that shines to light the way
As mercy soothes our souls,
The peace that flows so free. [Healing every heart]
Love that sees the tears
Overcomes our darkest fears
Grace that lifts us up
In the power of your love
Chorus
Coda
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love (x4)
No 129 in AOV NG is “The Peace of the Lord” by Judy Bailey. This has an obvious liturgical use, and I’d love to be in a church where this happened before the Lamb of God – it would be good to segue into a rhythmic Agnes Dei straight from this. You can hear her at WYD Sydney performing the song here. I didn’t see my kids in the crowd.
My backing is close as BIAB gets to accordian township jive so give me a break!
John Bell has arranged this traditional Guatemalan chant, and a fine thing it is too. “The Peace of the Earth,” is No 128 in AOV NG and a lovely blessing song with a nice deep counterpoint for the male voices. As usual, my backings for chants leave more than a little to be desired.
THE PEACE OF THE EARTH
The peace of the earth be with you,
the peace of the heavens too;
the peace of the rivers be with you,
the peace of the oceans too.
Deep peace falling over you;
God’s peace growing in you. (Repeat)
No 127 in AOV NG is Ps 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd” by Joshua Blakesley. You can hear his version here. It is gentle, reflective and gets it all done in two verses. Love the cello, but BIAB’s fiddle is the best I can do.
I’m not sure the song has enough to recommend it over every other setting of this psalm, but see what you think.
Refrain
The Lord is my shepherd;
there is nothing I shall want,
The Lord is my shepherd:
there is nothing I shall want.
Verse 1
He lets me rest in open fields so green.
He leads me to the quiet streams.
He gives me strength and guides me in his ways.
He renews his promises each day.
Refrain
Verse 2
He is my guide, my shepherd and my king,
and in my fear he offers peace.
Though I walk through the valley, I will not be afraid.
You will protect me; I’ll be saved.
I’ve been spouting off that this mass will be too hard to learn in its new form since hearing it at the Archdiocese education session and so have been putting off trying to learn the new version.
…and I was wrong. Paul Mason has done a great job with this popular old mass and, while it is still not very guitar friendly, it is no less playable than the old one. The Gloria will take a degree of relearning however.
So half the Bishop’s six masses are suitable for the suburbs and thank the Lord for Paul Taylor and Paul Mason.
I’ve done some basic backings on BIAB for the main parts of the mass, so I suggest you download the assembly version here and sing them until you’ve forgotten the original versions. It should only take a thousand repetitions or so.
Gloria
Gospel Acclamation
Holy Holy
We Proclaim
When We Eat
Amen
Lamb of God
22/3/25
Wendy noticed I had left off the music for the “Save Us” and she is quite right – the music I was given way back then didn’t have it and I didn’t notice.
Looking back, these acclamations are unusual as they are all very different in tempo and melody, although they end sort of the same.
Michael Mahler’s take on Ps 27 is No126 in AOV NG. It’s a bit wishy washy actually. There is a longer than usual sample to listen to here.
The problem is we are doing John Bell’s Singing the Unsung DVD course at the moment and his setting of Ps 27 is so much better I wouldn’t bother with this one. (I did find a version of John Bell’s setting on Youtube.)
Still, you can learn Mahler’s song from my backing if you like and I may well be wrong about it.
Another song not from AOV NG, but suggested by one of the lovely people coming to sing at “Sing along with Ed”, every Friday night at St Edward’s, Daisy Hill. It was written by Michael Murphy of “Wildfire” fame and, I gather, discovered and arranged for church use by Ed Gutfreund and available through GIA in David Haas’s arrangement. It is a gospel blues and I apologise for a rather gallumphing version. I suspect it is well known in the US and the version I was shown was brought back from Canada. This version has sensibly been dropped from G to E and is now accessible the groaners in the assembly.
Verse 1
John tells us of a city so high up above,
Where we’ll meet in a spirit of love.
We’ll meet over yonder in that heavenly place.
There we’ll see each other face to face.
Chorus
I can almost see the lights of the city,
Shining down on me.
I can almost see the lights of the city.
Forever Lord, I shall be free.
Verse 2
John tells us of a time, when time will be no more,
In the days, when the trumpet shall blow.
We’ll meet over yonder, in that heavenly place.
There we’ll see each other, face to face
Chorus
Verse 3
John tells us of the water, which brings us to life.
Not from As One Voice: the Next Generation, but suggested by a correspondent. Written by Jenny Lee Riddle and made famous by Gateway Worship, you can hear their version here. Not sure about ending musical phrases with a hanging “the” myself.
There is an SATB arrangement of this, which is a bit of a surprise.
My backing is probably a little approximate.
Verse 1
Worthy is the,
Lamb who was slain
Holy, Holy, is He
Sing a new song,
to Him who sits on
Heaven’s Mercy Seat
[Repeat]Chorus
Holy, Holy, Holy
Is the Lord God Almighty
Who was, and is, and is to come
With all creation I sing:
Praise to the King of Kings!
You are my everything,
And I will adore You…!
Verse 2
Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
To You the Only Wise King.Chorus
Verse 3
Filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
At the mention of Your Name
Jesus, Your name is power, breath, and living water
Such a marvelous mystery
A beautiful chant from Taize and I still haven’t found a way of doing backings for chants that don’t sound odd. No 125 in AOV NG is “The Kingdom of God.” This sounds better.
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.
