The hymns are like scripture put to music, right? So we should love all the hymns in the hymn book because they invite the spirit and teach gospel principles. Right? Well, there are a few that I just don’t like, and a couple that I can’t stand. Instinctively I know that I am wrong, and I need to repent. However, I really want to rip Scatter Sunshine right out of the book.
Last Sunday was my first experience with conducting music for sacrament meeting. Like most things, it’s harder that it looks. Things get interesting because our accompaniment is a prerecorded track. The songs switch tempo and sometimes wait a really long time to begin succeeding verses. Picture everyone holding their breath, mouths open, staring sidelong at the CD player. A few people, including me, start the first word and just draw it out until the music catches up.
Like this-
Thhhhhhheeeeeeeeee (one hand holding the hymn book, and the other handing descending very slowly, vertically, through the air) eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee (quick breath!) eeeeeeeeeeee Spir-it of God, like a fie-ur, is bu-urn-ing…
And to top it all off, we have songs in 6/8 time -nobody told me about 6/8 time- like Scatter Sunshine. A song that I have never heard sung well.
Ever.
It’s a song about being positive and setting a shiny example for the gloomy and depressed. The melody is impossibly high and low at the same time, and it has different little ‘parts’ for the men and women. It always ends in an ugly disaster. It is a disadvantaged song.
So there I am, trying to sing this so-sweet-my-teeth-are-rotting song to strange music, in a strange beat, to unsynchronized music. It’s emotionally hard for me to be so bad at something! I really sucked at leading this song. On the other hand, the congregation wasn’t looking at me anyway- they were all squinting down at the page- as is it was written in Greek. By the second verse, I had put my hand in my pocket except for the first and last few beats. It couldn’t have looked as bad as what I was doing with it before. But I don’t think anyone noticed anyway.
I disliked that song before, now I really, really, really dislike it.
If you read this, maybe you could leave a comment with some kind of positive support for that song. If I could convince myself that it has some redeeming quality, my repentance process might be quicker.
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6 comments:
I just listened to that hymn on the churches web site and a funny thing happened. Somewhere during the song, and I didn't notice till it was over, I stabbed myself through the thigh with my pen, blood everywhere. I agree with you completely.
I think Steph did a blog similiar to this once. there are several hymns I don't care for mostly because I can't hit the high notes, and all the notes are high. I think our RS uses them for practice hymns, every week.
Sorry dave, but I think that song really is just lame! You can't help that, nobody can. So feel bad!
-your littlest sis
during those pauses in between verses you could always just speak the upcoming lyrics in a real slow, spoken-word voice like you used to. cracked me up everytime
I lead the songs in our RS meetings and had picked this song for our "practice song" for tomorrow (5/4). I googled the song and quite a few blogs came up. Your post made laugh and share it with my mom who didn't think I should share the whole thing with the RS sisters. Your's is not the only opinion that the song isn't so great but it is too late for me now. So I am going to talk about the blogs I found tomorrow - and I guess apologize to those who want to poke their eye out with a pen when they have to sing it. Though when we start RS there are only about 9 sisters there anyway. Side note- keep safe, my husband returned 10 days ago from a 15 month tour in Iraq.
Just write our name in the air as you lead..no one will know...and yeah no one is looking at you anyway.
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