Bad worship songs - Salvation is here - Hillsongs

Link to the audio.
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From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned? 

We think an excellent worship song should contain the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not your boyfriend

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with this song. Praise Goes On has a catchy beat and slick production. But... it's a bad worship song.

You might also want to check out our criteria for judging worship songs.

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The reason we posted this is because there seems to be an increasing lack of depth in contemporary Christian worship music. There are lots of examples we could cite, but since this song is relatively new on the scene it will serve as an appropriate example.

We're certainly not suggesting that every worship song needs to be a theological treatise, but if there's going to be this many words in a 4 minute song there should be a good amount of substance there. Maybe we have even a minor expectation of some profound truth. 

In this song many of the complaints made by our more conservative brethren are validated, unfortunately. We say unfortunately because Hillsongs has been the source of some truly wonderful worship songs. They're consistently high quality, with powerful lyrics, inventive chord structures, and singable interesting melodies. They've set the standard for worship music over the last few years.

We won't pick this song apart too much but we will point out a couple of problems. "Salvation is here" is the central theme, repeated many times. So how is this central theme developed? "We're gonna be all right." What does that mean? We will survive persecution? We have the peace of God in us? God has the victory? 

We like to read song lyrics aloud to see if there's a story being told. Do the thoughts follow a progression of ideas to develop a theme? Are we brought deeper into God's truth? Is there a cumulative effect the brings us to a grand conclusion? Or, is there a series of disjointed, semi-related statements? So see for yourself. Read the song lyrics aloud to someone and ask them what the storyline is, how it arrives at its destination, and what kinds of conclusions can be drawn.

The next problem is that it changes voices. This is not necessarily a problem, for we find this technique quite frequently in the Psalm. But frequent shifts back and forth can be confusing. Verse 1 is in the third person, that is, the singer is singing about God to the congregation, how God is above the problems of this life. Verse 2 is directed to God (second person voice), asking Him to hear the worship of His people. The chorus reverts back to 3rd person (talking about God, not talking to Him). 

What does it mean that God saved the day? Things were going bad and God rushed in to fix things at the last moment? Is the song talking about salvation, or His faithfulness in tough situations?

It is the bridge that seem to have the most random, semi-connected ideas. It's in the third person as well. All the statements are true, but they don't really lead you anywhere. That's why we call them semi-connected. Chorus 2 starts in the third person and ends in the first. Which is a great technique when used properly, because it turns the focus into man-to-God statements of truth.

We risk over-analyzing the song. We just happen to think there are a lot of much better songs about God's faithfulness, His salvation, His empowerment, His peace, etc. Maybe you like the song better than we do. That's certainly good by us.

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Verse 1:
God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
And I don't care what the world throws at me now
I'm gonna be all right

Verse 2:
Hear the sound of the generations
Making loud their freedom song
All in all that the world would know Your name
We're gonna be all right

Chorus 1:
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here

Bridge:
Salvation is here
Salvation is here, and He lives in me
Salvation is here
Salvation that died just to set me free
Salvation is here
Salvation is here, and He lives in me
Salvation is here
'Cause You are alive, and You live in me
Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here
'Cause You are alive and You live in me

Chorus 2:
I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
It's gonna be alright
'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here
Salvation is here
Salvation is here and He lives in me
Salvation is here
'Cause You are alive and You live in me
Salvation is here