Bad Worship Songs - Welcome Resurrection - by Elevation Worship feat. Chris Brown] by Steven Furtick, Cody Carnes

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, Welcome Resurrection.

Audio link.

Lyrics:

Verse 1) May I never lose the wonder
Of this Gospel mystery
From the heavens came a Savior
From the ground arose a king
Every day is born in darkness
Every winter yields to spring
Let us speak of resurrection
Even in the suffering

Chorus) You can do anything
You can do anything
My eyes will see Your glory
My eyes will see Your glory

Verse 2) As the sisters begged the Savior
Come at once to Bethany
For the one You love is dying
But His yes was not to be
As His weeping begged the question
Could His friend He not have healed
But He's still the resurrection
Even when the tomb is sealed

Bridge) The dead will live
The dead will live again

Verse 3) Speaks the whisper in the silence
Sleeps the harvest in the seed
Cradled now a new beginning
In the heart that dares believe
So crucify your hesitation
Wounded expectation bring
Will you welcome resurrection?
Will you crown the risen King?

Overview

This song is presented very well, with excellent production and a great performance. It rises to a climatic chorus and an even bigger bridge, and ends quietly and reflectively. It has many elements that take worship music a step above the ordinary. However, this does not mean the song is an excellent worship song.

The Music

The melody is not complicated and is rather pleasant, comprised only of the first four degrees of the diatonic major scale. It's pitched in a nice, easy to sing range, well, until the chorus goes up an octave. Then it's nearly unsingable, as is the bridge.

We are at loss to explain why songwriters find it necessary to force the congregation to either scream or stop singing.

The chords are not terribly complicated, with the verses being I - IV - 1 (1st inv.) - V - vi - IV - 1 (1st inv.) - V. The chorus is I - I (sus) - I - vi - I (2nd inv.) - ii - IV. The most interesting part of the chorus chords is the timing of the chords and the rhythm. The kicks and flourishes combined with emphasis on the weaker beats of the measure make for a very interesting sound. In fact, this is beyond question the best part of the song, combining forceful rhythm, somewhat unusual chord progressions, and a declarative style. This is good music.

The bridge chord progression is the most basic progressions there is, I - IV - V, maintaining a pedal tone through the progression, with only minor variation later.  

The Lyrics

Unfortunately, the lyrics are a profound disappointment. This song starts with such promise by first pinning down the theme of resurrection with inventive metaphors, then landing on the evocative, anthemic chorus. Thus the song sets up our expectation of going to even more soaring heights of worship expression as the song progresses.

What happens? Well, verse two. With a sudden swerve the lyrics abandon the descriptive metaphors of resurrection and the declarative statements of God's unlimited ability, just to enter a narrative about Lazarus. Here the song actually tells the story of the women begging Jesus to come heal Lazarus. For most of this verse the mood is an incredible downer, only to finally resolve the story with the last couple of stanzas declaring Him to be the resurrection even in hopeless times. 

Once again we are put in the position of being unable to explain the choice the songwriters made. Why are we singing about the women and Lazarus? Shouldn't we be declaring the glories of God? This is supposed to be a worship song for congregational singing. 

So the chorus is repeated at this point, once again taking the congregation to worship, ascending even farther as it moves into the bridge with more declarations of the power of God to raise the dead. Really quite good.

Sigh. Verse three. The music grows intimate and subdued. This verse starts with some more metaphors, which are perhaps a bit cryptic, to once again deal with the topic of resurrection. This is ok, but for some unknown reason the second half of the verse the lyrics address the congregation. This is the most mystifying choice yet made by the songwriters. 

The lyrics at this point are essentially a rebuke. After exhorting the congregation to bring their "wounded expectations," whatever that means, the lyrics chide us: Will we really open ourselves to resurrection? Will we actually assent to the high status of the Lord? Remember we are singing this. To ourselves. We are apparently doubting our own motives: "Will you really do this? Are you sure?"  

We're singing it.

And this is how the song ends. Astonishing. 

Conclusion

This song had the potential for being a powerhouse worship song: Good melody, good topic, good band, and, a good start. Sadly, it completely botched its promise. What were the songwriters thinking? Is this another case of the songwriters paying more attention to the production and the band? Did they think they were being clever and inventive? 

Was this song rushed into church? Didn't anyone critique it? Didn't anyone have the awareness to say that the song is largely not worship?

We cannot recommend it.