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
Verse 1 When the King speaks a word it cannot be overturned
It’s as good as done
And when Heaven touches earth it can never be reversed
It’s the Kingdom come
So get the liars out the way they don’t have the final say
There is only One
Sovereign and Supreme Every word He speaks is Holy
Chorus 1 The Lamb of God has overcome
My testimony is His blood
And if He said that it is done
It is done, so be it God
Verse 2 To the One on the throne who can not be overthrown
Sing Hallelujah
To the Last and the First ruler of the universe
Sing Hallelujah
To the Alpha, Omega, the Master, the Maker
The Name above Every other name
give Him all the praise, He’s ho - ly
Chorus 2 The weapons of the enemy
They have no power over me
The One with all authority covers me
So be it God
Bridge 1 From a throne to a cross, who would pay such a price
For the sin of the world, here's your King crucified
Bridge 2 See the nails in His hands, see the wounds in His side
See the crown, meant to mock, that instead prophesied
Bridge 3 That it was not the end, wipe the tears from your eyes
Don't forget that He said on the third He would rise
Bridge 4 He's alive, He's alive, He's alive, He's alive (x2)
Post Chorus 1 x2 It is final, it is written, it is settled, it is finished
See that old grave, He was in it, now He isn't, He is risen
Post Chorus 2 Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah (x2)
Bridge 5 Like a thief in the night, He'll return for His bride
Even so, Jesus come, Jesus come split the skies
So be it God
Overview
This is not actually a bad worship song because it is not a worship song. It is made up largely of declarative statements. With the exception of "So be it, God," and the very last stanza ("Even so, Jesus come, Jesus come split the skies"), all of the song is directed from the band to the crowd, as either instruction or exhortation. There are no statements of worship directed to God Himself.
The style of this song reminds of of Carman, a Christian music performer and evangelist known for a theatrical and sometimes over-the-top musical style. And we would guess that the songwriters have likely listened to He's Alive by Don Francisco as well.
The video is well-lighted and unadorned with distracting effects, except for the lead singers. We never see their faces. No smoke machines or indigo lighting, thankfully.
The Melody
In what seems to be a growing trend, the woman sings with a child's voice in the early parts of the song. This is a bad precedent for girls and women who want to learn to sing, because the physical modifications a singer must make to produce this weak, airy sound can really only be achieved by bad technique. Thankfully the woman does eventually open up her sound and sing with some support and power.
Harmonic Structure
The video has the song opening on the Ab chord, but the key is not Ab major. We know this because we find a Gb chord, a chord not found in an Ab scale (Ab Bbm Cm Db Eb Fm Gdim Ab). The song is actually in Ab Mixolydian (Ab Bbmi C half dim Db Ebmi Fmi Gb Ab). Mixolydian is a major-sounding scale which starts on the 5th degree of a major scale and uses the key signature of the that major scale, in this case, Db.
We don't want to get too far in the weeds of music theory, but if this is indeed Mixolydian we can test our suspicion by counting down five steps from Ab, which is Db. The Db major scale does include the Gb, (the fourth degree of Db major and the seventh degree of Ab Mixolydian). Confirming our suspicions, we find the Db chord in the verse. So, this means the song uses the Db major chords, but the song actually starts the progression on the Ab. This means the Ab is the I, followed by b7 (Gb), IV (Db), and back to I, in Mixolydian.
This means we have a song in Ab but played using the key of Db (5 flats: Db, Eb, Gb, Ab, and Bb). Honestly, though, there is no reason write a song in this key when down a half step would be no flats or sharps.
Nevertheless, we doff our hats to the songwriters for giving us a truly modal song, both in the chords and in the melody. There's an almost regal mood implied, as if the song was heralding the entrance of royalty.
We will consider the lyrics later, which are in keeping with this observation.
We need to go all the way to the bridge to find the first substantial variation from this chord progression. Bridge 1 starts with the Ebmi chord (the v chord of Ab Mixolydian), Bbmi (the ii chord of Ab Mixolydian), then followed by Db (the IV chord of Ab Mixolydian), then Ab.
We then find variations of this chord structure in the various supplemental bridges that follow.
Rhythmic Structure
The song is not written in conventional four or eight bar phrases. The first verse is extended to 17 bars, the chorus is extended to 11 bars, while the second verse is truncated to 14 bars, and the chorus one/ chorus two is 23 bars. The extended portions are used to pause the rapid-fire nature of the sung portions, allowing the congregation to "catch its breath" before the next barrage of words.
This sort of songwriting adds interest but also makes it difficult to follow for the congregation, and difficult to play for the band.
Lyrics
There are a lot of words.
The song begins as a series of declarations regarding the nature of God, but the two choruses take sort of a detour into self-declarations, which seems out of place. All the rest of the song is about God, His nature, and His victory over death and the grave.
After the choruses, the various bridges moves into declarative explanations of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The self referential choruses are interspersed, changing the subject back and forth.
This means that in total the song almost survives as a narrative about God. However, as mentioned, there is no direct worship to God.
To its credit there are no heretical lyrics, but there are some caveats to this.
First, bridge 3 says "this is not the end, wipe the tears from your eyes," which is a distortion of Revelation 7:17:
And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
The second issue is the very next stanza:
Don't forget that He said on the third He would rise
The blizzard of words have finally caught up with the songwriters, and they don't have the room to include the word "day."
Third and most significant, bridge 1 is false:
From a throne to a cross, who would pay such a price
For the sin of the world, here's your King crucified
Jesus did not pay for our sin. Check it yourself, dear reader. There is no verse that tells us such a thing. Rather, Jesus paid for us:
1Corinthians 6:20 for you were bought with a price.
We consider this to be somewhat serious doctrinal error, particularly for a song styled to teach doctrine.
Conclusion
While we find nothing here that dishonors God, and the lyrics mostly pass muster, we cannot recommend this song. It is not a worship song, it's exhausting to sing, and as such the payoff just isn't there.
When we say pay off, we would contrast this song with "With Everything" (critiqued here), a similarly demanding song, but with a payoff much more worth the effort. And, that song spends most of its time addressing God directly with no doctrinal errors.
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