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]
Lord, let my life be an altar
Light up my lungs with Your praise
'Cause I can't breathe until You breathe
So breathe on me
Let my life be an altar
[Pre-Chorus]
This is a moment when wind meets fire
Come on in
Our hearts are burning for fresh revival
Blow again
[Chorus]
Our God is consuming firе
Our God is a Holy wind
Whatever You speak is done
Whatever You touch will live
Our God is consuming fire
Our God is a holy wind
Whatever You speak is done
Whatever You touch will live
[Bridge]
So come on in, come on in
Whatever You touch will live
[Outro]
You ask, can these bones live again?
And then, I hear Your voice answer with wind
Overview
We should state from the outset that this is not a bad worship song. It has some flaws, but overall it is an a well-written song.
The audio presentation is spot on, even powerful, as the band and singers start from a stark simplicity and move to a full on climax and then back out. It's a good example of a worship song bringing the worshiper along for the ride.
We also like the video in that the lighting is simple, no one is shrouded in shadowy indigo blue, and there is very little lighting manipulation during the course of the song. There are no black curtains, nor is there annoying backlighting pointing at the audience. We get to see the entire band and choir in natural-seeming light.
Very refreshing.
The Music
Intro chords: In the version we saw the chords are F - Gb - Eb, but the song is in Ab. There is no F or Gb chord in this key. Because these two two chords are non-scalier borrowed chords, it is difficult to analyze them. There is no conventional scale or mode that has two major chords a half step apart. If we were to interpret the progression from the perspective of the song's key, the progression is a very odd VI - bVII - V.
Actually, we may be attempting to analyze what is a happy accident. It's quite possible the songwriters chose these chords because they sound unusual and mysterious together. We certainly cannot fault them if they simply stumbled into these chords by happenstance.
Apart from the intro, the rest of the song has a fairly basic chord structure.
Verse chords:
IV - I (first inv.) - Vsus (4xs)
Pre chorus chords:
IV - I - V (2xs)
Chorus chords:
ii7 - I - V (repeated)
Bridge chords:
IV - I - V (repeated)
Bridge 2 chords:
ii7 - I (1st inv.) - V (repeated)
Outtro chords:
VI - bVII - V (same as intro chords)
Notice that there is a lot of repetition of the IV - I - V progression. But because of the rhythmic structure of the various melodies the ear hardly notices the same chords over and over. For example, the notes in first two stanzas of the verse land very much on the beat, emphasizing beat one in 3/4 time (actually, it's 12/8 time, but thinking in terms of 3/4 simplifies the discussion).
The melody in the third stanza of the verse ('cause I can't breathe until you breathe) makes its entrance later in the measure, the upbeat of 3, while the 4th stanza recapitulates the rhythm of the first and second stanza. The form for these stanzas therefore would be A - A - B - A.
Moving to the pre chorus, again the rhythmic variation hides the repetitive chords. The melody actually has 6 pick-up quarter notes leading to a solid landing on beat one of the pre chorus.
The chorus begins its melody on an upbeat with four quarter notes leading to a solid landing on the word "fire," which is repeated similarly on the remaining stanzas. The chord structure changes slightly here, which is particularly effective in differentiating the chorus from the rest of the song.
The bridge steals elements of the chorus ("come on in"), as well as the rhythm, though not the melody, of the chorus ("whatever you touch"), with the same chords as the pre chorus. Bridge two just changes the IV chord to the ii7 chord, the same chords as the chorus.
Overall, this is a very clever use of rhythm, harmony, and melody. New musical ideas introduced mid song can sometimes be confusing to the worshiper. but here we have them laid atop already introduced structures, facilitating the congregation's ease.
The outtro uses the intro chords with a new melody (and a new lyrical concept).
A really nice, musically interesting effort.
The Lyrics
Sometimes we must label lyrics as a-biblical. Not biblical or unbiblical, a-biblical. Certainly it is not required for worship songs to quote the Bible, and this song does not. We do have several allusions to Scripture, like God being a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29), Ezekiel's dry bones (Ez. 37:5), the invitation God to come in (Ps. 24:7), and obliquely, wind meeting fire (2Ti. 1:6).
This is more like a prayer set to music. It reads very naturally as something someone would articulate in petition to God. And it does this very effectively, as certainly the heart's cry of the mature Christian is to ask God to send revival. We personally witnessed how the song profoundly connected with the congregation of our church. The longing for the presence of God is a powerful one indeed.
This does not mean the song does not have lyrical problems. From the opening line we have an issue. The Bible says
Ro. 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.
but the song says we want to be an altar. The altar is representative of the glory of God, His physical presence. It is where the sacrifice is offered. So the song essentially has it backwards, an error that has become increasingly common in contemporary worship music.
The other thing we have issue with is the reference to Ezekiel's bones. This also seems to be the theme that is currently in vogue (Rattle!, and Come alive come to mind).
We also question singing about our "lungs" as well as other body parts. While the psalmist writes of a new song in his mouth and praise upon his lips, contemporary worship songs are about lions in our lungs and our hearts beating inside of our chests.
We nevertheless praise the songwriters for interesting ideas like wind meeting fire.
Conclusion
The language of metaphor is not always accessible to people. Whether it be God answering with wind or us not being able to breathe until God breathes, such ideas sometimes require people to stop and figure out what is meant. We think worship should not be interrupted by veiled references or obtuse word pictures.
These are minor quibbles, however. There are no substantial doctrinal errors in the song, so we recommend it for congregational use.
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