Something about short sentences
A few rhyming and rhythmic phrases
Makes me feel like we are each capable
Of producing something songworthy.
John Denver wrote “Annie’s Song.” While riding a chair lift to ski the mountain, after a bit of an intense time between him and her, he felt the love of his wife filling up his senses. So, he wrote the words in about 10 minutes, and the rest is history. That happened 50 years ago! 1973! The words and melody are still one of my favorites of a singer I have enjoyed all my adult life.
This is what most of the Wisdom books of the Bible are,
Prose or Poems that easily become songs.
Why? We remember events more clearly,
When the words flow or are set to a melody.
Are we not taught to “sing” the alphabet?
Is not there a melody to remember the Periodic Table?
When we quote the books of the Bible,
We create a rhythm. A cadence. The recitation bumps along.
I listened to an interview with the Eagles, an American Rock Group, where it was mentioned that after fine-tuning some words and figuring out a type of melody, Glen Frey would slip into the quiet zone, and voila! Out comes a future Eagles hit song. He knew the formula for producing a song so it could possibly become a hit.
Some think better when using rhymes or rhythm.
Not Me… Just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.
If I need to remember or recite it better
I make my own rhyme, at least something that fits me.
Some psalms are called The Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134)
Whether used in Pilgrimage going to Jerusalem
Or climbing the steps of the Temple by the Levites,
These are psalms of worship.
Each step/day, you sing the next psalm.
Their plan? Take you from where you are to your destination.
Maybe that’s the reason for prose, poem, or psalm.
They take you from here to there, whether reading or singing.
99 Bottles of Beer, I remember, along with 500 Miles; Road Songs!
We didn’t drink, but we sure put on the miles.
Fanny Crosby wrote over 8,000 poems. Many became songs.
About the time she passed, George Bernard wrote “The Old Rugged Cross.”
A favorite has been on my mind this morning…
Come and Dine…1907, Charles Widemyer.
Psalms 100:1-5 NKJV
A Psalm of Thanksgiving.
Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the LORD, He is God;
It is He who has made us,
and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.