Religious Themes in Music - Blog Entries

15/5/10
Managed to get to the Don McClean concert in the new Grand Canal Theatre last week. I was always a fan, but my appetite for his music was whetted by the recent "Ar Stáitse" concert on TG4 - see entry below for 1/5/10). In that entry I wrote about the religious themes in American Pie, which of course he performed on the night. It was going around in my head for days. Other songs of his also had spiritual themes. I'd always thought Genesis (In the Beginning) was an arrogant kind of song - "We have grown, we have captured the throne of the kingdom God made". But hearing it live and paying more attention to the words I'm not so sure. You could read it as a criticism of the arrogance of people, or a tribute to our maturing - the kingdom is described as one "God made for our winning". The song starts promisingly - "In the beginning there was nothingness and God but waved his hand/and from the endless void there sprang the beauty of the land", but I'm not so sure how God or humankind comes out of this line: "man was but a molecule that God had left behind". The Adam and Eve story is retold in a traditional fashion, but a warning, that sounds like a reference to original sin, is sounded ("though the father sets the price, the children pay the cost"). That warning is echoed in the chorus ("our children alone/have so little time left for beginning.") That might seem to support the idea that we are being criticised for not developing a kind of world that's helpful to our children. Jerusalem used that city as symbol of unity between faiths, though the ideas were more simplistic than is usual for McLean - "The markets and the alleys, the temples and the tombs. A place for all believers, it has so many rooms."
Apart from his own songs McLean performed a respectful version of an old Rev Gary Davis spiritual Keys to the kingdom, - "I've got the keys to the kingdom,/The world can't do me no harm",. He captured the righteous anger in Bob Dylan's Masters of War : "For threatening my baby/Unborn and unnamed/You ain't worth the blood/That runs in your veins." And includes a Biblical flavour - "Like Judas of old/You lie and deceive". But there's an understandable forgiveness deficit - "even Jesus would never/Forgive what you do". Homeless Brother (see clip above) is one of my favourite McLean songs - full of compassion for the homeless, and Jesus gets a mention here too - "Somewhere the dogs are barking and the children seem to know/That Jesus on the highway was a lost hobo". One could argue with that description but no doubt it is respectful and sincere. I've been listening to the "Homeless Brother" album of late after many years. That features a version of Crying the Chapel (remember the Elvis version?). I used to think that was an irreverent send up of tacky and sentimental religious songs, but now I'm not so sure. Now I find more heart in it.
In general the concert was enjoyable but while the new venue is impressive I thought the sound could have been better. And while it was good to hear such a wide range of songs, I was puzzled that there was nothing from his new album "Addicted to Black". Though it was on sale in the foyer it wasn't even mentioned. Hardly a vote of confidence from the artist! The backing group was musically proficient, but somehow I felt that a certain spark was missing.

2/5/10
Recently I was trying to think of musical resources for the theme of forgiveness and reconciliation and came up with a few ideas. Would love to hear more from anybody. Many of the songs are available on YouTube, iTunes, 7Digital etc. Some could probably be streamed live in class through the likes of Lastfm or Spotify, though I haven't tried these in class yet.
Sometimes having done the Sacrament of Reconciliation I use these songs in a prayer service or just at the end of class. Healing of the soul in general features in the calming song Healer of My Soul by John Michael Talbot. It's on his "Signatures" album and on the album "Brother to Brother" where Talbot duets with Michael Card. Only in God, also on the "Signatures" album implies reconciliation with God - "Only in God is my soul at rest". Where Do I Go, sung by Ashley Cleveland and Gary Chapman on the excellent "Songs From the Loft" album covers similar ground. Tell It All Brother is a little known song recorded by Kenny Rogers when he did music with an edge with the First Edition group (before the awful Lucille!) - mightn't be to everybody's taste but great for the confession theme (listen to the song above).
Under the Rug (video clip on left) by RandyStonehill uses the title metaphor to convey the way we sweep our sins under the rug instead of dealing with them. In Paradise by Sal Solo (saw him giving a great concert in Rathmines church a few years ago) tells the story of the reconciliation of the good thief on the cross. It's on Solo's album "Look at Christ", which is hard to find, but well worth tracking down - it's a light rock version of the Rosary, though it wasn't marketed as such, I presume to appeal more widely than just a Catholic audience.

8/2/10
Well, I did a bit for Catholic School's Week, but it didn't help that we were in the middle of Mock Exams, with no school assemblies as a result. Still, we did make use of our Prayer Room for some class services and conducted some classes on the theme. Apart from the discussions, I got students doing some artwork - e.g. posters to highlight the event, which got them thinking, I hope. At the prayer services I used the folllowing songs: Where To Now Edmund from the album "Islands of the Heart" by Peter Kearney - it's about the vision of Edmund Rice (it's a CBS); Be Thou My Vision by Cajun Group L'Angelus from their excellent "Sacred Hymns Collection"; and the very appropriate Salt and Light Amy Delaine from the compilation album "Songs From the Loft" (a must for every RE Dept!).

27/1/10
Recently I noted the passing of Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary, (see entry for 27/9/09) and now another great female singer has died. Kate McGarrigle, along with her sister Anna wrote and sang some wonderful songs, with the sweetest harmonies, like Heart Like a Wheel, Heartbeats Accelerating and Love Over and Over. Their best work I think was in their earlier 70's and 80's albums, especially their first, simply titled "Kate and Anna McGarrigle". That has to be one of my favourite albums of all time. I've seen them live a few times, which was such a treat. Little of their output was religious material, but their Catholic French Canadian background shone through at times. There was Travelling on for Jesus from that first album, and the many Christmas songs from their album "The McGarrigle Christmas Hour". The latter includes her song about the Three Wise Men - I've included a video of her singing it on the left. It's not the best recording and she wasn't that well at the time, but it's recent and worth a look. Rest in Peace.

23/8/09

Gave a plug during the summer to the band L'Angélus who were touring in Ireland and performed at Catholic Underground events. After listening to them on Today With Pat Kenny on RTE Radio 1 I ordered one of their CDs, Sacred Hymns Collection, and it was certainly worth it. There's great music on the CD that is suitable for school use, for meditation, school choirs and folk groups. What I like best is the fresh contemporary arrangements given to familiar hymns, especially the beautiful version of Be Thou My Vision, which I think will help young people discover the value and beauty of songs that have become too familiar in uninspired arrangements. I've often thought that the old hymns needed an uplift. Many contemporary Irish performers have reinvigiorated old Irish folks songs, rescuing them from come-all-ye hell, but I'm still waiting for a similar approach to our heritage of great hymns. This release will help, as did some tracks by Van Morrison (who also recorded Be Thou My Vision) and Beth Nielsen Chaman (on her Hymns and Prism albums), but I'm still waiting for the definitive work! See also my review of the album here.

30/7/09
On last Sunday's episode of Joe Duffy's Spirit Level on RTE 1 Helen Toner of the recent Knock Youth Festival reckoned that music was very effective at engaging young people, and sure enough there was some quality Christian rock on the show (a genre underexposed in the Irish media) - from the North of Ireland there was a video of the Rend Collective Experiment (the song was more accessible than the name!), and in the studio we got another soulful gospel song from Padraig Rushe (pictured above) - a former Dublin Gospel Choir singer who has a promising solo recording career - check him out on My Space.
It wasn't just the musical arts that figured on the programme. The recent Icons in Transformation exhibition in Christchurch was really unusual, and not just because the Protestant Church, according to Joe Duffy, was traditionally suspicious of religious images. The work of Ludmilla Pawlowska of the Eastern Orthodox Church was a combination of traditional icons and modern works inspired by them. It was striking how much the human eye figured prominently in the modern works, and how the colours were just as vibrant as in the traditional counterparts, but in a very different way.
Last Thursday Cajun group L'Angelus played a superb live set for Today With Pat Kenny on RTE Radio 1, which included a beautiful rendition of Be Thou My Vision. While they play many "secular" gigs their Catholic faith is important to them and to the whole Cajun culture. In their Irish tour they have been playing for the Catholic Underground, an innovative group that combines prayer and the arts, an initiative described enthusiastically on the show by Fr Sylvester of the Friars of the Renewal in Moyross. On the strength of that show I've just bought their album Sacred Hymns Collection and will review it here shortly.

27/4/09
Regular readers will know I look forward to the musical items on the show Spirit Level, the monthly religious magazine programme on RTE 1, and once again I wasn't disappointed. There were two soulful performers - Padraig Rushe, formerly of the Dublin Gospel Choir sang the catchy Free Now from his new album Greyworld, while Joseph Fitzgerald's best song was the haunting and unaccompanied "Deep". See it all at the Spirit Level website.

5/2/09
Last Sunday morning saw a new religious programme on RTE 1. Spirit Level got off to a promising start. Apart from the discussion (about forgiveness), the show was more innovative and appealing with its musical items - Nóirín Ní Riain sang the beautiful Jesus My All to Heaven Has Gone, with her two sons, and we also saw her rehearsing for her recent Celtic Joy album. In an interview with Anna Nolan she was positively enthusiastic about the monastic life (she shares in the life of the monks in Glenstal Abbey), about our roots in Celtic spirituality and about the Holy Trinity (you don't hear enthusiasm for the Trinity too often in the media!). A more surprising appearance was Luka Bloom (formerly Barry Moore) who sang the catchy Don't Be Afraid of the Light that Shines Within You, (see clip) a spiritual song in the broadest sense. The show finished with Elikya, an African gospel group, from Limerick!

28/10/08
Have been doing my usual module on religious themes in music with my Transition Year students - most of what I've in the past is outlined in previous music blogs, and in my article on using music DVDs in class, so I'll just include just some new resources ad observations here. I used the usual DVDs (many are posted in the videos page) - this year James Taylor (Shed a Little Light) wasn't that popular (sob, sob), but as usual Alison Krauss (Down in the River to Pray) and Jewel (Hands) got a high rating - one student made a reference to "eye candy", but they did engage with the spiritual issues in the songs! Bruce Springsteen's song If I Should Fall Behind didn't fare too well with some, but one student wrote that he hoped to get it onto his MP3 player the next day!
Most interesting comments were raised by the Steve Vai clips - there were prayerful instrumentals For the Love of God and Whispering a Prayer (see clip on left). The boys loved his guitar playing, though some didn't like his facial gestures! They split fairly evenly on whether instrumental music could ever be spiritual, without accompanying lyrics. Eric Clapton (Tears in Heaven) and Bob Dylan (Knocking on Heaven's Door) went down well, with some of the more musical students joining in the singing, which I haven't experienced in these sessions before.
As usual I invited the students to bring in their own music (in advance so that I could have a listen myself and get lyric sheets printed), and just one student obliged (thanks Jordan!), but he produced loads of material, including the Dylan and Clapton tracks that I already had on DVD. Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer featured as well and once again there was great singing along on the chorus. Some of the material was new to me - there were religious references, but in some cases the songs were open to widely varying interpretations. Reverend Wrinkle by Black Stone Cherry may have been about an inspired clergyman - "Moonlit man got it all in his head/He can find the beauty/In the things that are dead … He knows the only way back home". The Runner by Kings of Leon was hard to figure out - "I talked to Jesus/Jesus says I'm okay" - but this being used to cover up dodgy behaviour? Prayer by Disturbed reminded me of metaphysical poet John Donne in Batter My Heart, wanting to be wrenched violently away from sin - "Living just isn't hard enough/Burn me alive inside", but I suppose is also open to more disturbing interpretations.

12/10/08
On RTE Radio 1 this week Dave Fanning did an item on Christian music with his guests Liam Lawton and Ronan Johnston, both of whom are involved in Christian music in Ireland. It was a great idea for a mainstream youth orientated show, and at the end Fanning said they could have gone on for three hours about it. But that just highlighted the main flaw with the item - it was way too short. And so we got just snippets of some American Contemporary music from the likes of Casting Crowns, and often with jokey voiceovers which didn't help. I may be wrong but I felt that Lawton was uncomfortable with this format of fragmented music and fragmented commentary. He did manage to make an interesting distinction between American Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and European sacred music - in general he found the latter to be more reflective, though he did praise Catholic American singer John Michael Talbot for his meditative material. Johnston concurred, and also began to talk about some of his favourites (like the late Mark Heard) who were somewhat off mainstream. He found the typical CCM material to be too safe, not allowed to deal with the doubts. He thought U2 was the greatest Christian band and instanced their song I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, though I'd question how one who has encountered Christ could sing that. Where else could you go looking and still be a Christian? At one stage Fanning wondered if we weren't a bit disdainful over here about this kind of American music. Mind you his own introduction to the segment left something to be desired - Christian music from USA was "not all bible thumping hicks", he said, and assuming a lot about his young listeners urged them: "before you stretch out your cynical atheistic finger to turn to another channel, broaden your horizon". Remember that Examiner survey during the week showing a high rate of belief in God among young people.
This interview is archived here.

22/7/08
Saw some of the Sunday ceremonies of World Youth Day - as usual the music was of a very high standard, during the final mass - that Kyrie would certainly lift the spirit. At this stage I'm wondering how to incorporate the WYD experience into my R.E. teaching. I'll certainly use the Stations of the Cross from Friday when I look at religious themes in drama in my Transition Year classes, and at the various depictions of Jesus in film. Doing Eucharist I might show the Last Supper sequence at the start of the Stations (very Leonardo!) and some clips from the final mass. Juday Bailey's set from the Saturday night vigil (see below) will be useful for when I'm doing religious themes in music. It's lively and exhuberant and should go down well. The students often argue that music in church should be more joyful!

20/7/08
Yesterday's Vigil at World Youth Day got off to a great start with a warm up set from Judy Bailey and her band. Judy is a gospel/reggae singer with an African-Caribbean groove! She also played WYD 2005 at Cologne. Her set from the vigil in Sydney can be seen at the official WYD website - it's the video segment "Prelude to the Evening Vigil" and is well worth a look. The rest of the Vigil also featured some excellent choral and orchestral music. The music of Taizé figured strongly.

17/6/08
On Today With Pat Kenny (RTE Radio 1) last week Pat interviewed a monk from the Cistercian Abbey in Austria which has had a surprise hit with the recent CD Chant - Music for Paradise. The monk, whose name I missed, was full of enthusiasm for the music and for his vocation. The monks had put a clip of their Gregorian chant on YouTube (left) which they could point to when they heard Universal Music was looking for a choir to sing Grgorian Chant for a new CD. It's not my favourite music, and apart from getting school choirs to sing it, I don't see much use for it in R.E., but I'm open to correction! But it's great to see the monks' success, and great to see religious music making an impression in the mainstream.

16/6/08
MAD 2008: Went yesterday to this new Christian Rock festival near Glenealy Co Wicklow, and what an enjoyable afternoon it was. I arrived in time to hear the Elation band (Irish group that has played before for Youth 2000 and youth events at Knock) - hadn't heard them before and they were really good - lively, driving soft rock hymns, when a excellent line up of vocalists and musicians. Also impressive, and quite similar to Elation in many ways, was Ben Cantelon and the Soul Survivor Band. Shel Perris had a good voice and lively Christian message but sang to backing tracks, which is not my cup of tea, though the younger people in the audience seemed to be enjoying themselves. The audience was quite varied with I'd say a slight predominance of teens and young adults, but plenty of parents and youth leaders as well. The venue was excellent - loads of space and toilets, free parking right beside the main tent, and very efficient stewarding. If there was a fault it was that the music was way too loud! I saw some people fleeing the tent and listening from outside, and I saw one fellow strategically using cotton wool!
The event was nondenominational but coming mainly from an Evangelical Protestant background. However, this Catholic founds lots to admire and nothing to offend! Pics from the event here.

26/2/08
I was really saddened today to hear that Gospel singer Larry Norman died last Sunday. He was the first contemporary gospel singer I started listening to after Cliff Richard popularised some of his songs. He was never that well known in Ireland, and many years ago I was really disappointed when I heard one day in Dublin that he had played a concert there the night before and I didn't know about it.
Larry was probably the first of the "Jesus rockers" in the early 70's, a real trailblazer who at times fell foul of the mainstream gospel music world because rock was his idiom, and of the secular music world because it wasn't at all accepted to sing about Jesus in rock music. His song Shot Down, which I have used in class many times captures this early negativity towards his music, and his Why Should the Devil Have all the Good Music provided the rationale for his novel approach. As regards using his songs in class, when looking at themes in music, I tend to use audio only as the students find his appearance too freaky! He certainly was one of a kind, quirky, creative, innovative.
He didn't much go in for devotional material, but pushed the boat out much farther. His songs were full of striking metaphors - Jesus was an Outlaw, a UFO, the Rock that rolled away the blues! I think his early albums are the best - e.g. In Another Land and Only Visiting this Planet which has the classic Great American Novel, a blistering social comment on US society - "Your money says In God We Trust, but it's against the law to pray in school", and a sharp dig at the KKK - "the sheets you wear upon your head are the sheets your children sleep on".
I thought his later material was weaker, and too much of his output was re-releases and compilations, but he always had such a distinctive voice and presence. May he rest in peace!
NB I have put some concert footage on the videos page.
For a moving account of Larry's last days see his website.

27/12/07
The most striking programme I saw over Christmas was The Liverpool Nativity on BBC - shown live on BBC 3 and then repeated on BBC 1 on the Sunday before Christmas. It was a modernised nativity play recorded live on the streets of Liverpool, featuring rock and pop music associated with the area. There was some slight controversy beforehand, but I thought the whole affair was entirely respectful of the Christian story.
It was the style rather than the substance that was unorthodox. The narrator was the Angel Gabriel! Soap actor Geoffrey Hughes (ex Coronation St I think) had "Gabriel" printed on his leather jacket, and wings painted on the back of it - subtle and imaginative I thought, rather than tacky. As the Annunciation approached he declared that Mary was a virgin, saving herself for her marriage to the beloved Joseph. Mary was a waitress in a Liverpool café, Joseph an asylum seeker trying to fit into his new country. Herod was transformed into Herodia, a ruthless and power hungry government minister with her own slimy spin-doctor, anxious to crush any messiah that might threaten her position. The Three Wise Men travelled by Rolls Royce, delayed on their way by the rush of last minute shopping on Christmas Eve!
The political subtext was less than subtle, with Herodia eroding civil rights to pursue her "war on terror", and talk of "régime change". She decided to score some political points with a roundup of asylum seekers, causing Joseph to have to be registered. To an extent I felt that a modern political agenda was being imposed on a timeless story, but then the political realities of the time were part of the original Christmas story, and pleas for a compassionate treatment of vulnerable people are still at the heart of that story. This wasn't claiming to be a historical presentation of the nativity, but a revisiting of an crucial event, seeing it through the lens of modern times, not a cheap effort to make it "relevant", but a creative and bold attempt to shake us into looking again at a story whose impact may have been dulled by everything from over familiarity to crass commercialism.
Much of the story was conveyed in song, and instead of opting to write new material for the occasion the producers chose songs associated with Liverpool. Obviously they weren't written with the nativity in mind, and not every word of every line fitted the context, but broadly they captured the spirit of the event, and this reworking gave them a whole new set of meanings. I, for one, won't hear them again without being reminded of this new layer of meaning related to the birth of Jesus. Needless to say, Beatles songs were prominent. Not surprisingly, All You Need is Love was the main anthem for the night, while Let It Be (sung as the shepherds and other visitors approached the crib) and Lady Madonna (sung by the Wise Men in the crib) seemed particularly suitable. Mary got to sing My Sweet Lord, but here it was in reference to her devotion to Joseph - their love story was very tasteful and convincing. I cringed when I heard one of the "shepherds" stating into John Lennon's Imagine. I know it's often seen as a deep meaningful song, but personally I find it bland - "imagine there's no heaven … and no religion too" as if such ideas were too divisive and had to be dumped to achieve world peace! Yet, whether by design or happy accident, the song was placed rather crucially - sung by a shepherd before the angels arrived to announce the good news. No need for such wishy washy and aimless sentiments after that!
Considering that the event was live across several Liverpool venues, with the actors dancing, running and singing, the few bum notes were understandable, and I loved the understated musical accompaniment - most songs were backed by simple guitar, violin and accordion arrangements, busker style, with an orchestra and choir for the big numbers.
On TV and Radio over Christmas there were plenty of carol services, plenty of religious songs on the mainstream music programmes, good coverage of religious services, and all that was welcome and important, but here was an imaginative programme that got thousands of people onto the streets of Liverpool to celebrate the Nativity without diluting the story, that got thousands more watching it on TV, and that blew out of the water any idea that the Christmas story hasn't got something compassionate and challenging to say to a 21st century audience.
Watching the programme I wondered what use I could make of it in religion class - mostly for next year. I normally show the Annunciation clip from Jesus of Nazareth, but this will make for an interesting contrast - Mary gets the news as she works in a café - Gabriel announces it to her in a disembodied voice only she can hear, and how she and Joseph cope with the news is really well done. After Christmas I normally do some classes on The Three Wise Men (more of that soon) and this year I will use some of the clips showing them meeting Herodia, and visiting the crib. When I do classes with Transition Year on religious themes in music and drama, many of the scenes should prove useful.

23/12/07
Finally on holidays! Such a relief. To finish up I did a Christmas themed prayer service with third year students. They were wired, but I struggled on! Used a few Christmas meditations, with some seasonal music – Go Tell It on the Mountain from Jams Taylor’s Christmas album, recently re-released, Angels We Have Heard on High by Kim Hill from her Christmas album and to finish with the upbeat Immanuel from Amy Grant’s first Christmas album. There’s so much more great material at Christmas, I’ll be reluctant to put it away in January. But I’ll get some more mileage out of it – first week back at school I usually do a few classes on the Three Wise Men, interesting characters with a lot to say to 21st Century Christians, and quite a few songs and poems have been written about them. For last class with Transition Years (15/16 year olds) I did a class looking at a little of the artistic side of Christmas – a few Christmas songs, along with T.S. Eliot’s poem The Cultivation of Christmas Trees. Earlier I had used Randy Stonehill’s song Christmas at Denny’s for the Christmas assessment. The answers were insightful, but some found it somewhat depressing for Christmas – it’s about a guy fallen on hard times who is trying to find hope again.

17/12/07
Have been doing the Anointing of the Sick with 6th year students (17-19 year olds). Have to be careful as there have been bereavements in the class. Suggestions for resources would be welcome! Today I used the Hopkins poem Felix Randal - "Sickness broke him. Impatient he cursed at first, but mended being anointed and all …". It felt like an English class! To finish I used the song Now is the Time For Tears by Charlie Peacock, which deals with how one might relate to a grieving person - "Cry with me don't try to fix me, friend …" - from the compilation album Coram Deo, which contains many reflective songs. It certainly quitened the students … should have used it at the start of class! Tomorrow might try Healer of My Soul by John Michael Talbot (on albums Signatures and Brother to Brother)

16/12/07
Went to a great concert last week! Beth Nielsen Chapman was playing in Whelans of Dublin, and I’d say it’s not often that venue gets such a spiritual experience. Yet the spiritual content was subtle enough at times. Mainly the concert was a really enjoyable musical treat. Her songs have such beauty and depth, some really serious stuff at times, but she’s a great personality on stage, full of fun. And what a band! Apart from the two great guys in the mini wind section, and a guitarist, it was a family affair - her son Ernest on keyboards, guitar and excellent backing vocals, his cousin Trip on drums, his wife very effective on bass and miscellaneous percussion. She played several songs from her recent album of spiritual songs, Prism, including the playful God Is In, Shine All Your Light, and the haunting That Mystery. The second disc on that album has songs in many different languages from different spiritual traditions, and in this concert she joined them all in a long medley, which I thought worked really well. Of course there were plenty of old favourites, like Sand and Water, All I have (very romantic – a song with a very low divorce rate she said!) and the seasonal Every December Sky. All in all a great night – the icing on the cake was getting to talk to her at the end and get an autograph.

4/12/07
One thing I love about Advent and Christmas is the music. I love digging out the CDs and tapes. The season seems to bring out the best in composers. I like every year to add to the collection, but haven’t come across anything new I want to get this year yet (any suggestions?), though I have ordered a CD to give as a present – Merry Axemas features Christmas songs done as electric guitar instrumentals done by some of the best players, like Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. Check it out on Amazon, there are sound samples, but I doubt if it’s going to have wide appeal!
Had an Advent Prayer service with the third year students a few days ago, and had to whittle music down to three pieces – tough choice! I used Prepare Ye the Way by John Michael Talbot (from his New Earth album) – a great and tough song, what John the Baptist might have sung in the desert! Michael Card’s The Promise is another excellent song for the season, available both on his Christmas album The Promise – A celebration of Christ’s Birth, and on The Final Word, part of his trilogy on the life of Christ. Finally I wanted something on the Immanuel theme – spoiled for choice here! I used Amy Grant’s Immanuel from her second Christmas album Home for Christmas. Later on I’ll flag some songs that deal with the Three Wise Men – suitable for classes immediately after Christmas. Apart from the album’s mentioned I also find the following useful: Kim Hill – Real Christmas; Peter, Paul and Mary – A Holiday Celebration; John Michael Talbot – The Birth of Jesus; Kathy Mattea – Good News; The Roches – We Three Kings; Amy Grant – A Christmas Album; Amy Grant – A Christmas to Remember; The Hutchisons - Christmas. This music is mostly in the folk/acoustic rock/contemporary vein. Most of the albums can be tracked down on Ebay, Amazon, Christian Discs, while the Hutchisons album is available from their own site here.

21/11/07
At the end of the Mission of the Church module I brought the third year students to the prayer room. Apart from some prayers and readings I found it hard to come up with some good music on the topic - all suggestions gratefully received (use contact details over). I used Go and Do the Same by Sal Solo from his excellent Look at Christ album, Salt and Light by Amy Delaine from the Various Artists album Songs From the Loft (full of useful material for teens), and Here I Am Lord - the John Michael Talbot version from the album Table of Plenty, and even Go Tell It on the Mountain by Peter, Paul and Mary (don't think this version went down too well with my lads!).

20/11/07
Doing classes on The Mission of the Church with third year students, I gave one class over to looking at music as a way of spreading the gospel. This year I used three pieces of music on video - Michael Card singing the beautiful Known by the Scars, and Amy Grant singing Too Late, a song about commitment, and Calling on You, a rather unusual prayer song by metal group Stryper. All video clips I had taped from The Rock Gospel Show, an old programme broadcast on BBC, but the students rightly pointed out, especially with Stryper , that the message wasn't coming through very clearly because the words couldn't be made out clearly, surely a telling point with relevance to any method of spreading the gospel. These clips are hard to find now, but plenty of alternatives are available from the likes of John Michael Talbot, Liam Lawton, and others I've mentioned in my article on using music DVDs in class (here). At a parent teacher meeting today I was glad to hear that one student had reported home, favourably, on the classes, and that the parents were also fans of Michael Card.

30/10/07
Got to the Cork Jazz Festival again this year. Went to the Blind Boys of Alabama concert in the Cork Opera House, and what a night! The support group was fantastic for starters. The Campbell Brothers performed some foot stompin', soul stirrin' black gospel music, with enough energy to light up Cork for a week. There was plenty of singing about judgement day and the morning train to take you there. A highlight was the praise song Lord I Just Want to thank You!, and slowing down the tempo a soulful version of I'll Fly Away, more commonly heard as an up tempo bluegrass song. And there was a cautionary tale - Don't Let the Devil Ride! This introduced as a "service announcement for Cork" - don't let the devil ride 'cause he'll want to drive! The Blind Boys of Alabama, singing gospel for six decades, received a great welcome from the packed theatre as they launched into spirited versions of gospel classics like People Get Ready, When the Stars Begin to Fall (a beautiful acapella version), Amazing Grace (to the tune of House of the Rising Sun!). There was plenty of banter and gospel exhortations between the songs, and the audience was on its feet for the last few songs - I'm a Soldier in the Army of the Lord was particularly good. After the encore the Blind Boys stayed on stage to greet the fans for a long while after. For both groups the message and the vocals were central, but both had the hottest of bands as well. See video clips page for a sample of the work of The Blind Boys.

21/10/07
Went to see John Michael Talbot in concert last night – at Mt Argus Church in Dublin. It was a beautiful prayerful experience. It seems he rang the parish priest and asked if he could do the concert there – an offer not to be refused! It was a short event, a very holy hour. I particularly liked his version of Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, and Cave of the Heart. The familiar favourites were there too, allowing people to pray/sing along. He didn’t say a lot on this occasion but I liked his words of introduction to a song from his new album – Come Home Little Children from the album Living Water (his 50th) called us to come home if we have drifted, from Jesus, from Church, from humanity. Sound clips from this album can be heard here. Great to meet some friends and acquaintances there too – thanks Yvonne for the guided tour of that wonderful church and its Saint Charles of Mount Argus exhibition.

27/9/07
One of my favourite programmes from the nineties was The Transatlantic Sessions and I'm thrilled to see it back on RTE 1 on Friday nights. The formula is simple - get some of the best folk musicians from Ireland, Scotland and USA together in a big house in Scotland and let them play away to their hearts content. Just two little disappointments to report here - it's not quite as good as the previous two series, with the material and performers just a tad weaker, and considering the musical roots involved I would have expected some gospel music to figure strongly - the nearest so far in what I've seen are two songs by Joan Osborne (well known for What If God Was One of Us, theme of the short lived Joan of Arcadia series). St Teresa, and Holy Waters seemed to be just using religious terms as metaphors.

6/9/07
The interface of religion and the arts often figures on BBC 1's Heaven and Earth show, which came to the end of its run last Sunday morning. One of the special guests was a favourite singer of mine, Beth Nielsen Chapman, one of whose albums, "Hymns", is a most beautiful collection of mostly old Catholic Latin hymns from her childhood. On the show she spoke warmly of God as the "creative spirit" who goes by many names. Her upbringing on US army bases where a single space was used by many religious traditions gave her an appreciation of the presence of God in these religions. Her next album, "Prism", available later this month, will be a collection of spiritual songs, one of which she performed with great enthusiasm on the show. "God is In" was a simple but infectious song on the theme that God is everywhere. There were lines that might raise some eyebrows - "God is in those dancing pagans … God is in the atheist and all those things that don't exist". Irony or what? Anyone offended?

5/6/07
On holidays finally! Time to catch up on a few things. Gave my TY students an exam at the end and included a music video with questions as I didn't have time to do much of those this year. I offered them (boys) a choice between Iron Maiden and James Taylor, and to my surprise a big majority went for James Taylor singing Shed a Little Light, from the Squibnocket DVD. The answers were quite perceptive. Also at the end of time I was surprised to get a good few works of art with a religious theme. A few were paintings/drawings but most were poems, with just one short story. This was the best year yet for getting the art works. That same day we had a visit from the Diocesan Advisor, who conferred certs from the Diocese to those who had a reasonable body of R.E. work to show (Thanks Eileen!). This certification is a great idea and I'd encourage more schools to take up the opportunity. We displayed our arts work and our social commitment work (Young Social Innovator, Special Olympics, Young Vincent de Paul etc.). Without this it would have been very hard to get the students to present a portfolio of R.E. work.

Can't wait to start catching up on more music. New Bruce Springsteen music DVD is just out. Live in Dublin features most of the songs from his Seeger Sessions concerts, and some gospel numbers are included - e.g. Oh Mary Don't You Weep, Jacob's Ladder, When the Saints Go marching in, This Little Light of Mine. Not sure if it would be much use in school - not the kind of music most of our students would be interested in I'd say. This comes in DVD only edition or Audio CD edition or combined DVD/double CD. I notice that Bruce's website features a large picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Not sure why! The site also features links to video samples from the DVD.

13/5/07
Sorry about irregular blogging, school is too busy, as always in third term. Transition Year students are involved in so many outings and special events I haven't had as much class contact as I'd like. Did however get to continue with module on religion and music, by playing some CDs followed by discussion. Reaction from the students was quite positive judging by their reviews of the songs. I started with a handout on some of the issues raised by the whole interaction of faith and music (can send the handout on request - use contact link on left). The songs I used included What About the Love by Amy Grant - a great song about doing good for the wrong reasons, and with a sting in the tail about the songwriter being too judgemental. As an example of rocking up an old hymn I played Christ the Lord is risen today by Ashley Cleveland, from her Men and Angels Say album (see music section of the site for CD review). Now Is the Time for Tears by Charlie Peacock from a great CD called Coram Deo is a touching song about grief of any sort and how to relate to friends who are suffering from it. Each song provides so much material for discussion that it's hard to get through too many without rushing it. I usually provide handouts with the song words and a few questions to kick start the discussion.
I'm running out of TY classes at this stage but hope to get a chance to do a class with music DVDs. If not I'll use some of this material for the summer exam - show a music DVD with spiritual theme and ask a few questions. It'll make a change from the traditional exam format, which should be in keeping with the TY ethos!
One requirement I have on this course is that the students must produce some sort of a work of art with a religious theme. I suspect there will be a minimalist approach! One year I got two slips of wood nailed together to make the most basic of crucifixes. The deadline approacheth so I will report here soon on what I get. We're also getting a visit soon from the Diocesan advisor who will give certificates based on the work done in this course so students are under orders to gather their material in presentable format.

21/4/07
Yesterday I started on the religion and music module, with an in-class concert with Peter Kearney. Peter is an Australian singer-songwriter living in Carlow, who specialises in faith inspired songs. This is the third time we've had him in school with the Transition Year classes. For a double class he sang and played guitar, and it was the most relaxing class of the week. All I had to do was sit at the back of the class and enjoy! Peter also tells the stories behind the songs, which suits perfectly what I'm trying to do in this module - to highlight the religious themes in music and to raise awareness of the issues relating to the different contexts in which music and religion meet creatively. This year Peter also brought a handout which divided his songs into different categories which helped to show the diversity of possibilities in this area - e.g. songs for liturgies, songs inspired by scripture, songs about social issues, songs for meditation. Peter has also written a musical about the life of St Francis of Assisi, Good Morning Good People! which he will perform with flute player Roma Dix in St Michael's Church Gorey, Co. Wexford on Thursday May 31st at 7.30 pm. Go along for some aesthetic nourishment! For more information on Peter's work see his website http://www.hinet.net.au/~peterk/

Got some more music DVDs recently to add to the collection - Heart of Gold by Neil Young is a superb DVD if you're into folk/rock/roots music. I could watch Four Strong Winds over and over. Emmylou Harris does backing vocals, which for me is a bonus. On this DVD is the song When God Made Me from Young's Prairie Wind album. Some of you might have seen him singing this in the concert for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. This song is somewhat controversial - gospel flavoured in style it asks a few rhetorical questions. Some take offence, but I think it's general and subtle enough to be interpreted in many ways, including an interpretation favourable to belief in God, though with the hint of caution about some of the practices and attitudes of believers. Check out the lyrics and the controversy here

Second great DVD I got recently was the Musicares Person of the Year Tribute to James Taylor. Many of Taylor's hits are performed by other stars like Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Rait, Sting and the Dixie Chicks. He duets with Carole King on You've Got a Friend, and there's yet another version of Shed a Little Light, a song mentioned in my recent An Tobar magazine article on using music DVDs in class (email me for the resources). I still prefer the version on the DVD Squibnocket.

9 Jan 2007
I don't want to let go of Christmas! The tree and the decorations went on Sunday last, but back in school at this time of year I usually do a few classes on the Three Wise Men, still reasonably seasonable. So I'm in the middle of this with third year students. I'm using the material in the old Veritas book Love One Another - there's a few pages at the end of the Christmas chapter that give the scriptural context from Matthew, with some of the stories that later grew up around these wise men. Another exercise looks at what relevance their story has for today. In the second class we discussed T.S. Eliot's poem Journey of the Magi, which the third years manage fine with some guidance, and in fact this year it led to some interesting discussions as we teased it out. I have notes and resources on this poem on my Teachnet project. For a bit of variety I play the familiar song We Three Kings - there's a fine traditional version on John Michael Talbot's Birth of Christ album, but I like the up tempo version on the album We Three Kings by The Roches.
I've asked the students to bring in any Christmas cards that feature the wise men, which might give us a chance to look at the artistic interpretations. I might follow this with some pictures on a slide show presentaion - try a Google image search on "Magi" for a wide variety of material.

31/10/06
Just back from the Cork Jazz Festival, great music and atmosphere as usual. Struck me on Sunday morning that it was a pity there wasn't a high profile Jazz mass during the festival. I don't think there was any. Some mightn't like the idea, but I think with thousands of musicians in the city for the weekend there was a chance to involve them, even minister to them. I'm no jazz expert, but there are plenty of spiritual trends in Jazz, which isn't a million miles from gospel music. The Harlem Gospel Choir featured in one of the main concerts on the Friday night (unfortunately I wasn't down on time for that) so the festival wasn't bereft of spiritual input. I've come across liturgical/spiritual work by the likes of Oscar Peterson and Dave Brubeck, so let's hope that next year some imaginative parish will take on the task. There's a Church right down the road from the main venue, (the Metropole), St Patrick's parish I think, which would be an ideal venue. Though not jazzy, the choir there at Mass Sunday at midday was in fine form and there was a great sermon about the extra light we need to get us through these complex times. Funny how jazz, once regarded in some circles as immoral, now seems downright respectable compared to, say, the excesses of heavy metal! And there are spiritual nuggets in heavy metal too, but that's another story.

24/9/06
Finally saw Walk the Line last night - the Johnny Cash biopic. More could have been made of the importance of religion in his life, but there were some nice moments - his brother Jack getting familiar with scripture to get ready for life as a preacher while Johnny listened to country music on the radio. There's a funny incident when Johnny sings a gospel song for a record producer who finds it too ordinary and unconvincing - Cash misinterprets this as the producer thinking he, Cash, doesn't believe in God! It's clear all along that both Cash and future wife June Cater were inspired by gospel songs from an early age, and when she gets him to leave behind the drink and pills it is suggested by a Church visit that religion has a part to play in this turn around. But Cash is shown warts and all, and his cheating on first wife Vivienne is particularly painful. The film well deserves all the accolades it got, especially tghose for the two performances at the heart of it - from Reese Witherspoon and Joacquin Phoenix.

20/9/06
The inservice day in Laragh went well I think, at least I enjoyed it. The setting didn't seem so idyllic with the rotten weather. But I met some old friends and some new teachers signed up for the faitharts email list. The session was about using Music DVDs in religion class, either to illustrate themes under discussion or as a study of religious themes in music, or the search for meaning in modern culture (Part A of the NCCA's framework document for non-exam classes at senior cycle). The teachers seemed to enjoy the music and came up with some good ideas for dealing with this material in class. I can send the materials I used as Word document attachments on request (see contact link on left) - song words, worksheets, full list of songs used and on what DVDs. Might put these on site as download anyway.
Just found out last night that the James Taylor video Squibnocket is being released on DVD in October - I'd highly recommend it, partly because the song Shed a Little Light is performed really well, even prayerfully, on that one. It's a country studio setting, better than the concert setting in the Pull Over DVD. Best price seems to be on play.com where it can be pre-ordered.

19/9/06
Blog Sept 2006 Finally getting a bit of free time to get the blog going again. During the summer I managed to get CD versions of tapes I have found really useful over the year - mostly on Ebay. No more winding and rewinding and missing the right song for prayer room sessions. Songs From the Loft has an excellent selection of songs suitable for school and features various artists from the US contemporary Christian music scene, including Amy Grant, Kim Hill, Ashley Cleveland and Wes King. Coram Deo is along similar lines but more reflective, and features Michael Card among others. Standout tracks are Lord of Love (great for prayer services on the Trinity) and Now Is the Time for Tears, a wonderful piece on bereavement. Brother to Brother is also excellent - Michael Card and John Michael Talbot sing each others songs - plenty of material for prayer and reflection sessions. Also picked up a music DVD guest starring Amy Grant (Peter Cetera is main performer) and it was worth the price to get her version of El Shaddai, a beautiful prayer song written by Michael Card. Bringing my first class to the prayer room this week so I'll surely use some of this material. Tomorrow I'm doing an inservice workshop for the Dublin Diocesan Advisors in the idyllic setting of Laragh near Glendalough. Based on a section of the NCCA's non-exam syllabus I'm looking at the search for meaning in modern music, using a selection of music DVDs for the purpose. Have prepared some materials (song words, worksheets, resource lists etc) which I'll send to anyone on request (Word attachments). Will write about how I get on in a day or two.

24/5/06
Our prayer room got a beautiful face-lift recently so I thought I'd better make good use of it. Brought the 6th years and 3rd years in for end of year prayer services and while there were a few frisky moments, inevitable at this time of year, it went fairly well, at least I thought so. With the 6th years it helped that a few unruly gentlemen weren't in on the day. I had been doing a sacraments course with them so the service acted as a kind of recap of the course - I used some impromptu meditations with a song for each sacrament - just about managed it in under 40 minutes. Songs used: Baptism - Baptism Meditation by Michael Card from his impressive trilogy on the Life of Christ (my tape copy of You Have Been Baptised in Christ is worn out. Can those Glory and Praise songs be found on CD? For Eucharist - Come to The Table from the same source; for Reconciliation Come Ye Sinners by Ashley Cleveland (see review of her album on this site), though I the past I've used Kenny Rogers' Tell It All Brother (a striking song from his early days - "in the dungeon of your mind who've you got chained to the wall?"); for Confirmation Sal Solo's catchy Spirit from his Look at Christ album (a soft rock Rosary), which we've also used at many graduation masses; for marriage I used Love is Not the Only Thing (but It's the Best thing) by Mark Heard from his album Second Hand, though the imagery was a bit too obscure (might used Michael Card's The Wedding next time); for Orders Here I Am Lord was excellent. I used John Michael Talbot's version (Glory and Praise worn out again!) from the Table of Plenty album; for the Sacrament of the Sick I used Gentle Healer by Michael Card, forgetting that Healer of my Soul was also on the Talbot album Signatures. The Talbot and Card albums are great because you can usually hear the words clearly.
The service with third years was on the topic of the hereafter which we had been doing in class, and no, I didn't play any hell songs. There were readings in the R.E. book and I used some music as well - for the resurrection theme I chose Christ the Lord is Risen Today, a great soft rock version from Ashley Cleveland's album (Men and Angels Say) and I also tried out In My Heaven from Mary Chapin Carpenter's recent album Between Here and Gone. Not exactly theological, but touching in its own way - "Nothing shatters, nothing breaks, Nothing hurts and nothing aches, We got ourselves one helluva place in my heaven". Finished with the upbeat Ready to Go from Randy Stonehill's album Return to Paradise (full of great songs).
The prayer services helped a little to achieve calm at a time of year when it's in short supply. The prayer room is an oasis!

19/5/06
There's something to be said for this time of year when some students start to drift away. Had a much better than usual 6th year religion class today with small numbers. We were doing the Eucharist, and the other day one of the students mentione seeing The Manchester Passion over Easter on BBC (see entry below for Easter 2006) so I brought that in today and played my favourite scene - the Last Supper. It seemed to go down well, prompting plenty of questions. Have wearing out the new Springsteen album - Ok so there's no original material, but those old songs, icluding a few gospel numbers, are given a major revival, or as Bruce puts it on the accompanying DVD "recontextualised". We have some great old hymns that could do with the treatment, but are enough of our top contemporary performers well disposed enough? Any chance of Christ Moore singing Soul of My Saviour (soulfully!), or Mary Black doing Sweet Sacrament Divine? Any more ideas?