The Worship Song Hall of Fame (read: banned list)

Worship music is something that most Christians really get into.  Its benefits are many; it...

• provides an opportunity to focus undivided attention on God and His character
• gives a medium to passionately express your gratitude and love to God
• allows you to be united in mind and spirit with your community

to name a few.

But sometimes, just as you're starting to drown out worldly thought-distractions and open up emotionally to God, a familiar chord progression begins.  And by "familiar" I mean "way, way too familiar; so familiar, in fact, that the mere sound makes you want to close your ears and start saying 'LA-LA-LA' so you don't have to listen to one more second of it."

Some worship songs have just been so overplayed in churches and conferences the last 5, 10, 15 years (and in some cases, are also so bad) that -- for those of us who are still coming along on this spiritual journey of patience, maturity, and self-control -- they instantly induce an un-worshipful cringe.

And so, I give you...


Worship songs that need to be retired
and if they're not willing to retire, I'm trying to get them fired

[Note: there are some songs that would make this list, except you never hear them anymore, e.g. "Shine Jesus Shine."  But it seems they have already called it quits, so there's no reason to bring them back onto anyone's radar.]

1. "Heart of Worship" [1998]

I'm amazed at how such a boring song became so incredibly overplayed.  It doesn't even have a bridge, it just keeps coming back to "I'm coming back to the heart of worship..." over and over and over and over and over again.  In the video linked above, Matt Redman at times looks like he's going to fall asleep while singing the song.

2. "Here I am to Worship" [2001]

Slow, boring, repetitive.  It does have a bridge (and a poignant one at that), but the most musically and emotionally driven moments of the song coincide with pretty self-centered lyrics ("here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You're my God").

3. "Trading My Sorrows" [1998]

I don't really hear this one too much anymore, but when I do, it's really hard to sing along with

Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes yes Lord  Amen

4. "God of Wonders" [2000]

Good lyrics, decent song, just toooooo many times.

5. "Breathe" (or "This is the Air I Breathe") [1995]

Nothing to say.  Stop playing this song.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Shout to the Lord, Open the Eyes of My Heart, Indescribable, Days of Elijah, Friend of God, Better is One Day



What songs are in your worship hall of fame?
Fun fact: I wanted to work in a "warship" pun by this point, but it didn't pan out


What are your favorite worship songs right now?

Which ones are you really tired of?

Jon

Reimagining Jimmy Eat World

If you were a cool teenager in the winter of 2001, you were listening to Jimmy Eat World's album Bleed American.  They were pretty new, their music was of the increasingly popular alternative-emo-pop-punk variety, and let's face it, the album RULES. 

If you were a teenager who wanted to be cool in the summer of 2002, you were finally listening to the album.

I discovered Bleed American in the summer of 2002.


"Your House"
But given new meaning by my optimistic imagination

First of all, here's the song:

The gist of the song is that the singer is tired of a woman breaking his heart over and over again, so he's trying to cut ties with her to move on.

And sure, that's a real thing.  I appreciate the honesty.  But I can't seem to help getting a little depressed at the oft-repeated lines

If you love me at all, please don't tell me now
If you love me at all, don't call

So I've invented an alternate meaning for the song.  Imagine a guy who likes a girl.  This will work better if you picture a nerdy guy liking a girl who's not necessarily reciprocating (I'm envisioning Screech and Lisa from Saved by the Bell).

Ok, now because this guy is striking out, he resorts to saying "If you love me, I want you (for reasons I won't go into) to act like you don't love me."  This sets up the ultimate win-win scenario for poor Screech/me/loser/guy.  If she acts like she loves him, WIN.  If she acts like she doesn't, he can just shoot her occasional knowing glances and construct an imaginary reality in which she's suppressing her love in order to fulfill his cryptic demand.  WIN.

And that's basically what Jimmy Eat World is saying--

If you love me at all, don't call.


Saved (from being eaten by Jimmy) by the bell
See what I did there?
I combined the names of the 2 pop-culture references in this post.

Did you listen to Jimmy Eat World in the early 2000s?

Who was your favorite Saved by the Bell character/couple?

Jon