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In much the same way that African American novelists have entered “into the literate public sphere” through slave narratives, Christian musicians have broken into the popular music scene through Contemporary Christian music. According to Madhu Dubey in “The Politics of Genre in Beloved,” African-American writers must relate traditions of their own culture through a form of literary writing that is not their own (Dubey ). Similarly Contemporary Christian artists proclaim their message through secular music style, a medium that does not belong to them.
Today’s society has imposed unspoken restrictions on the Christian message that it must be “hip” in order to be heard. These politics have pressured Christian artists to create music resembling that of the popular mainstream scene. Christian copycat genres have emerged, including Christian pop, rock, rap, heavy metal, and many others. The result is identical-sounding religious and secular music that communicate different messages.
According to Dubey, a novel’s genre is a way of handling “the transition from communal to public, folk to modern culture. She cites author Toni Morrison as saying that blacks learning to read and write symbolizes the doing away of oral traditions in their culture (Dubey ). To illustrate, the publications of Frederick Douglass’s slave narratives The Life of Frederick Douglass and My Bondage and My Freedom show their author’s move from slavery to life as a free man. Having learned to write and proven it with his narratives, Douglass no longer needs to tell all things verbally. The text within his books tells the story of his transition from slavery, but the mere fact that he has published a written work represents the crossover as well.
The rise of Contemporary Christian music follows the same path as that of African-American literature. Traditionally music with a Christian message was expressed in the form of hymns backed by organ accompaniment and sung during church services. The stereotype serves as the equivalent to “folk” culture (Dubey ) represented in African-American literature. Although hymns are as widely used today as they have always been, the emergence of religious music fashioned after popular mainstream music signifies the move of Christian music into “modern culture” (Dubey ).
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As an example, the hymn “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” by Isaac Watts has a simple, flowing rhythm as it is written in the hymnal. The song was written in 1784, a time in which plain, reverent worship was expected. Those traditions continue today in most worship services, but have been joined by modern Christian music that is played outside the church service as well. “Above All,” as recorded by Michael W. Smith is a slow, graceful piece like traditional hymns, but is arranged to sound like contemporary love songs. On the other hand, “Beautiful Sound,” recorded by the Newsboys, is more upbeat and made to sound like a mainstream rock song. Both contemporary songs incorporate drums, guitars and synthesizers to enhance their sound.
While the need to appeal to the “in” crowd seems to control the styling of Christian music, the religious traditions dictate the choices of lyrics. Dubey states that “the novel must ‘work’ for African-Americans, ‘must accomplish certain very strong functions’ previously served by oral traditions…” (Dubey 4) Similarly contemporary music must “work” for Christian artists by carrying their message in its noveau styling. In order to convey the same message as the traditional hymns, the lyrics of a Contemporary Christian song must be closely governed by the expectations of the religious society.
Most Christian songs have worship lyrics, in which adoration and praise are given to God. Many are simply love songs to Him in lyrics, whether the music is upbeat or slow. For example, the chorus to “Above All” reads
Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all
As in the “Above All” lyrics, Christian songs are centered on the crucifixion of Christ and the gratitude of the singer for His sacrifice. Some add to the message. A popular addition to sing about is Jesus’ perfection. The chorus of “Don’t Look at Me,” by Stacie Orrico, illustrates this.
Don’t look at me if you’re lookin’ for perfection
Don’t look at me, I will only let you down.
I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction,
But don’t look at me, no, no, no
Don’t look at me, look at Him
Another widely used variation on the love song to God theme is for the artist to focus on his or her need of Him, as demonstrated in “I Don’t Want to Go,” as recorded by Avalon
I don’t want to go somewhere
If I know that You’re not there
‘Cause I know the me without You is a lie
And I don’t want to walk that road
Be a million miles from home
‘Cause my heart needs to be where You are
So I don’t want to go
The control on the content of Christian lyrics comes from the basic expectations of the religious community. People are taught to worship, glorify and depend on Jesus from the moment they enter the faith. All lyrics of this type possess some sort of adaptation of the theme of Christ and His crucifixion, and are based on the teachings of the church.
Like African-American writers using the borrowed medium of literature to communicate their message, Christian musicians use the style of popular music to proclaim theirs. At the same time, the music is dually controlled by the beliefs of the church and the demands of society. As Dubey explains that African-American writers have learned to speak through a medium that is not their own, so have Christian artists. However, the genre of Contemporary Christian music is growing. The more the music is heard, the more the adopted medium will be accepted as a supplement to the religious lyrics. The Christian musicians will have made the medium their own.
Douglass, Frederick. My Bondage and My Freedom. Dover Publications Edition, 16.
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,
Written by Himself. Barnes & Noble Books Edition, 00.
Dubey, Madhu. “The Politics of Genre in Beloved.” Spring 1.
Song lyrics used in Essay
· “Above All,” written by Lenny LeBlanc and Paul Baloche, as recorded by Michael W. Smith.
· “Beautiful Sound,” as recorded by the Newsboys.
· “Don’t Look at Me,” as recorded by Stacie Orrico.
· “I Don’t Want to Go,” written by Jess Cates and Yancy Wideman, as recorded by Avalon.
· “I Sing the Mighty Power of God,” written by Isaac Watts.
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