During the recording of Garage Hymnal, we asked Shark Eats Bear productions (www.sharkeatsbear.com.au) to document the creative process. They have just finished editing a series of candid interviews with the band.

How would you describe this album?

What did you learn about your bandmates?

What was it like working with David Nicholas (producer)?

What has God been teaching you through the process?

Just a quick note about a small lyric change in Hallelujah, one of the songs on the new album.

The chorus used to have the line:
“O Father, you reign forevermore”.

A kind friend graciously pointed out at KYCK this year where we debuted the song that this makes a mess of the Revelation 19 passage… it doesn’t really reflect who Revelation 19 is talking about when it gives the titles “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” etc — the object of our praise and adoration in this passage is the Son, not the Father.

Also, I see now that the line doesn’t really square with the rest of the song: the verses speak directly to Jesus describing the amazing things he did to rescue us. It’s weird to start addressing the Father in the second person just for one line when the rest of the song is definitely addressed to Jesus in the second person.

Of course, it is entirely appropriate that God the Father gets praised for our salvation, and he is intimately responsible for Jesus’ death and resurrection: John 3:16.

But out of respect for the original passage’s context, and a desire to keep the “you” in the song consistent, I’ve decided to change the line to:

“O God, you reign forevermore”.

Updated sheet music is available at www.garagehymnal.com/resources

Thanks!

Andy

My old minister, Jono Holt, has an article on the Sydney Anglicans site about “Jesus is my boyfriend songs” (JIMBFs), ie. songs that seem to work equally well whether you’re singing to Jesus or your boyfriend.

We have set up a false comparison between songs that express devotion (Jesus-my-boyfriend style) and songs that are true and therefore safe (a new doctrine for each verse, or the entire life of Jesus in one song).

I think Holty is right. My problem with the way we talk about “Jesus is my boyfriend songs” is that it implies that there is something wrong with language of love being used for God.

Actually, the problem with JIMBF songs is the shallowness of the love they talk about. The bible is full-on about using love language to talk about God. The church is Jesus’ bride (Rev 21). In the Old Testament a common image of God is as a faithful husband watching his wife run off with other gods (Ezek 6:9, Isaiah 54, etc).

In the bible, God is not some boyfriend who has a momentary crush on us — he is our lover who pursued us to the point of death to love us.

So let’s get rid of “Jesus is my boyfriend songs”… and replace them with some “Jesus is my fiance” songs.

You can read the whole article at the sydney anglicans site