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I have been looking over the new Southern Gospel Songs that charted in 2005 and to be quite honest, I am disappointed. I think 2005 will stand as a banner year for some of the most forgettable songs ever published and recorded. Now I'm not saying that there weren't any good songs released last year. There were a few. But I have not heard one that I think will stand head and shoulders above the rest in years to come and still be sung many years from now. In 2005 I did not hear a song that I believe would stand in the same ranks with "BECAUSE HE LIVES", "THE LIGHTHOUSE", "MIDNIGHT CRY", "WE SHALL BEHOLD HIM" or "LEARNING TO LEAN". I realized that this could be a tall order to fill, so I searched again. I still didn't find anything that would compare in quality to "WHEN HE WAS ON THE CROSS (I WAS ON HIS MIND), "CORNERSTONE", "WHAT A DAY THAT WILL BE", "STATUE OF LIBERTY", "HE LOOKED BEYOND MY FAULT AND SAW MY NEED", "THE KING IS COMING", "GOD ON THE MOUNTAIN", "HE'S STILL WORKING ON ME", or even "FOUR DAYS LATE".

So what has changed? Why aren't songs of this quality still showing up frequently in our industry. I know that a lot of things have changed since these songs were first introduced to us. But as I look at what we are producing today, I think its time we change things back. I know that the industry was far from perfect when these songs first came out. But even with an imperfect system, the quality of music was incredible. Songs of this quality showed up every year. So who's to blame for the change? The answer is quite simple. We all are.

My friend Mike Speck writes a monthly article for the Singing News magazine titled, Into The Choir. In his article this month he states "No one can predict which songs will still be sung by the generations who will be living 100 years from now". Well, while that may be true, I think I can say with some degree of certainty what songs will NOT be sung 100 years from now, or even 5 years from now.

I attend quite a few Southern Gospel concerts in each year. One thing that I've noticed is that most major groups compile their performance from what they have recorded in the last three years. For them to pull out a song that is older than that, it had to be a huge radio song for them. But even then, most big radio songs fall away from the program within a five year period. The life of a radio hit is extremely short. How can we expect the coming generations to sing these songs when the artists who introduced them are tired of them after five years?

All of the classic songs that I mentioned above were first introduced by Southern Gospel artists. Those songs got into the churches immediately. Church congregations were using these songs in their worship services. I remember when the Lanny Wolfe Trio released "SURELY THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD IS IN THIS PLACE" in 1977. I got that album the week it hit the stores. I thought that I would be the first to introduce this song to my congregation. I was wrong. They had already heard it. It was already everywhere. Congregations all over the country were already singing it. It saturated the church market as soon as it was released.

The church market has definitely changed since then. Praise and Worship music has become the ONLY music that many churches will even consider using today. As a songwriter, this makes me very sad. Most of the Praise and Worship music being performed in churches today, falls even farther below the quality level of the forgettable Southern Gospel songs that are charting today.

Many Praise and Worship songs are based on an elementary theology. God is Holy. That's it. He is worthy and He is Holy. Now, while that is perfectly true, we are not the first one's with this information. God already knows it. Subjects like the resurrection, His Life, His Ministry, the Cross, the Blood, the Second Coming or an eternal home prepared for the believer, are seldom used in Praise and Worship music.

I have seen Praise and Worship teams walk off the stage with an arrogance that suggested that God was High and Lifted Up because they put Him there. I've even heard it stated from the platforms that we (the congregation) need to lift Him up where He belongs. As if He wouldn't be God unless we put Him on that throne. I've got news for them, HE'S GOD ALL BY HIMSELF. He doesn't need any help to be God, and He's not running for office to get elected God. He doesn't need our pep rally to encourage Him. Should we praise Him? Should we worship Him? Absolutely YES! But don't ever think that it is our praise that makes Him God.

Many of the modern Praise and Worship songs performed in churches today have just a few lines to them, and then there will be numerous repetitions of a single phrase or line. Such as: yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes Lord, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, Lord, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, Lord. That is not good writing, no matter what style of music you put to it.

The numerous repetitions and chant like melodies are very similar to the worship style of Eastern religions. And scriture does warn us about vain repitition in our worship.

There are some Praise and Worship songs that stand out from the rest. The song "LORD I LIFT YOUR NAME ON HIGH" contains the entire gospel message in the bridge.

You came from heaven to earth to show the way
From the earth to the cross, my soul to save
From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky.
Lord, I lift Your name on high

The first three lines of this bridge contain the Gospel story in a nutshell. It tells us why we should Lift His Name On High.

I also enjoy "I WORSHIP YOU, ALMIGHTY GOD". That song lyric explains that there is no one like Him and that because He is my righteousnes, I long to praise Him.

I feel like both of these song are well written. Musically, they will work in just about any style you want to sing them.

A few years ago my group (Daryl Williams Trio) was booked in a church that had recently changed their traditional worship style to a more modern, contemporary style. We had worked for this pastor before, when he was in another state. When we arrived, we were first greeted by the Praise and Worship leader. He informed us that they were a Worshipping church and that the new pastor should have never booked a group like us to come there. How's that for a warm welcome?

Before the service started, the pastor told me that his praise team would open the service with two songs. Then we would have the rest of the service, and he asked me to give the invitation at the end.

When the service began the Praise and Worship team took their place and began. One hour a fourty five minutes later, after they gave an invitation, they turned the service to us, at 11:45 AM. The congregation was worn out from being on their feet so long. So I began with our closing song. It is a beautiful song that the Speer Family recorded in 1992, called "HE STILL REIGNS". As we got to the last chorus, people in the congregation began to stand up and worship God.

The praise team had taken their seats about half way back in the auditorium. When they saw people begin to worship, the praise team got furious. They couldn't believe that this congregation was "dumb" enough to worship God during a Southern Gospel Song. The entire team got up and walked out. Unfortunately, that is not the only time we have witnessed that kind of attitude from a praise team because we were in their church to sing Southern Gospel Music. But there have been some good experiences too. One praise leader got up after we sang and publically thanked us for coming and said that we had changed her mind. She thought that Southern Gospel had nothing to do with honoring Jesus.

Last year I was speaking to a young man (approx 20 years old), and he was a Praise and Worship leader. He was getting ready to teach a class, training other Praise and Worship leaders. He asked me if I had any advice. I told him to ask his students why God is Holy and Worthy to be praised. He said that he had never thought about that. I asked him to tell me why Jesus should be praised and exalted above other gods. He told me that he would research that. This kid had a great heart, and loved the Lord, even though he couldn't tell my why.

God is looking for people who worship in spirit and in truth. How can we have the right spirit, if we don't know the truth about why we worship God in the first place? That 20 year old, who had been raised on Praise and Worship music, could not give me one reason why we worship Jesus instead of someone else.

In my travels I hear a lot of complaints from members of congregations that simply don't like the music that is being performed in their services. The statement I hear the most is, "I thought there was something wrong with me. It doesn't make me want to worship, in fact, it hinders my worship" or "I don't feel any Spirit in it". I am also asked frequently "how long do you think this trend of Praise music will last?" Well, like it or not, it's here for a while, and this is why.

The church market is the absolute biggest market for Christian Music. Some will argue that the unsaved or secular markets are bigger. I agree that they are bigger, but they don't buy our products. It's not because of the quality. There are Christian Music products on the market that are of the highest quality found in any music form. The secular market won't buy our products because of the message in it. It has been proven that if we dilute the message where it is unrecognizable as a Christian lyric, then they will consider buying it. But blatant Christian lyrics seldom sell in the secular marketplace. Although there are exceptions. Yes, I have heard of Mercy Me and "I CAN ONLY IMAGINE", which is an awesome song. But that kind of success is a God thing, not a marketing thing. We can, and must reach the lost through evangelism. But we'll never do it through clever marketing strategies. Unsaved people don't want our product, period. So we market to the Christian crowd.

Praise and Worship music style has saturated the marketplace. And with the development of CCLI, a royalty licensing agency exclusive to Christian music, they have learned to charge churches for performances of their music. It is an extremely profitable business. And the Praise and Worship song makers don't intend to back down, go away, or even think about letting go of their stronghold on the church. It is far too profitable for them. They will fight to hold their place. There are many churches being split today over this very subject.

When the Gospel Music Association first developed a Dove award catagory for Best Praise and Worship Music Project, the criteria was that the project had to be about the songs, and not the artist who is singing the song. When this started, the artists name was usually in small print on the back somewhere. But today, most of Praise and Worship Music is Artist driven, rather than song driven. Their name is usually in bold print on the front Cover. We now have Praise and Worship stars. The artist is what sells the project, not the songs. If a Praise and Worship Artist is a hot seller right now, then it is their songs that are getting the greatest amount of lisences for church use.

It is time that Southern Gospel songwriters step up to the plate and start writing the absolute best Christian music ever written.

We have to abolish the mindset in our churches that Southern Gospel songs are sub-standard and not Christ honoring.

We need to fast and pray and seek God for the music and lyrics we write. Then Southern Gospel Publishers need to be as aggressive as God will allow, in putting this music back into the churches, and getting it sung by the congregations. When the congregations sing it, it will get into their mind, their heart and their spirit. Those are the kinds of songs that will last and be sung many years from now. Radio hits will simply be gone with the wind.

Until next time, keep on writing! Daryl Williams http://www.darylwilliamstrio.net

Reader Comments

Daryl Williams makes some great points in his article regarding the disdain that is shown for traditional music in many churches. Of course, there are those in Southern Gospel who show an equal amount of disdain for modern worship music as well. The other day via internet radio, I heard a silly song by Tim Lovelace about music on the wall, refering to the preference of worship churches who display lyrics with a projector rather than using traditional hymnals.

Daryl also makes some good points about the songs that are being written today. I've heard some over the past year that were clever and/or had ear catching hooks. I've heard some songs that were destined to be hits for a short time, in other words. I can't think of any from the past year that have the potential to be a well remembered classic when we look back in ten years, though. By the way, I think part of the definition of "classic" is when many other artists record and/or perform their own versions of the same song.

The last true classic I can recall in the Southern Gospel market is "Mary Did You Know," and it didn't actually get it's start on SG radio, though I think quite a few SG fans bought the CD anyway. It was on the same recording as "In Christ Alone" when it was introduced by Michael English on his self-titled Christian pop project. Now it has been recorded by dozens of artists, including many Southern Gospel artists. Mark Lowry re-did the song with vocal harmony from the GVB to give it more of a Southern Gospel flavor. The song was first introduced in 1994 or so. Has there been a truly classic gospel song written since then with wide acceptance in Southern Gospel?

“Always acknowledge a fault. This will throw those in authority off their guard and give you an opportunity to commit more."---Mark Twain

Daryl makes some very good points on P&W;teams & leaders as well as their songs. Very well said.

God is good all the time & all the time God is good. 

Elaine Harcourt

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