tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350211073017972998.post3945483768924178702..comments2023-10-19T21:31:51.018+11:00Comments on A funny thing happened on the way ...: Ageism and music (both in churches and in other contexts)Bob Faserhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09121069030405858127noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350211073017972998.post-57562049613187047322016-01-27T11:31:01.899+11:002016-01-27T11:31:01.899+11:00Indeed, some good points, Bob. I think we also nee...Indeed, some good points, Bob. I think we also need to remember, when it comes to popular music, that people in their 90s have also lived through the culture of the 1960s, 70s, 80s, 90s etc and there may well be music from those eras that have caught their ears when they heard them on the radio at the time. (Just because I, personally, can't tolerate modern popular music that's been produced since the 1980s, doesn't mean that others, including those older than I, are not more tolerant and eclectic in their tastes :-) Carohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11116907514000516256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350211073017972998.post-16074927792942233082016-01-26T15:41:48.870+11:002016-01-26T15:41:48.870+11:00Glenys, I suspect two things may be happening here...Glenys, I suspect two things may be happening here, with different individuals. On the one hand, some people whose theology has moved on may still be drawn to the 19th century gospel songs because these songs may remind them of a kindly aunt, or of good times in youth group, etc. Others whose theology has moved on may be seriously repelled by the old gospel songs because they remind them of the traumatic effect that fire-and-brimstone preaching may have had on them.Bob Faserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09121069030405858127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350211073017972998.post-36407053733418221952016-01-26T13:57:28.609+11:002016-01-26T13:57:28.609+11:00I was surprised when my Mother in her 90s was in t...I was surprised when my Mother in her 90s was in the car with me and started singing a Beatles song. And I don't want 'Roll out the Barrel' when I'm in my old age.<br />Worship songs are another matter. I see people singing with gusto songs they loved in the past when I suspect their theology has moved on. Oops! Maybe that is meGlenyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05795519146788207110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2350211073017972998.post-87295704237132500972016-01-25T12:43:16.368+11:002016-01-25T12:43:16.368+11:00Very good points. One fantastic side-benefit of th...Very good points. One fantastic side-benefit of the 'post-modern' delusion (;-)) is that people today feel free to dip into the 'modes' of the past. But in fact there's not always a lot of real listening to what past times provided. There's more to the Wesleyan tradition than "And can it be + O for 1000 tongues". More to Methodism, indeed, than Wesley. More in the Revised Church Hymnary than the Psalter it came bound with. And an authentic treatment will preserve the harmony and use a key that allows people to sing their part! (This last point is a bit of a quandary for me. Authenticity isn't always mandated. If a band wants to lead an old hymn, the harmonies will be simplified and the people will sing in unison. The guitarist can't comfortably 'call all the changes', as they say in jazz-talk. However, people who knew the hymn tune in all its beauty - its attention to both vertical and horizontal form - will feel the loss rather than celebrate the reworking. So, at least at a Synod Jubilee of Ordination tribute, let's have the hymn in its original form!David Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12993976065140643170noreply@blogger.com