I’m starting a series, if you will, where I focus on great albums by Christian artists. Not just songs, but entire albums that are consistently fantastic. This probably won’t serve any greater purpose than having me listen to albums that glorify God and speak of His greater truths, but that’s okay. Even though it’s music and not strictly the word of God, it’s still cathartic and cleansing to engage in songs of worship and truth.
I’ll do a main rundown of the whole album, list choice lyrics from each track, and try to find an accompanying video to go along with it. If you have any suggestions, I’d be more than happy to hear them.
With that said, I’ll begin with:
Rich Mullins’ A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band. If you know me well, this is hardly a surprising choice, but it sums up perfectly what I mean by a great album: each track is at the very least good, and nothing seems out of place within the context of anything else.
Liturgy, as Mullins said, is essentially two halves of contemporary worship that go hand in hand: the liturgical aspects of our history as the Church, and the legacy of what we have to leave for future generations. It starts off with “Here in America,” a meditation on the mundane aspects of life and how, even in those, God is ever present and guiding us. “52:10 [Entroit],” based solely on the same verse in Isaiah, begins the actual liturgical portion of the album, which roughly mirrors the actual order of a service in early Christian worship. “The Color Green [Gloria in Excelsis]” moves the focus to glorifying God for everything in our lives, especially the things we take advantage of (hence “the color green”). “Hold Me Jesus [Dona Nobis Pacem]” is a song of confession, pure and simple. Mullins wrote this song in a time of great temptation in his life, and the brutal honesty shows in the lyrics and emotion he puts into the vocals. ”Creed [Credo]” follows and, taking the Apostle’s Creed and a quote from G. K. Chesterton, sums up the precepts of the Christian faith almost perfectly. The act of communion is represented by “Peace (A Communion Blessing from St. Joseph’s Square),” and the liturgical portion of the record is capped off with “78 Eatonwood Green,” an instrumental number.
I’m not going to lie: the first half of this record is almost perfect. As such, the second half, the “legacy,” is merely really, really good in comparison. Each track is still excellent in its own right, but compared to the likes of “Creed” and “Hold Me Jesus,” nothing shines quite as brightly. But, like I said, it’s still good. “Hard” describes the difficulty of living a life of faith and following Christ, and “I’ll Carry On” serves as a thesis of sorts for the “legacy” aspect of the album. “You Gotta Get Up (Christmas Song)” does seem out of place on first listen, but the lyrics are full of child-like innocence and wonder, two incredibly important qualities that are sadly missing amongst most adults. “How to Grow Up Big and Strong” is a cover of a song originally by the artist Mark Heard, who died the year before the album was released. Finally, the album closes with “Land of my Sojourn,” a companion piece to “Here in America” that views the world as a place that is not our true home.
Choice lyrics:
“Here in America”: There’s so much beauty around us for just two eyes to see, but everywhere I go I’m looking
“52:10”: The Lord has bared His Holy arm in the sight of all the nations and all the ends of the earth shall see the Lord’s salvation
“The Color Green”: Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made blue for the sky and the color green to fill these fields with praise
“Hold Me Jesus”: Surrender don’t come natural to me. I’d rather fight You for something I don’t really want than take what You give that I need.
“Creed”: I did not make it, no it is making me. It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man
“Peace”: In His blood and in His body, in this bread and in this wine, peace to you, peace of Christ to you
“78 Eatonwood Green”: uhh, instrumental
“Hard”: And it’s hard when your soul has been stripped bare, hard to raise your eyes toward Heaven
“I’ll Carry On”: But when they hoist that sail I know my heart will break as bright and as fine as the morning
“You Gotta Get Up (Christmas Song)”: Oh, I hope there’ll be peace on Earth, I know there’s good will toward men on account of the Baby born in Bethlehem
“How to Grow Up Big and Strong”: Strong man is survivor. He live to pound little wooden crosses in the bloody ground
“Land of my Sojourn”: So I call you my country and I’ll be lonely for my home and I wish that I could take you there with me
In my eyes, you can’t really go wrong with any album of Rich Mullins’. He was truly an amazing poet and songwriter, plus he lived out his faith in all he did. A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band will always stand as one of the greatest albums in all of Christian music, and perhaps even all of music in general.
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Great Christian Albums, part 1
I’m starting a series, if you will, where I focus on great albums by Christian artists. Not just songs, but entire albums that are consistently fantastic. This probably won’t serve any greater purpose than having me listen to albums that glorify God and speak of His greater truths, but that’s okay. Even though it’s music and not strictly the word of God, it’s still cathartic and cleansing to engage in songs of worship and truth.
I’ll do a main rundown of the whole album, list choice lyrics from each track, and try to find an accompanying video to go along with it. If you have any suggestions, I’d be more than happy to hear them.
With that said, I’ll begin with:
Rich Mullins’ A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band. If you know me well, this is hardly a surprising choice, but it sums up perfectly what I mean by a great album: each track is at the very least good, and nothing seems out of place within the context of anything else.
Liturgy, as Mullins said, is essentially two halves of contemporary worship that go hand in hand: the liturgical aspects of our history as the Church, and the legacy of what we have to leave for future generations. It starts off with “Here in America,” a meditation on the mundane aspects of life and how, even in those, God is ever present and guiding us. “52:10 [Entroit],” based solely on the same verse in Isaiah, begins the actual liturgical portion of the album, which roughly mirrors the actual order of a service in early Christian worship. “The Color Green [Gloria in Excelsis]” moves the focus to glorifying God for everything in our lives, especially the things we take advantage of (hence “the color green”). “Hold Me Jesus [Dona Nobis Pacem]” is a song of confession, pure and simple. Mullins wrote this song in a time of great temptation in his life, and the brutal honesty shows in the lyrics and emotion he puts into the vocals. ”Creed [Credo]” follows and, taking the Apostle’s Creed and a quote from G. K. Chesterton, sums up the precepts of the Christian faith almost perfectly. The act of communion is represented by “Peace (A Communion Blessing from St. Joseph’s Square),” and the liturgical portion of the record is capped off with “78 Eatonwood Green,” an instrumental number.
I’m not going to lie: the first half of this record is almost perfect. As such, the second half, the “legacy,” is merely really, really good in comparison. Each track is still excellent in its own right, but compared to the likes of “Creed” and “Hold Me Jesus,” nothing shines quite as brightly. But, like I said, it’s still good. “Hard” describes the difficulty of living a life of faith and following Christ, and “I’ll Carry On” serves as a thesis of sorts for the “legacy” aspect of the album. “You Gotta Get Up (Christmas Song)” does seem out of place on first listen, but the lyrics are full of child-like innocence and wonder, two incredibly important qualities that are sadly missing amongst most adults. “How to Grow Up Big and Strong” is a cover of a song originally by the artist Mark Heard, who died the year before the album was released. Finally, the album closes with “Land of my Sojourn,” a companion piece to “Here in America” that views the world as a place that is not our true home.
Choice lyrics:
In my eyes, you can’t really go wrong with any album of Rich Mullins’. He was truly an amazing poet and songwriter, plus he lived out his faith in all he did. A Liturgy, A Legacy & A Ragamuffin Band will always stand as one of the greatest albums in all of Christian music, and perhaps even all of music in general.
Like this:
~ by jayaws on May 18, 2010.
Posted in Analysis, Commentary, Music