Ramblings on Genre

I was vacuuming the sanctuary New Year's Day listening to some music on shuffle on the Shuffle and once again marveled at the way music can make work seem like play. It made me think of the genre of the “work song.” I was reading about it in an ethnomusicology article a while back. I think I was reading about music of a country in West Africa.

It also makes me think of the origins of the genre of the blues. I have mixed feelings about the blues. I enjoy the chord progression. I enjoy the melancholy and the expression of the inexpressible. I am saddened by the exaltation of things that are not godly. But mostly I am intrigued by the relationship of blues and gospel music.

What was it someone said in a post recently? Most of what we sing from our “hymnal” are not hymns but worship choruses? I think that’s true. But I have also noticed the predilection, or our heavy leaning on the more simple chorus, such as “God is great, and greatly to be praised.” You know the one. Don’t pretend that you don’t. It’s the old standby that starts off a song service when you don’t have something new and you don’t have something else. I can’t count the number of times I have heard this song. I love this song. But where did it come from? I, IV, V, I six-four, V, I … or something like that. Three chords, basically, give or take, depending on your mood, technique, and possible inventiveness. But where did this infectious yet simple chorus (and words) come from? Who thought it up? Who composed it? Obviously the words greatly and praised are paired together in four passages of scripture, my favorite being Psalm 48, with the other three expressing the same sentiment. "In my soul," is a lyric less obviously scriptural, more obviously composed. There's not much else to it.

I could sing this song working on the railroad, hammering ties into the ground. I could sing it dancing a jig around the sanctuary. I could sing it all day long. But I want to credit its author. I want her to receive royalty payments. And what is the genre of this song? Yeah, obviously it’s a worship chorus. But beyond that? Where did this song originate? We seem to have a long tradition of unattributable songs. What other songs do you know for which we cannot find who wrote it?