Er... wow. And I thought that *Catholic* hymns were bad.
Hey now...we have some good ones!
It’s just that a lot of ‘em are in Latin. And most Catholic parishes seem to think they can’t sing anything older than about 1970, and prefer unsingable garbage rather than anything with pretty melodies and maybe some nice harmonies.
Apparently it’s Anglican. It was in our chapel hymnal at college. It was never used except when we were making fun of something...
God of Concrete
Words: Frederick R.C. Clarke
and Richard Granville Jones
God of concrete, God of steel,
God of piston and of wheel,
God of pylon, God of steam,
God of girder and of beam,
God of atom, God of mine:
all the world of power is thine.
Lord of cable, Lord of rail,
Lord of freeway and of mail,
Lord of rocket and of flight,
Lord of soaring satellite,
Lord of lightning’s flashing line:
all the world of speed is thine.
Lord of science, Lord of art,
Lord of map and graph and chart,
Lord of physics and research,
Word of Bible, Faith of church,
Lord of sequence and design:
all the world of truth is thine.
God whose glory fills the earth,
gave the universe its birth,
loosed the Christ with Easter’s might,
saves the world from evil’s blight,
claims us all by grace divine:
all the world of love is thine.
Ha! They're not all bad; just those written after about 1960. The Parish you're attending must be playing the 70's and 80's repertoire. Now that IS bad!
Frankly, when it comes to hymns, I love High Anglican music from the 15th through the 19th centuries, with some Ralph Vaughn Williams thrown in for the more modern touch. But then, I also love Gregorian Chant, and music from the early Middle Ages, like that of Hildegard of Bingen. ;o)