Pastor Matt Postiff Concern Excessive Repetition Some repetition can be helpful The Bible uses it in Psalm 136 for example There comes a point when repetition is bad See Acts 1934 for an example ID: 727767
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Repetition in Christian Song
Pastor Matt PostiffSlide2
Concern: Excessive Repetition
Some repetition can be helpful. The Bible uses it in Psalm 136, for example.
There comes a point when repetition is bad. See Acts 19:34 for an example.
The key teaching is Matthew 6:7. Unbelievers use repeated words to cajole God to hear but that should not be the believer’s practice.Slide3
Example: #806 Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;
That was slain!
(Chorus x 4)Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;Praise the Lamb! He redeemed our souls to God;He redeemed our souls to God;He redeemed our souls to God;By His blood.
He has made us kings and priests;
He has made us kings and priests;
He has made us kings and priests;
To our God.
We shall ever reign with Him;
We shall ever reign with Him;
We shall ever reign with Him;
The Lamb of God.Slide4
Example: #806 Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;
That was slain!
Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;Praise the Lamb! He redeemed our souls to God;He redeemed our souls to God;He redeemed our souls to God;By His blood. Praise Him and adore Him;
Praise Him and adore Him;
Praise Him and adore Him;
Praise the Lamb!
Worthy, worthy is the Lamb;That was slain!Praise Him and adore Him;Praise the Lamb!He redeemed our souls to God;By His blood.Slide5
Example: #806 Worthy is the Lamb
He has made us kings and priests;
He has made us kings and priests;
He has made us kings and priests;
To our God.
Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;Praise the Lamb! We shall ever reign with Him;We shall ever reign with Him;We shall ever reign with Him;The Lamb of God.
Praise Him and adore Him;
Praise Him and adore Him;Praise Him and adore Him;
Praise the Lamb!He has made us kings and priests;To our God. We shall ever reign with Him;The Lamb of God.Slide6
Example: #806 Worthy is the Lamb
All words in the
song: 157
Redundancy Eliminated:
Only 45 words left
29% “meaning density”38% of the song is taken up with repeating “Praise Him and adore Him.”Slide7
Metric: Meaning Density
Meaning density is a simple percentage that indicates how many words of the song express unique meaning.
For instance, if you sing 100 words, and only 10 are unique, that means about 10% of what you are saying is “meaningful.”
A song with low density is “fluffy.”Slide8
Software Tool
I wrote a script called
hymnSimplify
in Perl.
It takes a hymn line by line and recognizes repetition and automatically calculates the meaning density.
It is not perfect at recognizing all repetition because it was programmed with limited intelligence.Slide9
Summary of Selected Songs
Song Title
Author or Group
Word Count
Simplified
Meaning Density
Hallelujah Chorus
Handel
237
52
22%
Worthy is the Lamb
W. P. MacKay, Alfred Smith version
157
45
29%
My Sins are Blotted Out
Merrill Dunlop
199
63
32%
I Can Only Imagine
Bard Millard,
MercyMe
273
95
35%
Worthy is the Lamb
Hillsong
291
108
37%
Who Am I
Casting Crowns
318
169
53%
Why Should He Love Me So
R. H.
108
60
56%
To God be the Glory
Fanny J. Crosby
223
141
63%
Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul
John W. Peterson
289
186
64%
My Hope is in the Lord
Norman J. Clayton
143
95
66%
Jesus Saves
Priscilla J. Owens
160
116
73%
Awesome God
Michael W. Smith
170
126
74%
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Fanny J. Crosby
191
157
82%
Amazing Grace
John Newton
148
148
100%
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Martin Luther
200
200
100%
His Robes for Mine
Chris Anderson
164
164
100%
In Christ Alone
Keith Getty, Stuart Townend
224
224
100%Slide10
Observations
There is a group of songs at about 35% or less meaning density.
There is a middle group from around 50% up to about the low 80% range.
There is a prominent third group of songs that have no repetition, including some real classics.Slide11
Interesting Notes
“Why should he love me so?” 50
%
of the song is in that chorus
“
Jesus saves” 30% of the song is in that chorus“My Sins are Blotted Out” dedicates 60% of the song to that phraseSlide12
Conclusions
Because good songs are often repeated in total (when we “get them in our heads”), I would suggest that heavy repetition within a song is not helpful. We already repeat it!
I am not favorable toward regularly using the worst offenders in the above table. The worship of the church needs to be more substantive.Slide13
Conclusions
I was surprised at some of the hymns on the list.
I noted that what I call “CCM” genre songs in the above table generally fall under about 50% meaning density.
There are some modern hymns that I do not classify as “CCM” although they can be performed in a “CCM” way.Slide14
Further Study
I have examined a limited number of songs. This is not at the level of a scientific study yet!
Meaning density is only one metric.
Other important aspects of hymn analysis include music style, focus (God or man), theological truths, theological system of the song’s origin, and “majesty” of the words and music.