Also, not all songs were being sung exactly as they were written in the book. So in some cases the melody itself has been adjusted to match the more natural manner in which the songs were actually being sung by our brothers internationally.
That's far-fetched. Singing the odd note wrong because some people thought it should go up or down or whatever doesn't warrant rewriting the whole song or a large chunk of the song. And how can they know that, on an international level, the brothers were singing their own melody? Did they take a poll? Did they bug every KH and listen in or something? Did the Spirit direct them to that conclusion?
In addition, the composers took time to reexamine the style of music used by our brothers at our meetings. To produce reverent yet appealing songs, they avoided music that sounded like hymns used in Christendom's churches. At the same time, they did not want songs of praise to Jehovah to lean toward styles that have become popular in many charismatic churches.
Unfortunately, that didn't quite work out because I know JWs who have commented to me that the some of the new songs were a little 'churchy' or reminded them of the kind of melodies evangelicals would sing!
All of the songs in the previous songbook were examined meticulously to identify problems with doctrinal content, word emphasis, and melodic issues. ... ... Throughout the project, the Governing Body carefully monitored the composition and words of each song.
That kind of micro-managing has, I think, wrecked some very long-standing, well-known and perfectly acceptable songs, and in many cases has resulted in stripping them of any heart they might have had before.
