How would you rate the Watchtower approved songs?

by Vanderhoven7 23 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Vanderhoven7

  I was asking why JWs won't sing any church hymns even if they were doctrinally correct.

  Jws asked me in response if I would sing any of their songs.

  Dan Watkins wrote

  Its a hilarious misunderstanding, if it does not come from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, then it is effectively considered as coming from Satan.

  Music itself is largely frowned upon because of its ability to alter a persons emotional state, making it almost as dangerous as demonic possession, which is considered a very real threat if heavy metal is involved. Otherwise it is viewed as a gateway to adultery and fornication and a veritable on-ramp to the broad and spacious road leading off to destruction.

  All 135 approved hymns can be found here.

  https://www.jw.org/en/library/music-songs/Sing-to-Jehovah/

  * The bible presents a bit of a dilemma, whilst the current New World Translation is considered the only trustworthy version, and the Council of Nicea is considered a heretical abomination guided by the devil himself (as required by all Protestant flavours), JWs will use your bible, but will typically be visibly unhappy about it."

  
  

  I certainly was not impressed by any creativity in the 135 approved titles. Listened to one song so far.... orchestrated but not inspiring. Your thoughts.
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  markweatherill

  

  Vanderhoven76 hours ago

  I was asking why JWs won't sing any church hymns even if they were doctrinally correct.

  Jws asked me in response if I would sing any of their songs.

  I think the answer to that would be,

  "No, look what happened when Aled Jones sang 'Listen, Obey and be Blessed' "
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  TonusOH

  There were a handful of songs with nice melodies, but none that I can even recall offhand. They were generally bland and forgettable. Every congregation where I visited, the songs were sung with a lack of enthusiasm. It was something to tolerate and be done with. I recall only a few people who sang with any vigor, and they stood out like sore thumbs.

  I don't know why or how, but they managed to turn something as emotional and inspiring as music into a gloomy ritual. No wonder the meetings tended to be so cold and dry.
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  I can't say I care for any of the 135 latest songs. Some are technically well done, but I don't find any of them inspiring.

  In the old days, some of the songs were very hymn-like, seemingly familiar to the ex-Protestant (non-Catholic) population of the US, which is the background from which the JW religion came from. The wording from the songbook I grew up using contained hymns with a lot of King James-isms, 'wise and meet', 'Calvary', etc. Plus the authorship of the tunes was either unknown or were very similar to existing hymns.

  In the US in recent years the copyright companies have become very aggressive, and in some cases demand royalties. I know of several churches in my area that have to pay annual royalties to use their own hymnbook. I suspect the WT's rewrite of their songs is partly due to this.
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  road to nowhere

  Never let it be said that the singing is a charismatic event. Whoever finds or writes these ditties has a limited repertory and taste. They seem to favor lots of flats or sharps instead of the usual normal keys for "peoples " music; C,F,G

  Imagine taking time off work and flying to New York with your tuba to end up playing a single note ump ump ump March beat for 3 minutes.
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  BluesBrother

  How would I rate them?

  Musical dross . !
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  AtLeastImNot

  I have always liked “Walking In Integrity”. I see it’s still in the catalog. That was the “theme song “ for the convention at which I was baptized. Live Aid was happening a few blocks away. Philadelphia 1985.
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  3rdgen

  When I was a little kid we used the Green Paperback "Songs to Jehovah's Praise" songbook. The chorus to one song was "Kiss the Son lest he be angry and you perish in the way."

  Since I couldn't read yet, I thought, How can I kiss the SUN?
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  FedUpJW

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  FedUpJW

  At least one song is one I like. The JW's did steal their song 58 almost word for word, and note for musical note from a song written by Frances Ridley Havergal titled Take My Life, and Let It Be written in 1874.