Chris Sayburn
From Worship Central // Leeds Adviser
25 February 2009 - 4:19pm
Hi all,
Thanks so much for the helpful comments on version 1 of this song, I agree the chorus needed changing and I've tried many but I think this is it!! I've also changed a lot of chords around and some of the verse melody. I'm pretty sure this is finished now and it's sounds strong with a full band....but I'll let you be the judge of that.
I've just done a very rough recording of verse 1 and the new chorus so you get an idea.
Thanks
VERSE 1
God beyond all history,
Lord of all eternity, You are, You are,
Perfect in Your sovereignty,
Endless in Your majesty You are, You are,
CHORUS
Lord God we’ve come to worship You
We’ll lift our hands and sing
How wonderful You are
Lord God all praise belongs to You
With joyful hearts we sing
How wonderful You are
VERSE 2
The only true and living God
Blessed Father Spirit Son, You are, You are
Glorious in radiance
Clothed in love and righteousness You are, You are
VERSE 3
Enthroned on high in victory
Reigning with authority You are, You are
One day every eye will see
The God beyond all history You are, You are.
It look's like you don't have Adobe Flash Player installed. Get it now.
gavinball
From Fishponds Baptist Church, Bristol, UK
25 February 2009 - 5:12pm
hi chris,
great rewrite! i love it and i think it works really well!
the only thing i wonder is could you change the word 'wonderful' in one of the lines in the chorus for variety?
God bless mate,
gav.
Hey Chris! Sounds finished to me. I don’t think there’s much you could do that would really improve on the song, except for stylistic stuff. Though I see what Gav’s getting at with the “wonderful” bit, I kind of like how that repeated line sort of ties the chorus down.
Just as a curiosity, why did you opt for three verses instead of a “break”? My only thought would be it may provide opportunity for a powerful dynamic shift if you used the V3 material for a sort of bridge to be used at the end of the song (similar to the “my heart and flesh cry out…” bit in “Better is One Day”). I guess it would be worth considering.
Chris
I like this song - nice tune, nice chords, good words.
The only thing I'd query is the title / first line / last line "God beyond all history". I notice this is version 2, and I don't know if this came up in the first release, so feel free to ignore. But.... is it right? One of the things that seems important to me in the Christian faith is that God isn't "beyond all history" but has been heavily involved in it, e.g. through the story of Israel, and (not least) in becoming part of history, as Jesus (just like the Doerksen song says, "In history / you lived and died / you broke the chains / you rose to life"... perhaps not the most well-crafted lyrics ever, but it makes the point).
I wonder whether "God revealed in history / Lord of all eternity" (or something along those lines) might be better (and carry something of an interesting tension?).
I would argue that God is outside of time. When he came down to Earth as Jesus he was both fully human and fully divine, and part of being fully human was to come down to earth and be in time.
However, because he is outside of time and all powerful, he can dip in and out of time. So he is involved in history, but he is not confined to history, which is what I think Chris is getting at here. Because of the fact that he is outside of time, God can be involved in history, but not be restricted to history!
Hope that makes sense...
Yes, I know that is what Chris is getting at, and I agree with everything you said about God - he is involved in history, but not restricted to it. I think the phrase for what we all mean might be "transcending history" (which includes both beyond and being part of).
My issue is that the phrase "beyond all history" could (just as easily) be taken to mean completely outside of, and distant from, history, the sort of God who started it all off but then leaves it to run itself..... which isn't the sort of God we believe in.
If you said, for example "I'm afraid physics is beyond me" you would be using the word "beyond" in this sense, more or less.
I think it is important to consider what phrases could be taken to mean, as well as what the writer intended.
Chris,
I like this, but i love it before you sing you are. It sounds kind of flat compared to the rest of the verse, and the same goes for the 'you are' section of the chorus too.
I would love for you to work on that a bit and bring out a clearer melodical rise on that line.
But otherwise, great
Hey I think this is absolutely great. I agree with Marc P in it needing a break. Matt Redman speaks of revelation and responce. This song has really great revelation in the verses and the chorus, but I'm not sure if there is a place in the song where we as the congregation can respond to this message.
I love the God beyond all history. Personally I can see where Daniel and Niall are coming from. I think that is the beauty of theology that it is personal. If you are talking about God as transcendant of history then I think that is great. I would not doubt however that God does interact with the world. Still if you look into it and study God's interaction with the world it gets very complex and frankly I need to get on with my day, but for me it doesn't seem like too much of a theological problem. I would love to hear what you were thinking when you wrote that line. What was the context?
Hey all
thanks so much for the helpful comments (as always!) and some definite food for thought, I resisted the tag thing and went for a third verse for variation, but this does then rely a bit more on dynamics / musicianship so it doesn't get monotonous. The chorus was meant to be the response element of the song but if that is not really delivering that I might need to look at a simple breakdown?
Jay the flatness might just be my singing!! ;) But seriously I will look into that.
re: the God beyond all history it was discussed in the first version http://www.worshipcentral.org/forum/topic/god-beyond-all-history?page=2 - basically I was getting what Niall mentioned: that God is not just confined to a time of history, i.e the past he is Lord of all time and eternity. But again Daniel to its helpful to hear that side of it so I am aware of how people might read that lyric, especially with the light of how people use the word 'beyond'
I like the lyric 'revealed in History' but would some people see that he is not revealed in now?
What do others think!? My brain hurts :)
Hey Chris
Can't listen to your song at work, so just going on the lyrics.
I think the chorus is a good response element...
The "beyond history" thing. I know the exact meaning of lyrics and the different ways things can be interpreted are very important. But I'm a simplicity kinda guy... Are we thinking too hard about it and trying to over-analyse it??
gC
Unfortunately Chris, whenever a northerner starts to think, their brain hurts, it's just a genetic flaw.....
As for over analysing, I think things like this are really important, as they help us to be more aware of who we understand God to be, so sometimes, perhaps the discussion of things is more important. The process of coming to a greater understanding of God!
This one is difficult, because unlike Tims example on "we wont stay silent" I don't think Chris has nicked his line from the bible, and I'm not sure how much of the bible is given over to describing how God is not governed by the laws of physics....
Now I feel a new song rising:
God beyond all scientists
Lord of all Einstein's theories you are, you are
Perfect in geometry
Endless like infinity you are, you are...........
Ha now i'm just rabbiting on....... anyway, we have to hold Chris to a higher standard as he's in with the cool kids :P
New Song
Forum Latest
