Songs in your Religion

Here is one about a 16 year old Baha'i who was martyred in Iran in 1983. If you watch carefully you will see that Buffy St. Marie who has always been a friend to the Baha'is makes a brief cameo.

Not explicitly a religious song but one of my personal favorite "pagan" songs. The band Tyr falls solidly in the pagan metal / power metal categories. Pretty fun stuff. The subject of the song is about the fall of ancient pagan kings and the bringing of new religions ("the Eastern way"), it is a recounting of the old ways brought forth in myth and stories.

While the Fellowship of Reason isn't exactly a religion, it does have a monthly gathering in which there may be singing. However, the singing is a performance art by one of the members, who will sing for everyone else as a show of talent. In this way talent is celebrated. There are no specific songs written for the organization.


eudaimonia,

Mark

Incidentally, here is the music that inspired "Halley's Fifth Concerto" in the novel Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand. There are no lyrics, but I'm including it anyway since it pertains to a group of individuals brought together by a moral view.



eudaimonia,

Mark

I believe the greatest music ever written is a compilation of Christian sacred music, in many languages, traditions, etc. but this is especially seen in western classical music. Composers like Handel, Bach, and many others wrote to the glory of God some of the best (if not THE best) musical compositions ever. In my own Armenian heritage, the best music is considered to be the sharagans (hymns) written by Komidas, a priest. I believe that certain Sacred music is indeed inspired by God, but I would never push that belief onto anyone since I'm not certain of it.

Probably my favorite all time sacred music is Handel's Messiah. Every year I go to Carnegie Hall to see an amazing performance, using small orchestra with period instruments (and a choir that is a little bigger than it's supposed to be but I'm not complaining). It is truly inspired. We know the words are inspired because they are right out of God's Word, but I believe the music also is inspired. If you read the story of how Handel wrote it, he wrote it VERY quickly, and the quality of the work is so amazing that it seems that it was inspired by God.

Anyway, here is one of my favorite parts of it, "For unto us a child is born" - Enjoy!

I've always enjoyed Handel's Messiah and have performed it on at least one occasion!


This is another song I enjoy quite a bit in a more traditional style. Valravn is a Danish band that performs new and traditional songs in a variety of Scandinavian languages. This song in particular is in Icelandic. In Danish folklore, a Valravn is a raven that descends upon a slain king and eats his heart. This consumption gives the bird human-like intelligence and powers to perform more or less malicious acts.

The song follows Ólavur (Olaf, Olav) en route to be married, he is seduced by an elf maiden. Elves occur somewhat frequently in Norse (especially Icelandic) and Germanic folklore and paganism and are often major figures in stories. Of course there are many variations across times and cultures but many people of middle-age Germanic cultures thought of Elves as having supernatural powers and beauty. They were intelligent and could help or hurt humans as they please. Many times they are depicted as beautiful women who seduce men, which is the central point of the story in the song.

At any rate its a pretty catchy song. Here's a translation of the Icelandic lyrics into English if you'd like to follow along with the story:

http://lyricstranslate.com/en/ólavur-riddararós-olaf-knightrose.html

I love and find great peace in the songs of Taize. They are usually called sung prayers rather than hymns. I also think the Akathist of Thanksgiving is amazing, and I'm not even Orthodox! Normally, I like electronica, but it's tough to find Christian electronica that I think is good.

ArmenianJohn said:

I believe the greatest music ever written is a compilation of Christian sacred music, in many languages, traditions, etc. but this is especially seen in western classical music. Composers like Handel, Bach, and many others wrote to the glory of God some of the best (if not THE best) musical compositions ever. In my own Armenian heritage, the best music is considered to be the sharagans (hymns) written by Komidas, a priest. I believe that certain Sacred music is indeed inspired by God, but I would never push that belief onto anyone since I'm not certain of it.

Probably my favorite all time sacred music is Handel's Messiah. Every year I go to Carnegie Hall to see an amazing performance, using small orchestra with period instruments (and a choir that is a little bigger than it's supposed to be but I'm not complaining). It is truly inspired. We know the words are inspired because they are right out of God's Word, but I believe the music also is inspired. If you read the story of how Handel wrote it, he wrote it VERY quickly, and the quality of the work is so amazing that it seems that it was inspired by God.

Anyway, here is one of my favorite parts of it, "For unto us a child is born" - Enjoy!

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My grandfather - who left school at the age of ten to work in the coal mines - gained his education at the Miners’ Institutes. He was a Baptist elder, who learned Hebrew and Greek. He also learned music, and became a musical director of choral and operatic works. This was his favourite oratorio.

The Huddersfield Choral Society was famous in the UK (and perhaps beyond) for this particular work. They visited our town one day, and were joined by a small chapel chorus (not my grandfather’s) in a performance of the oratorio. The publicity poster read: A Performance of Handel’s Messiah….by the Hope Baptist Choir….assisted by the Huddersfield Choral Society’! Memories.

Cliche it may well be, but I happen to love modern Christian music of the likes of Hillsong. It is simplistic in theology, but it's genuinely great worship music, and easy to sing along to in church.

seashale76 said:

If you don't have music- what do you do instead? Chanting?

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A combination of singing, dancing and chanting.

Ishq Allah Mabud Lillah = God is Love, Lover, Beloved.

dlamberth said:

A combination of singing, dancing and chanting.

Ishq Allah Mabud Lillah = God is Love, Lover, Beloved.

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Ahh, that brings back my college days at UC Santa Cruz. Sufi dancing is so much fun!

Do you believe ?

http://biblehub.com/isr/mark/16.htm

15And He said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the Good News to every creature.

16“He who has believed and has been immersed, shall be saved, but he who has not believed shall be condemned.

17“And these signs shall accompany the ones who believe: In My Name they shall cast out demons, they shall speak with renewed tongues,

18they shall take up snakes, and if they drink any deadly drink it shall by no means hurt them, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall get well.”



In no way do I recommend , condone or advocate this form of Worship and Praise , or condemn it by my judgment .

In no way do I intend brother Ray or his style of levity as a slur in degradation of any offerings on this thread , including the folks that practice this form of Worship and Praise .






I've known five people that avow to have attended this type of Worship and Praise services , telling me they felt a Supernatural presences .

For those folks that know me , know this is one of my many favored and know why .

Hallelu-YAH .

This atmospheric black metal song helps me get into a mystic like mood. I have always liked black metal primarily for it's repetition and often times minimalistic sound. These qualities help your mind dip into a trance. This is also the reason I enjoy listening to many 80's songs, lol.

MehGuy said:

This atmospheric black metal song helps me get into a mystic like mood. I have always liked black metal primarily for it's repetition and often times minimalistic sound. These qualities help your mind dip into a trance. This is also the reason I enjoy listening to many 80's songs, lol.

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Ahhh I love this song and most atmospheric black metal for the same reasons I like minimal techno and psytrance and orchestral minimalism. I can focus on a task or on something specific because of the repetition and regularity.