Can I use this song for praise and worship of Jesus Christ?

[Godlovesmetwo]

 

[Cimorene]

That was really nice! I don't like that song that much, but that cover of it was great. I like his voice. I say go for it! It does have a message to it about faith I think.

 

[ewq1938]

The song is basically about prostitution so I'd say it's not the best choice

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

For me, the lyrics point to the loneliness and alienation of life especially when we were single.
But the chorus points to hope. Don't give up.
We can imagine that hope is placed in God. If we place our hope and trust in Jesus Christ, there is a way, there is meaning. So don't despair. have faith!
I find this song very uplifting in this context.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

The song is basically about prostitution so I'd say it's not the best choice

Perhaps that was the original meaning. I don't know. But I think it is broad enough to be used for a metaphor for life in general.

 

[Cimorene]

The song is basically about prostitution so I'd say it's not the best choice

Really? I've listened to that song like 5 billion times bc it's played everywhere & never knew that was what it was about. I always thought it was about what Paul said it was.

 

[mnphysicist]

Perhaps that was the original meaning. I don't know. But I think it is broad enough to be used for a metaphor for life in general.

It seems to take some reading into it to come up with prostitution being the liner notes state it was inspired by the Sunset Strip (which was in many ways the birthplace of many musicans dreams back then... but also prostitution went on there too). I think the bit about to the pure, all things are pure is probably a good approach in this.

Fwiw, its a pretty common cover in the Christian music arena, so you aren't the only one thinking of it that way.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

its a pretty common cover in the Christian music arena

oh good. I feel better now.

 

[98cwitr]

mod hat on

Thread moved from Praise and Worship Music to Music

Mod hat off

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

don't think there will be any more replies anyway

 

[Cimorene]

What part of the song makes people think it's about prostitution? That surprises me a lot!

 

[Dave-W]

I never got prostitution from it; rather, it sounded like more of a one night stand hookup to me.

 

[Dave-W]

What part of the song makes people think it's about prostitution? That surprises me a lot!

Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train going anywhere
A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

 

[Cimorene]

Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere
Just a city boy, born and raised in South Detroit
He took the midnight train going anywhere
A singer in a smoky room
A smell of wine and cheap perfume
For a smile they can share the night
It goes on and on and on and on

I still don't understand how that's prostitution, bc it's just "for a smile" not for $. Idk. Maybe I'm too innocent minded but I never thought of share the night as being prostitution. I just thought it was 2 lonely people keeping each other company.

 

[Dave-W]

I still don't understand how that's prostitution, bc it's just "for a smile" not for $. Idk. Maybe I'm too innocent minded but I never thought of share the night as being prostitution. I just thought it was 2 lonely people keeping each other company.

As I said in post #12, it is a one night hook up. Not prostitution.

But some people see prostitution in any non marital sexual encounter.

 

[Godlovesmetwo]

Just a small town aussie
living in an aussie world
He signed up to CF
as bettercallpaul
he was gradually Transformed
into
a
Son of God

(is that too corny? )
how can I improve it?

 

[mnphysicist]

A bit corny... but its probably even more corny that just I tried to sing it to the melody of Don't Stop Believing.

Its not necessary to match syllable count exactly to a given melody... and in some cases can be pretty cool when you explicitly don't do so. However, it also has to work, as you don't want to end up with a melody that goes into herky jerky land, nor do you want textual meaning broken into bits. I tend to think such presents an issue with the first line... granted, I only tried to sing it a few times. Can you drop a syllable out of the first line, perhaps by using a single syllable word for "small town" or Aussie. A songwriting thesaurus' / rhyming dictionaries can be helpful at times. If so, the first and second lines would end up dropping right in.

There is the potential for something magically happening with lines 5-8 even though syllable count swings back and forth... lines 3-4 can set the stage for a gradual transition, and 4 is seemingly already doing so.

I can't believe I just did this Lol

 

[Citanul]

I don't think the song works as a praise and worship song. The only part that could really be seen to have any sort of religious/spiritual meaning is "Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling", which taken in isolation could refer to anything, but when viewed in the context of the song is about believing in a dream rather than a higher power. So it could be regarded as an uplifting song, but not one that would work for praise and worship purposes.