__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Exploring the Contemporary Congregational Song Genre: Texts, Practice, and Industry Daniel Thornton L.Mus.A, A.A. (Religious Studies), M (Music Technology) Macquarie University Department of Media, Music, Communications, and Cultural Studies Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 11 November 2015 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ i Contents List of Tables and Figures .................................................................................................... vii Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... viii Statement of Candidate ............................................................................................................ x Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. xi Chapter One: Introduction and Overview ................................................................. 1 Contemporary Congregational Songs .......................................................................... 1 Defining the Term ................................................................................................................ 3 Thesis Overview ................................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 2. Literature Review .......................................................................................... 7 Chapter 3. Research Questions, Method and Design .............................................. 8 Chapter 4. Representative CCS Individual Song Analysis ..................................... 9 Chapter 5. Representative CCS Corpus Analysis .................................................... 10 Chapter 6. Esthesic Analysis Through the Research Survey and NCLS Data .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Chapter 7. Poietic Analysis ............................................................................................. 12 Chapter 8. Towards an Understanding of CCS ........................................................ 12 The Researcher ................................................................................................................... 13 Chapter Two: Literature Review .................................................................................. 15 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 15 Biblical and Theological Foundations ........................................................................ 16 Christian Worship History and Tradition ................................................................. 21 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ ii Participatory, for Whom? Contemporary Contentions ....................................... 26 CCS as Popular Music ....................................................................................................... 31 Vernacular Music ............................................................................................................... 46 Lyrics – a Defining Mark ................................................................................................. 51 CCS Scholarship .................................................................................................................. 55 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 61 Chapter Three: Research Questions, Method and Design .............................. 63 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 63 Neutral Level Analysis ..................................................................................................... 65 CCLI ......................................................................................................................................... 66 Cross-referencing .............................................................................................................. 72 Analytical Approaches and Theomusicological Categories ............................... 76 Differentiating and Conflating Ideas of Popular and Effective......................... 80 Esthesic Level Analysis .................................................................................................... 81 Poeitic Level Analysis....................................................................................................... 85 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 87 Chapter Four: Representative CCS Individual Song Analysis ....................... 89 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 89 10, 000 Reasons (Jonas Myrin and Matt Redman) ............................................... 90 Cornerstone (Jonas Myrin, Reuben Morgan, Eric Liljero, William Batchelder Bradbury and Edward Mote) ........................................................................................ 97 Our God (Matt Redman, Jonas Myrin, Chris Tomlin and Jesse Reeves) ...... 100 How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash) ................ 103 __________________________________________________________________________________________________ iii Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) (Matt Crocker, Joel Houston and Salomon Ligthelm) ............................................................................................................................ 105 Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman and Beth Redman) ............................. 109 Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) (John Newton, Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio) .................................................................................................................................. 113 Mighty To Save (Reuben Morgan and Ben Fielding) ......................................... 116 Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes) ..................................................................... 118 God Is Able (Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan) ................................................. 122 Beneath The Waters (I Will Rise) (Brooke Ligertwood and Scott Ligertwood) ................................................................................................................................................ 124 One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails) (Brian Johnson, Jeremy Riddle and Christa Black Gifford) ........................................................................................... 127 In Christ Alone (Keith Getty and Stuart Townend) ............................................ 130 Hosanna (Brooke Ligertwood) .................................................................................. 134 I Surrender (Matt Crocker) ......................................................................................... 137 Jesus At The Center (Israel Houghton, Adam Ranney and Micah Massey) ............................................................................................................................... 140 The Heart Of Worship (Matt Redman) ................................................................... 142 How Deep The Father’s Love (Stuart Townend) ................................................ 145 Happy Day (Tim Hughes and Ben Cantelon) ........................................................ 147 Indescribable (Laura Story and Jesse Reeves) .................................................... 150 The Stand (Joel Houston) ............................................................................................. 155 For All You’ve Done (Reuben Morgan) ................................................................... 157 Open The Eyes Of My Heart (Paul Baloche) .......................................................... 159 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ iv Desert Song (Brooke Ligertwood) ............................................................................ 161 Revelation Song (Jennie Lee Riddle) ........................................................................ 163 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 165 Chapter Five: Representative CCS Corpus Analysis ......................................... 167 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 167 Authenticity, Originality and the Singer-Songwriter ......................................... 169 Producers, Publishers and Promotional Platforms ............................................ 173 Gender and Multiple Authorship ............................................................................... 175 Instrumentation ............................................................................................................... 176 Key, Tonality and Harmony ........................................................................................