Young people, all attention give,
And hear what I do say;
I want your souls with Christ to live,
In everlasting day;
Remember, you are hast’ning on
To death’s dark, gloomy shade;
Your joys on earth will soon be gone,
Your flesh in dust be laid.
Music
Sacred Harp 47t: ‘Primrose’
Salvation! O, the joyful sound!
’Tis pleasure to our ears;
A sov’reign balm for ev’ry wound,
A cordial for our fears.Buried in sorrow and in sin;
At hell’s dark door we lay,
But we arise by grace divine,
To see a heav’nly day.Salvation! Let the echo fly
The spacious earth around,
While all the armies of the sky,
Conspire to raise the sound.
Sacred Harp 404: ‘Youth Will Soon Be Gone
A good one for All Souls Day:
Youth, like the spring, will soon be gone,
By fleeting time or conqu’ring death;
Your morning sun may set at noon,
And leave you ever in the dark.
Your sparkling eyes and blooming cheeks
Must wither like the blasted rose;
The coffin, earth, and winding sheet
Will soon your active limbs enclose.Ye heedless ones who wildly stroll,
The grave will soon become your bed,
Where silence reigns and vapors roll,
In solemn darkness ’round your head.
Your friends will pass the lonesome place,
And with a sigh move slowly on,
Still gazing on the spires of grass
With which your graves are overgrown.Ye blooming youth, this is the state
Of all who do thy grace refuse;
And soon with you ’twill be too late
The way of life and Christ to choose.
Come lay your carnal weapons by,
No longer fight against your God;
But with the gospel now comply,
And heav’n shall be your great reward.
Sacred Harp 294: ‘Rocky Road’
I’m enlisted on the road,
I’m almost done traveling,
Enlisted on the road.
I’m bound to go where Jesus is,
My soul shall ascend where Jesus is,
To enjoy the peaceful home of rest.
I’m bound to go where Jesus is,
And be there forever blest.It’s a mighty rocky road,
I’m almost done traveling,
A mighty rocky road,
I’m bound to go where Jesus is.I’ve a Father on the road,
He’s almost done traveling,
A Father on the road.
He’s bound to go where Jesus is,
His soul shall ascend where Jesus is,
To enjoy the peaceful home of rest.
He’s bound to go where Jesus is,
And be there forever blest.
Sia’s “Chandelier” hangs in the cathedral
The first album I ever bought with my own money was Britney Spears’ …Baby One More Time. I was a nine year old girl in Real America, so my preferences were predictable (if not a complete given). As legend has it, the album was released with the ellipsis in the title because Hit Me Baby One More Time was a reference to sexual promiscuity at best and sadomasochism at worst. And while most nine year olds’ comprehension of sadomasochism was limited in those backwards days, it was extremely important that we not be exposed to even a hint of it, so help us Tipper Gore.
I remember catching wind of the Britney controversy through the elementary grapevine, and learning through muffled giggles that it was some sort of reference to sex. I shrugged and moved on with my adolescent life. My friends and I played the album constantly — under the watchful eyes of our mostly conservative parents, of course.
I am not a parent, but I am now a grown up, so perhaps it’s my turn to overanalyze what #kidsthesedays are listening to.
We’ve been indulging in media like it’s our job for as long as we could get away with it; panic over our favorite melodious pastime is unsurprisingly alive and well. Elite nail-biting over the residual effects of music on our toddler brains has a long and amusing history: Before Robin Thicke became the living embodiment of rape culture, we blamed Popeye for window-smashing and the dulcet tones of The Beatles for brutal murders.
