Never Alone 2
Since posting this a month ago, its had a rewrite and been given a pretty tune. If all goes well it will be recorded in August. Last chance for comments - and I'd really appreciate them. People (ie. you) might actually have to sing this one day...
- Do you understand what I'm talking about?
- Are there any bits that don't make sense?
- Do any words 'jar' or seem clumsy?
- Do any bits seem trite or too rhymey?
- Would you feel okay about singing this (and not jusy okay - good!)
Never Alone
We’re not alone, for Christ is here
Immanuel our God come near
We’re not alone, for to our world
Jesus has come, eternal word.
And as he speaks, our souls laid bare
Naked, ashamed, sin is made clear
And yet he clothes us in his love
Never alone, Christ is with us.
The longest walk, earth’s darkest day
Noise from the crowd and mounting pain
His heavy load of grief and shame
Breathless that we should breathe again.
“Lord, it is finished,” comes his cry
Blackness descends filling the sky.
A creeping dread in every heart
Lost in the world now God departs.
The dawn will come, the sun will rise
Out of the grave we’ll see hope’s light.
Tomb opened wide, stone rolled away
Morning has come, a brand new day.
“He isn’t here,” the angel said.
“He is alive no longer dead.”
Our hearts are lifted, souls raised high
Christ is with us, Christ is our life.
Never alone is now our cry
In joy, in grief, in lonely sin.
Never alone for Christ is ours
He lives in us, we live in him.
And up until that final day
With all our fears cast far away
We live secure, trust in his love,
Never alone, Christ is with us.
SAR 2006
posted by Simone R. @ 11:35 pm
15 comments
15 Comments:
I'll send you an email.
Love the "corporate" language. Works particularly well with the "not alone" idea (i.e. Christ is with his church).
Look forward to hearing and singing it.
All I can say is, let's hope the tune is stirring because it would be a REAL bummer to have lyrics like that with a dud tune.
PS - What did your 'friend' have for breakfast this morning, Simone?
Hi Simone.
Thought I would drop by your site again, and saw this song, so I'll stick my neck out and comment :-)
Lots of good content progressing through the work of Christ. Always good to remember Him!
At first I thought it seemed a bit overwhelming with the 8x8 meter. But then I realised In Christ Alone is the same, and that works really well. Maybe you can just use that tune. In Christ Alone, Never Alone... already sounds the same ;-)
I like in the third verse where you have 'a brand NEW day', because the resurrection is the beginning of the new creation. But that's probably just because I like to emphasise that the resurrection means new creation. Don't know if you meant it or not! (Maybe you could add another 'new' at the end: "Christ our new life!"...?)
Depending on the tune, maybe the two lines that have 4th and 5th syllables in the same word could be problematic: "Lord, it is finished" and "Our hearts are lifted".
Maybe you can change the 2nd verse to have "'Father forgive!' comes out his cry" (or 'came out' depending if you want to maintain present tense or not). Actually, if you'll permit me to be very picky, I don't really like the "Lord, it is finished" because the "Lord" isn't in the Bible, and he says that at the end after the darkness has already descended. Also, John 19:30 is climactic and final IMO, but doesn't seem so within that verse of your lyrics. The cry to forgive also builds on the "that we should breathe again". Perhaps it could be "strains out his cry" to continue the breathless theme..?
Maybe in 3rd verse you could just swap things around: "Our hearts are raised, souls lifted high".
Anyhow, I hope I haven't abused the open invitation! Afterall, I'm sure you have already been over and over the words. Good on you for putting words to paper :-)
Thanks everyone. Keep the comments coming. I've got a few changes to make which I'll do later today.
Daniel - Do you think the new lines in v3 are an improvement? Does it sound like I actually believe in the resurrection now?
Cath - you're cheeky!
Craig - Thanks heaps. I'll have to re-think the ordering of v2. The syllable thing isn't a problem - it might have been, though.
Dave - I look forward to an email!
Okay guys. These lines are causing me grief:
“Lord, it is finished,” comes his cry
Blackness descends filling the sky.
The problem that cj pointed out - ie. that the darkness comes first and then Jesus' "it is finished" cry - was not a problem with my original version:
"Lord it is finished," comes his cry
Then silence fills the blackened sky
I left it vague as to the beginning of the darkness. But because of the tune, I need to change this line so that the emphasis falls on the 1st and 5th syllables. Any ideas how I can do this?
Option 1: change previous line to " "Father forgive them" comes his cry." Problem is that I want to communicate Jesus' death in this line - so that it follows on to the idea of us being left alone in the world.
Option 2: Say "stuff it all. People (like cj) are too clever for their own good if they notice stuff like that." ;-)
Option 3: ????? Any suggestions? If possible I'd like to bring 'silence' back into it all. I've spent a bit of time lately imagining what life would have been like in those couple of days between Jesus' death and resurrection. Heavenly silence is an idea that I keep coming back to. What do you think?
Ok, I hadn't realised you wanted his death to occur at that line. I thought his death occurred in the last line when 'God departs'... Could you just do what Dave suggested and swap the two lines around?
BTW when do you think the darkness ended? I'm thinking straight after Christ died..? And I still don't like the addition of 'Lord' :-p
I want Jesus' death to occur in that "it is finished line" because of the line that comes next : "A creeping dread in every heart."
This was the thought that actually began this song for me. In Luke 23:48 - just after Jesus has been killed, Luke observes "And all the multitudes who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts."
It is no small thing to kill the Son of God. There was a public feeling of grief over it - "what have we done????" And Matthew records that the people "became very frightened" (Matt 27:54).
So I want it clear that Jesus died before the 'creeping dread' line. But it's probably one of those little things that I'll be definite about and no one else will notice.
When did the darkness end? I think it would have been neat if it ended on Sunday morning, but I suspect that it didn't. What do you think the darkness is all about? I'm happy to go on chatting with cj but it's more fun if others join in too. Anyone else got ideas?
Ah, that makes things clearer. I guess you could make your point more explicit by referencing Luke 23:46 instead of John 19:30. Put in a line about giving up his spirit and/or breathing his last. If you want people to get your point then be more explicit. If you don't mind, be more poetic..?
I think the darkness ended after Jesus died. The gospels say it lasted until the ninth hour, and while that doesn't necessarily mean it didn't continue after that, I think it most likely that it didn't. On a minor practical note, they may also have had trouble knowing when the Sabbath would begin if it stayed dark until nightfall.
I think the darkness represents death and God's judgement. In a literal way it is like the language of cosmic cataclysm used in the prophets of the sun being darkened etc. It could be symbolic of the powers of darkness against Jesus, but I'm not sure that God would make that happen just to symbolise what his enemies were doing. So I think it best to understand it as a powerful statement that God was judging, condemning Jesus for our sins. Having said that, at the time, I doubt it would have been clear to everyone who God was condemning and why he was doing it...
IMO of course...
Looks great, Simone. Just wondering if the 2nd line of the 3rd verse should be past tense?
(We've instead we'll).
Welcome to bellevue tce Kathryn. Thanks for your comment. I think lines 1 and 2 of V3 are a pair - as are lines 3 and 4. I'm going future, future, past, past to create a present feeling. If that makes sense!
I've finished it. I ended up taking cj's suggestion. Thanks everyone.
Never Alone
V2
The longest walk, earth’s darkest day
Noise from the crowd and mounting pain
His heavy load of grief and shame
Breathless that we should breathe again.
“Father forgive them,” comes his cry
Blackness descends filling the sky.
A creeping dread in every heart
Lost in the world now God departs.
V4
Never alone is now our cry
In joy, in grief, in lonely sin.
Never alone for Christ is ours
He lives in us, we live in him.
And till we reach that final day
When fears are gone, cast far away
We live secure, trust in his love,
Never alone, Christ is with us.
SAR 2006
Wow- did you write this? We sang it in church this morning and I had to facebook one of the worship singers to find out what it was called.
I've spent the last 10 minutes googling trying to find a recording of it online- to no avail.
Is it available anywhere?
Oh btw- I think it rocks. Especially the bit about the sky turning black and the creeping dread in peoples hearts.
Helen
XX
Hi.
Glad you like the song. Where are you from? You can buy it online from emu music. www.emumusic.com
simone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hTvwSMNBCo&mode=related&search=
This is a clip of the song.
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