Worst Hymn/Song Lyric Heard at Mass

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Every now and then I will here a song line from some hymn that just makes me shake my head (and occasionally laugh).

What are some of the wacky, zany or heretical songs lyrics you have heard?

I was thinking of this because of one I heard last week from “The Summons”

“Will you love the you you hide” (This is not a typo)

Me and my son also work hard not to snicker when we sing “We Come to Your Feast” (a song I like). One line “the weaving of our stories, the fabric of our lives” which of course asks the question, “Cotton?”

Next?
 
I’m sorry I don’t have a genuine wacky song/hymn lyric of offer… I generally try to suppress them as soon as they enter my head!

I do, however, remember an hilarious line (perhpas more real than we’d like to believe) from the play/film Mass Appeal. When being challenged by Father Farley to be more charming and informal in his homilies, Deacon Dolson began to recount how all of the “changes” in the liturgy of his recent youth drove him nuts. Most humourous was the “Hip Hymn Committee” of his parish deciding to sing Leaving on a Jet Plane on Ascension Thursday.

I laugh but then I wonder if it’s ever been tried…
 
Methinks this site says it all:

mgilleland.com/music/moratorium.htm
 
“Give us the courage to enter the song”.

What does that mean, exactly???
 
Wolseley said:
“Give us the courage to enter the song”.

What does that mean, exactly???
Click to expand...

Exactly! Not to mention the rest of the most inane song every forced upon a Catholic congregation. My vote is defiintely for “Gather Us In” as the worst bit of nonsense every sung at a regular Sunday Mass. I’m sure there are more offending songs that have been sung for Life Teen Masses or other special occasions, but for those truly awful songs we’ve had to endure, Sunday after Sunday, since the late 60’s, GUI is truly the worst, IMHO. I absolutely refuse to sing such tripe! :mad:
 
Wolseley said:
“Give us the courage to enter the song”.

What does that mean, exactly???
Click to expand...

It means it takes a lot of guts to sing such crazy lyrics.
 
I just returned from Mass. The entrance song was “Gather Us In.” Arrgh!

The good thing about it was that it was played at the tempo of a funeral dirge, fitting for a tune that marks the death of good liturgical music in many parishes. I imagine people will tire of such a miserable rendition of a miserable song.
 
The worst ever IMO is “Lord of the Dance”
I feel like vomiting everytime I hear it at mass.
 
It’s a tie:

Gather Us In (all of it, but esp. “the rich and haughty”) and
Song of the People of God (“We come to share our story, we come to break the bread, we come to know our rising from the dead”).

Gather Us In was the processional hymn this weekend. I had to stifle myself from singing one of the parodies, “Gather us in, the turkey and stuffing! Gather us in, the gravy and ham! And don’t forget that Thanksgiving dinner, just ain’t complete without cranberry jam!”

The recessional was a favorite of mine, Now Thank We All Our God.
 
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delorean_boy:
The worst ever IMO is “Lord of the Dance”
I feel like vomiting everytime I hear it at mass.
Click to expand...
Every time I hear or see that title, I think of Michael Flatley and the Riverdance shows. Not one of my favorite hymns, either.
 
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pnewton:
Every now and then I will here a song line from some hymn that just makes me shake my head (and occasionally laugh).

What are some of the wacky, zany or heretical songs lyrics you have heard?

I was thinking of this because of one I heard last week from “The Summons”

“Will you love the you you hide” (This is not a typo)

Me and my son also work hard not to snicker when we sing “We Come to Your Feast” (a song I like). One line “the weaving of our stories, the fabric of our lives” which of course asks the question, “Cotton?”

Next?
Click to expand...
I heard a song at Mass earlier this year called, “There Must Be A God Up There Somewhere”. I was like, “This songwriter doesn’t seem too sure… just kind of hopeful that God exists.” The whole congregation was singing and clapping this stupid song and I just stood there perplexed.

Mike (FaithfulLvng@aol.com)
 
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delorean_boy:
The worst ever IMO is “Lord of the Dance”
I feel like vomiting everytime I hear it at mass.
Click to expand...
I don’t feel like vomiting when I hear it …but I don’t like it either…it is my least favorite…it just doesn’t fit during Mass…or anytime in church.
 
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WhatMeWorry:
Every time I hear or see that title, I think of Michael Flatley and the Riverdance shows. Not one of my favorite hymns, either.
Click to expand...
Speaking of ‘Lord of the Dance’
I agree
 
I groan inwardly whenever we start with “Gather Us In.”

Thankfully, I haven’t heard “Lord of the Dance” for awhile. Sems to be waning in popularity.
 
What I think is sad is there’s a whole generation coming up that’s not familiar with the great old hymns. I grew up Protestant in the 50s and 60s. However, my daughter’s friend is a cradle Catholic and was lucky enough to have always sung these hymns in church (in Ohio). I think she’s the exception.

Some of the more contemporary songs wouldn’t be so bad if they weren’t all that’s out there. For instance, I do like Lord of the Dance. It’s not too different from the lovely Irish-sounding “Be Thou My Vision.” Well. Ok…maybe too upbeat. My kids always liked it too–unfortunately, it’s overdone and they haven’t been exposed to the greatness of real church music. My daughter was talking about how she loves On Eagle’s Wings and how I just can’t stand it at all. (It hurts her feelings when I make fun of it and go “thump, thump” after each verse.) The lyrics are beautiful–taken from psalms–many contemporary hymns are–but it’s just so overdone and easily parodied! It’s like a Carpenter’s song, for heaven’s sake! Some can’t stand “Be Not Afraid”, but I love it–both the words and music. It speaks to my needs. One song I absolutely love, also, is One Bread, One Body–that’s a keeper. I love it.

I remember the first time we got hit with this weird contemporary stuff, in college, a Lutheran school, around 1972. It was that “hymn” “Sing to the Lord a New Song”. I still remember cringing at a verse that said something like “loud boiling test tubes” or some such tripe. I do think the “He has done marvelous things” is a great hook line. But…still…THIS is a HYMN???

Oh, but where are the great old hymns–and let’s sing all the verses–For All the Saints! And The Church’s One Foundation–that makes me cry when I think of the schisms within our church–we sang it at a friend’s funeral at First Presbyterian recently and it was heart-wrenching. And some day–we’ll be able to sing “A Mighty Fortress” and “Hail Holy Queen Enthroned Above” (pull out all the stops!)–maybe in heaven. 🙂

Discovering the Eucharistic music with Gregorian tones took some getting used to, but it’s so holy and beautiful–and much better in Latin, too. Panis Angelicus is the greatest music this side of heaven!

But–oh–the Protestants will get into Heaven based on their contributions to sacred music alone–from my lips to God’s ears, please!
 
When I saw this post, the first thing I thought to myself was Gather us In but ya’ll already beat me to it! “…not in some heaven light years away…” is my personal favorite ridiculous line.
 
Today at Mass the only decent hymn they had was the recessional hymn, and we only sang two verses of it—“Alleluia, Sing to Jesus”. The rest of them were all these Protestant praise & worship songs on this printed handout sheet, which I refused to sing. Not only were they of questionable theology, they were also unsingable.

Father was also engaging in his usual vaudeville acts today, having people with birthdays, wedding anniversaries, new babies, visitors, etc., stand up so we could raise our right arms in a Nazi Heil Hitler salute and “bless” them.

And during the prayers of petition, there was one that went something along the lines of, “Help us to be Eucharist for those around us who are hopeless and oppressed”.

I just rolled my eyes. Help us to “be Eucharist”???

The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man. Even suggesting that we can “be Eucharist” is to place ourselves on the same level as God.

That’s what Satan did, as I recall.

And we all know what happened to him, don’t we?

I am soooooo tired of the constant abuses in the post-conciliar Church of the Warm Fuzzy that I could just spit.

If there was any kind of Eastern Rite parish anywhere near my home, I would be out of the Latin Rite so fast they’d think they imagined my existance, and that is no joke.
 
I donno if this is just here in the Philippines, but there’s this awful song entitled “Lover of us all”, The refrain goes something like this,

With all the earth we sing your praise (okay, that’s fine)
We’ve come to give you thanks, O Lover of us all (so far so good)
And giver of our loving (this is where I’m starting to lose it. What the h**k does this mean?)
With sun and moon we shout for joy
We are your work of art (and here I dump the song)
…

I donno. It’s one thing to praise God and even be thankful for creating us, and we are indeed his work of art, but at Mass, do we really need to praise ourselves that much?
 
I’ve got that Joy Joy Joy Joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay…And if the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack, sit on a tack today.

I used to endure that one regularly in the Los Angeles Diocese. I sometimes find talk of “hymns” v. “songs” annoying, but if that doggerel doesn’t take the cake…

I agree with the poster who dislikes, “not in some heaven light years away.”
 
“Il a changé nos vies” is the stuff of nightmares. I fear the image of a rather stout sexagenarian clapping her hands and swinging her hips to this hymn will be forever burned in my memory. That was, coincidentally, at the Youth Mass. Beside my friend and myself, there were two other people under 40.

I also dislike “Here I Am, Lord.” It somehow manages to not only be self- and community-centered, but also amazingly dull and tedious. I much prefer “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” or “Faith of Our Fathers.”
 
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