Oh Gospel.

Oh lord.
You guys would not believe the amazing time I had.
Doing "research" for this post.
WARNING: ITS A VERY LONG POST.
                   JUST WATCH THE VIDEOS IF YOU'RE SHORT ON TIME.

As some of you know,
I listen to and enjoy many genres of music.
But I have to admit,
Negro gospel classics will always be one of my favourites.

With classics like Amazing Grace, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, Oh Happy Day.
Its the emotion with which these songs are sung that catches me.
Technically, the music is very VERY basic.
But when coupled with the emotional aspect,
Amazing pieces are produced.

Alot of these songs are produced in times of pain,
In times of suffering,
Where the only source of relief and joy is from the Lord.

Take the history of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.
At first glance, you'd think it was about Prophet Elijah
being taken to heaven on a chariot.
Well, yes.
But it is also symbolic of the Underground Railroad
which led many black slaves to freedom.

This version may not be everyone's cup of tea.
But I found it the most beautiful.



Another classic gospel song is Amazing Grace.
Funny thing is,
It wasn't written by a negro native.

It was actually written by John Newton.
A very white man.
He wasn't a very religious man.
In fact, he ended up working as a slave trader.

Yes, a slave trader.
A song written by a slave trader became a black gospel classic.
He was a real bastard,
Just do some reading up on wikipedia.

But here's the beauty of it all.
He was once lost and blind,
But his eyes were opened up to the errors of his ways.
The beauty of grace and forgiveness filled his heart.

I believe the key word here is forgiveness.

I actually teared up while typing this blogpost and listening to this
song at the same time. No music. Just voices.


Last but certainly not least,
Oh Happy Day,
The title speaks for itself.

Most of us had our first encounter with this song
from the show Sister Act.
Oh yeah, I still get the tingles in my spine listening to it.
Remember the emotional aspect I mentioned earlier?
Its so strong especially here.

Alot of people get turned off by the excessiveness
when these songs are sung.
IMHO its just a way of self expression.
Like dance. :)

Sorry I couldn't find a higher quality video.
But this just caught me.



So yea.
My top three favourite gospel songs.
Oh btw, here's an interesting thing about gospel music.
Its so universal in nature.

Of the three videos posted,
One's from America,
One's from Canada,
One's from Africa.
Artistes of all races and creeds have covered gospel songs,
Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Beyonce and so on.


Hope you enjoyed this post as much as I did.
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Home stretch, Baby.


Jon.