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« Making the most of your 40th | Main | Degree of Difficulty » April 12, 2008Shout to Whom Exactly?This clip comes from the "Idol Gives Back" episode of American Idol, broadcast earlier this week. It's the remaining Idol contestants singing "Shout to the Lord" to close the show. What's wrong with this clip? Well, as anyone who's gone to an evangelical church once in the past 15 years can tell you, someone excised the name Jesus from the first lines of both verses. It's an odd change, obviously not just done for time. Did an Idol contestant object? Was Fox concerned about broadcasting an overtly Christian song? It's still an obviously religious song -- even in its denuded state, no one is going to confuse this with one of those "Jesus is my boyfriend" praise songs that curse the church these days. For all the garbage Fox does broadcast, I find it hard to believe that the network got squeamish about the evangelical musical standard of the 1990s because "Jesus" appears twice. Stylistically, it's a good tribute to the original. I personally prefer it a bit faster though. This song can drag when you're performing it. (Hat tip to the Boars Head Tavern) Posted by David Darlington at April 12, 2008 11:26 AM CommentsI noticed the same thing when I watched it. On Thursday night's show they did the song again and said "Jesus" in the correct places of the song. Posted by: eric at April 13, 2008 02:27 AM | permalink Beautiful though. I enjoyed that they even added that song to their set list at all. www.vagabondrunn.wordpress.com Posted by: Kyle at April 13, 2008 05:55 PM | permalink Ewww. I find something very unsettling about Idol, a major part of secular pop culture, co-opting one of the most beautiful worship songs written in the last couple decades. It's nothing new, of course, for sacred music to be performed in secular settings and even by unbelievers, but that usually happens many years later when the music has become recognized as a classic part of cultural history. "Shout to the Lord" has not gone there. This clip reminds me of the South Park episode where Cartman becomes a Christian rock singer, saying "I know enough [about Christianity] to exploit it." Posted by: Eric Seymour at April 14, 2008 09:21 AM | permalink Post a comment |
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