Hoosierlujah!

So you’re looking for a great new song for worship. Why not write your own?

Even if you can’t write music, you can take an old song of any ilk and give it new life by giving it new lyrics. Or you can write lyrics and work with someone who is able to put them to music.

I tend to be one of those Bernie Taupin lyricists in search of an Elton John melody. But when I can’t find a composer to do the work, I sometimes look for a rock and roll song that can be turned into a worship song with a few word changes.

Easy targets are songs that already have words such as “believe,” “believer” or “king” in the title. Or you can take a romantic love song and bend it into a song about loving God.

Lots of examples can be found here. I recently chose to take Electric Light Orchestra’s “Rock and Roll is King” and turn it into “Jesus Christ is King.”

Here’s a video of the original ELO song. My new lyrics are below. Give it a try and let me know what you think. It’s intended as a defense of the use of contemporary music in worship, for those of you who may run into opposition from the traditionalists.

JESUS CHRIST IS KING

Listen everybody let me tell you ’bout a man I know

Turn to Him and He’s really gonna soothe your soul

I said come along with me, to where salvation’s free

I said whamalamabamalama Jesus Christ is king

She loves that Christian rock when we play it all night long

That’s all she ever tells me when I call her on the telephone

I say feel that jumpin’ beat and get up on your feet

I said whamalamabamalama Jesus Christ is king

CHORUS

Oh let those guitars play

Play for thee, play for thee

Oh let His song ring out

That’s how it’s meant to be

Watch for the long black train that’s comin’ on down the track

Let’s roll over the devil and get salvation back

We got temptation beat; let’s go dancin’ on down the street

I said whamalamabamalama Jesus Christ is king

REPEAT CHORUS

When she comes around and I’m a-singing all the hymns I know

She says you can’t do that ’cause all I want is Christian rock and roll

That back beat’s gonna stay whenever (insert name of your band here) starts to play

I said whamalamabamalama Jesus Christ is king

Audrey Assad will not appear with JJ Heller at a concert April 17 at Trinity Park United Methodist Church in Greenfield.

The church’s Web site says it was recently informed by the concert’s booking agent that Assad won’t be able to make the show due to the schedule of her husband’s chemo treatments.

JJ Heller instead will be joined by the duo Jenny & Tyler.

In October, Assad disclosed in a blog post that her husband Billy Price has cancer.

“The dearest person in the world to me is fighting disease. I am powerless to stop it, and can be of little help, apart from emotionally and perhaps spiritually—and logistically,” Assad wrote.

“But I can’t make cancer go away. It isn’t subject to my desires, my ideals, my dreams of an easier life. That’s a sad feeling. It is like an unknown aggressor, a blank-faced, brutal intruder upon my expectations for our first year married.”

Price announced on his blog in November that he would soon begin six months of chemotherapy treatment and likely would be unable to travel with Assad while she was on the road.

“So at this point, prayers are welcome for effective treatment, for minimal side effects, and for the grace of the sacrament of marriage to help us through this period of logistical, physical, emotional strain,” Price wrote.