MARTYRDOM is one tune that can be used for any common meter hymn. The example in Songs of Zion and Zion Still Sings gives a limited version of the melody that is used, an embellished version of the MARTYRDOM hymn tune (Hugh Wilson, 1766-1824), the same melody used for “Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” by Isaac Watts. However, because of the long, drawn-out manner in which it is sung, churches practicing this style of hymn singing referred to the lined-out style as “long meter” and/or “Old Dr. If Thou withdraw thyself from me, (8 syllables) Technically, “Father” is in common meter.įather, I stretch my hands to Thee, (8 syllables) Ethnomusicologist Eileen Southern, who in 1971 published the seminal resource, The Music of Black Americans: A History, counted Songs of Zion as one of the “great monuments of Black church music.” In an article entitled “Hymnals of the Black Church,” she cites the inclusion of “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee,” notated in a lined format, as a reflection of the importance of the validation of oral traditions in the Black Church. “Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee” is also a hymn by Charles Wesley, and while you will not find it in The United Methodist Hymnal, it is in another United Methodist songbook, Songs of Zion, #11 (Also #120 in Zion Still Sings). Music geek that I was, I had great fun identifying and categorizing the common meter songs, 8.6.8.6 like “Amazing Grace” the long meter songs, 8.8.8.8 like “Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow” and the short meter songs, 6.6.8.6 like “A Charge to Keep I Have” by Charles Wesley. then told me about common meter, short meter, and long meter. When I reported my discovery, my father, Joseph T. As one who also wrote poetry, I began to see the relationship between the number of syllables in a line and the numbers at the bottom of the page. When I asked my father what these were, he told me to figure it out for myself. As I made my way through the book, I began to notice numbers at the bottom of certain hymns that were not page number indications. When I was a child learning to play the piano, one of my goals was to learn all of the hymns in the hymnal that sat on the family instrument. And the new songs, as you’ll see, aren’t helping matters."Father, I Stretch My Hands to Thee," by Charles Wesley While a stupid, ill-advised burn at a famous white pop star isn’t on the same level as Kanye’s blanket dismissal of the more than 40 women who have accused Cosby of rape, it certainly adds to the misogynistic narrative that the rapper has created around himself - one that’s becoming as much of a talking point as his music itself. Today’s big talking point is his “I made that bitch famous” diss at the the quick-to-offend and quicker-to-be-defended Taylor Swift. (“You let a stripper trap you.”) Then, this week, he voiced his all-caps support of accused rapist Bill Cosby on Twitter. The latest wave of controversy started when the 38-year-old rapper spewed sexist remarks birthed of unresolved issues with his ex, Amber Rose, during an epic Twitter tirade against Wiz Khalifa. Kanye West’s known misogyny has been an unfortunate recurrent theme throughout his lyrics, but ‘Ye’s problems with women are really being thrust into the spotlight following the premiere of his latest album, The Life of Pablo.
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