The 75 songs I was raised on

The holiness movement’s hymnody of the 1950’s and 60’s

 

I was raised in the holiness movement of the 1950’s and 60’s and these are the 75 songs that were my steady diet of my youth and college years.  I can sing several verses of almost all of them from memory today.  But I’ll make comments later, let me simply start my offering my list: “The 75 songs I was raised on:”

 

  1. All Hail the power
  2. Amazing grace
  3. At Calvary
  4. At the cross
  5. Beulah Land
  6. Blessed assurance
  7. Bring them in
  8. Constantly abiding
  9. Deeper, Deeper
  10. Down at the cross where my savior died
  11. Faith is the victory
  12. Happy day
  13. Have thine own way, Lord
  14. He abides, He abides
  15. He brought me out
  16. He hideth my soul
  17. Heavenly sunlight
  18. Holiness unto the Lord
  19. I belong to the king
  20. I know whom I have believed
  21. I love to tell the story
  22. I will sing the wondrous story
  23. I’ll go where you want me to go
  24. I’m a Child of the King
  25. I’m pressing on
  26. I’m pressing on to Higher Ground
  27. I’ve anchored in Jesus
  28. It is well with my soul
  29. Joy unspeakable
  30. Living by faith
  31. Look and live
  32. Love Divine
  33. My burdens rolled away
  34. No not one
  35. Nothing but the blood
  36. O for a thousand tongues
  37. Oh, that will be Glory
  38. Onward Christian Soldiers
  39. Open the windows of Heaven
  40. Praise Him, Praise Him
  41. Rescue the perishing
  42. Revive us again
  43. Ring the bells of heaven
  44. Rock of ages
  45. Rolled away, rolled away
  46. Satisfied
  47. Sound the battle cry
  48. Stand up, stand up for Jesus
  49. Standing on the promises
  50. Such love
  51. Sunlight, Sunlight in my soul today
  52. Tell me the old old story
  53. Tell me the stories of Jesus
  54. Tell me the story of Jesus
  55. The cleansing wave
  56. The comforter has come
  57. The old account was settled
  58. The old rugged cross
  59. The solid rock
  60. There is a fountain filled with blood
  61. There is power in the blood
  62. There is power in the blood
  63. There shall be showers of blessing
  64. Throw out the lifeline
  65. Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus
  66. Trust and obey
  67. Victory in Jesus
  68. We’ll work ‘til Jesus comes
  69. We’re marching to Zion
  70. What a wonderful Savior
  71. When I see the blood
  72. When we all get to heaven
  73. Wonderful words of life
  74. Wonderful, wonderful Jesus is to me
  75. How Great Thou Art (Added in early 1960’s)

 

Ok, that’s the list. Now, two questions I’m pondering this week:

 

1. At what era of life do people “freeze in” the songs they consider “traditional.” For me it appears to be when I was in my 30’s.  Most of these songs I was raised on don’t “make it” on to my current list of “Traditional worship music” (see previous column of9/28/2010 where I listed these). Is this true of others or only me? Do others raised in the church have two lists—one list of the songs they were raised on and still know by heart, but another list of what they yearn for as “traditional music” today that got established after college?

 

2. A movement’s hymnody reveals its values and spirit. It is no secret that a church’s hymnody may better reveal a church’s values and spirit than the preaching (though we preachers hate the idea). If that is so, then what do these songs tell us about the posture, values and spirit of the holiness movement of the 1950s’a and 60’s?  What is present then that is missing now? What was missing then that we have now?

 

So, what do you think?

 

The discussion of this column is on Facebook:   http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/profile.php?id=161502633

 

 

Keith Drury   November 30, 2010

 www.TuesdayColumn.com