Psalm 137 (Page 1 of 2)

KtSmith.

My whole being shudders to a halt when i see the word " abortion" Maybe because at one time in my life i was told id never have children.
I also was with a 19 year old girl when she decided to have her baby and not abort all of 35 years ago.. I was with her when she handed this baby over for adoption.
I was also with her 22 years later when they were reunited. Such a profound moment.
He had had a wonderful life and Parents. He was and is a wonderful Young Man.
So So very glad he was never aborted and his seed was given the freedom to blossom.

Dia Linn to you. [God to you ]

Old Doll.

I'm absolutely against murdering babies, there are other options.....
But lets don't turn this into a debte board about abortion, there's a song here to be commented on and its not fair to the writer. Ktsmith, this is one of my favorite passages of scripture, and as the psalms were actually originally intended to be recited in the Temple as a song, I think this is very appropriate. I've heard several psalms actually, that were sung to music during church services and it was very pretty. A nice chord progression also, the take on it being about abortion is interesting, lets hope people don't use this thread to argue over it though.
Take it easy,
   LR

All You Need is Love

Yeah, sorry

Setting Psalms to music is an ancient tradition.  The word 'psalm' comes to us from the Greek language and is rooted in the meaning of 'songs sung with harp'.  Like much of the material contained in the Hebrew Torah or Christian Bible, the Psalms were part of an oral tradition long before the text was actually written.

Psalms are a regular part of Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and other liturgically-based worship traditions.  There are many musical settings that can be adapted to singing Psalms.  Some settings are for a solo cantor, some settings are for 4-part choir, some are for a combination of the two.

Since it is impossible to know exactly how the material was sung by the Hebrew tribes, all currently-used settings for the Psalms are designed to be attractive to our current musical aesthetic.  Chances are, the original tunes were more closely related to the quarter-tone scales common in the Arabic and Turkish musical traditions.

Anyway, I like the idea of creating a new setting for these ancient tribal ballads.  However, the full text of Psalm 137 speaks of joyously wreaking vengeance upon the Babylonians by smashing their babies against the rocks - so I find the association with pro-life politics rather incongruous.

God im not well

and now i have to look up the word incongruous! Have ye no pity for me at all at all?

Old Doll.

Ok James I just did, now ! could ya not have put "Incompatible" Instead? I know that word

i get the drift now.

Southpaw!

Would you like a kick where it Hurts Son?  Old Dolls head feels like a lead ballon at the moment.

But thanks anyway. Now wheres me size 12 boot

Big booted Old Doll.

Hi KTSmith!  As this is your first and only post, you must be feeling a little knocked about by the fuss!

Don't worry about it, we're all friends here so don't be shy about posting more!

Hi ktsmith - please don't take my commentary as harsh criticism.  I have given your song a bashing and very much like the chords you have chosen for your adaptation of the text. 

Would love to hear the melody you have chosen - I hear an almost chant-like melody with some vocal harmonizing.

Besides the Psalms, there are other portions of scripture that are traditionally set to music.  These passages are called 'Canticles'.  There are many bits of the Old Testament and New Testaments that have been designated as canticles. 

Each canticle is usually associated with certain rites or specific days of the liturgical calendar.  'Magnificat' (Song of Mary; Luke 1:46-55) and 'Nunc Dimittis' (Song of Simeon, Luke 2:29-323) are probably the best known canticles because they are part of the daily offices of both the Roman Catholic and Anglican worship traditions.

Musical settings for these two bits of verse are as ancient as Gregorian Chant.  Contemporary composers have also created modern settings for each. 

Here is Magnificat setting for 3 voices and a dandy chamber orchestra that includes a monster bass lute and recorders:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC8zNWfPoT8
Even if you are not a fan of classical or 'serious' music, I think you will find this piece of music to be beautifully conceived and performed.

Here is setting for Nunc Dimittis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PzTrC9fREY

How much fun would it be to sit around a campfire with lots of booze, a few guitars and this song!

By the way, why is the term 'tribal ballad' construed as a slur?  I thought that collectives of people were tribes and that a plaintive song was a ballad.  Laws, geneologies, legends, lore were all passed down as song or rhyme as it made the content easier to remember.  The ones who were charged with passing down this information were given huge social status by any tribe so I'm sure no insult was intended.

I'm sorry, and I'm not being sarcastic. I'm not trying to alienate personal opinion and 'the issues' from music, but I know that on one occasion a song I posted turned into a debte over 'nashville numbers' and capos, and it was agrivating to me when a few people were really trying to help me out with the song.
If you actually WANT us to discuss abortion, I'll at least throw my two cents in:
   The majority of people who focus in on an issue are 'small picture' people. They don't see anything wrong with aborting an unwanted pregnancy that's not ever gonna have a good life anyway. What they don't understand is that it is the first evidence of the idea that anybody thats not considered helpful to society is therefore useless and thier death, if anything, convenient to society SO right now its unwanted babies, but what if next they decide that old people in nursing homes are useless? Maybe that doesn't bother you either. But what if one day we get to the point where they decide people who aren't smart, pretty, talented, enough are not going to benefit society either? This 'good for the pack' mentality is what spurred the Holocaust and other great tragic events of history, and even though today's countries probably wouldn't stoop that low, we ARE opening the door for that mindset. America was founded on the principle that EVERY human being is bestowed with the INALIABLE RIGHTS (maybe you've heard this word), to life, liberty, and the persuit of happiness. So even from a strictly logical point of view abortion is unconstitutional because it takes away a babie's inaliable rights.
Anyway thats just my opinion, I'm not stupid enough to think of myself as the authority on political ideals, and I know my viewpoint is kind of crazy sometimes, but there it is.

All You Need is Love

Since I don't have a uterus, my opinions about abortion are irrelevant.

But - I do have some thoughts regarding the art & science of song writing . . .
My songwriting notebook has all sorts of fragments and bits of ideas that may eventually become songs.  One bit that has been in there for quite a while is a setting/adaptation for Psalm 95 (Venite, exultimus or 'Song of Triumph').

I have a lovely melody in Dorian mode.  I have some nice backing chords.  I have some other ideas.  But, the dang thing just hasn't clicked into focus yet so it stays there and I work on it now and then.

I'll keep chipping away at it and maybe eventually I will have that delicious "Aha!" moment when some missing element is suddenly revealed.  My current notebook is about finished, so soon I'll be moving useful pieces of it into a new notebook.  Perhaps some forgotten yet helpful tidbit will emerge during that process.

There are a couple of other biblically-based song ideas in the notebook.  One is a few lines about the story of Esther.  Another is about all the strange instructions for ritual animal sacrifice in Leviticus.  Don't know if either of these little ideas will ever grow - but they are good ideas that resonate nicely in my imagination.

Hi Again,

I strongly feel there would be no abortion [ or as Zurf has suggested very rare occasions}

if all woman on this planet took control of there own contraception. Why in heavens name do woman allow there men young or old to determine whether they become pregnant or not?
We would do more good for our kids if we honestly sat with them and showed them every possible way to avoid pregnancy. Sex is not going to go away , so equip them with as much information as possible.
Enlighten our Girls with the fact that"Men  or boys will tell them anything to have sex with them, whether love comes into the picture or not. This is the reality of most sexual encounters.
Woman i feel have a romantic view on lovemaking. The sex act to me is a very adult game, and children should not attempt to play the game. Emotionally I feel  they are not ready for the repercussions of same.
On this island  in my time we did not have contraception. { Hard to believe but true}Strangley enough less woman then became pregnant.  " fear "  because those who did ofton ended up in these place.

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/08/08/sunday/main567365.shtml - 83k -

www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/04/1048962932185.html - 32k -

I was in one of these convents Once when i went to meet up with a friend who  had  had her baby. she was one of the lucky ones. She got out, and i in  my twenties went to meet her in Cork.  We were turfed out onto the street with out a bye or leave . My friend was a shadow of her former self, and became a chronic alcoholic for most of her life.
We travelled back by train to Dublin with a six week old baby, which my Mam wanted to take and rear for this girl.  But My lovely Mam was refused? by the same church that dictated God to us.
My friend and i were locked in a room after her baby was handed over for adoption.
once again we were turfed out without a bye or leave. This was holy catholic Ireland in 1970!
22 years later we were back in this same room to be reunited with this fine young Man. {One of the most Joyful days of my life}

Young girls were dammed one way or another, by the same church who created phedophile
rings around the world.

We now have everykind of contraception available, yet! the highest rate of unmarried Mothers and Babies.
Somehow while i feel this also is not the way to go.

Abortion in any light is the intention to kill another human being. Which  i believe cannot be accepted anywhere on the planet.

Old Doll.