tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6043971967398769903.post7796135404251220472..comments2024-03-27T19:50:47.426-05:00Comments on The Watchman's Bagpipes: The Wonderful Cross — Theft of Isaac Watts’ SongGlenn E. Chatfieldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04117405535707961903noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6043971967398769903.post-36862416044897871162017-11-09T11:27:03.199-06:002017-11-09T11:27:03.199-06:00I don't care for that "optional" ver...I don't care for that "optional" verse (I don't think Watts considered it optional) because to me it doesn't really go with the theme of the remaining verses.<br /><br />Since Tomlin does the same to "Amazing Grace," it appears he just likes to add "ya-ya" choruses as he plagiarizes others rather than use his own imagination -- for a quick buck.Glenn E. Chatfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04117405535707961903noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6043971967398769903.post-2225031905472550422017-11-08T18:00:01.400-06:002017-11-08T18:00:01.400-06:00Glenn, I didn't know the contemporary version ...Glenn, I didn't know the contemporary version was different from the original. I think Watts' second verse reminds us that we aren't to be filled with pride or attached to our material possessions. It needs to remain. I don't like Watts' optional verse, though, because it provokes a bloody image like the Roman Catholic crucifix. The contemporary additional, repetitive chorus doesn't bother me because it does at least have meaning. I like hymns that have a few lines of repetition so that my mind has time to process what I'm singing. Too many words distract me so much that the message doesn't sink in. I don't know what Tomlin's motivation was in modernizing the song, whether to honor a timeless hymn or to make a quick buck by copy-pasting lyrics from a song in the public domain. This almost sounds like a defense of Tomlin's music, but in fact, I've recently left a church in part because of the (LOUD) contemporary worship music. I'm now in a church that sings from a hymnal, with piano and woodwind accompaniment, and it's quite refreshing. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com