What's Up With Modern Music?

   Has anyone else noticed the lack of depth in today's music, specifically in today's Christian music? Because I have, and it irritates me to no end. It seems like every time I turn on the radio, my ears are bombarded by this meaningless noise. Most of the songs I hear are nothing but this upbeat tune with some mindless lyrics that are repeated over and over again. And sure, it's sometimes nice to have a fun song that you can jam out to without thinking about. But every song that airs on the radio is a little too far, don't you think?
   What happened to songs like "And Can It Be"? Take a minute and listen to this song and think about the lyrics. It will touch your heart and bring tears to your eyes! What about "Be Thou My Vision", or "There Is a Fountain"? You can pretty much take any hymn out of any old hymnal and find something worth your time.    Now compare these songs to today's Contemporary Christian Music. Pretty big difference, huh? Don't get me wrong, there are quite a few CCM songs that I really like! I've even posted about a few of them before. But the fact of the matter is, most of today's Christian music is horribly shallow and meaningless. And I actually have a theory for what has happened to change it from what it used to be. ((That's right, I'm not just posting some big long rant. I actually have a point to my argument, heehee. :D ))
   As a writer, I am constantly trying to figure out how to "show and not tell" in my writing. For those of you who aren't writers, this means not boring the reader with this long description of what's going on, and instead showing them what's actually happening. For example, instead of saying "she desperately wanted to hold Jimmy's hand, but she was too afraid", you should say something along the lines of "her hand tentatively reached toward Jimmy's, but she jerked it back before they touched". See what I'm trying to say?
   In the music of old, the writers painted this beautiful picture of what Jesus did for us and our relationship with him. Take a look at this verse from "And Can It Be":

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;

Thine eye diffused a quickening ray—

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

   That is amazing!!! Charles Wesley, the writer of this hymn, succeeded in showing and not telling in this song. He used an allegorical representation of salvation to get his point across. But not all hymns use this method. Some hymns do tell instead of show. Look at this verse from "There Is A Fountain":

1. The dying thief rejoiced to see
   That fountain in His day;
   And there have I, though vile as he,
   Washed all my sins away.

   The writer just states what's going on, but he tells it in such a beautiful way! Songwriters of today have lost that. It feels like there is no heart to their music, like they're not putting any thought or effort into their writing. If you picked up a book that was written that way, you'd read a few pages and put it back. Why? Because the writing's poor. And books with poor writing are no fun to read, are they? Well, I think that songs with poor writing and no heart behind their lyrics aren't fun to listen to. 

   Please don't take me wrong, I'm sure that there are tons of artists who still have heart in their music. Actually, I know there is, because those are the guys I like to listen to. All I"m saying is that it seems like the majority of them have lost that. It feels like they're just putting out another song to add it to their new album that thousands people are going to buy without putting any emotion into it. And when the point of their music should be to praise God with it, then doing that isn't right.

   I could be absolutely wrong about all this, but this is just the general impression I get from modern music. I really wish I didn't get this impression, but I do. I miss the deep, powerful music that we have in our hymnals, the stuff that changes lives. And I hope to see more of that in today's music. :)
   MR

((I WILL be posting next Monday!!! It'll  be some general news about what's going on with my life and stuff. Hope to see you next week!))