February 16, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Friday, February 16.
Today we look at a classic gospel hymn that makes use of the technique “call and response”, a song that calls out questions and then responds with the answers, the song “Nothing But the Blood.”
What can wash away my sin? (Nothing but the blood of Jesus!)
What can make me whole again? (Nothing but the blood of Jesus!)
Call and Response is a technique found in many songs and in many musical styles. We hear it in the work songs sung by the slaves in the antebellum cotton fields. It's part of many spirituals and it pervades blues music, pop music, folk music, and rock & roll.
But we find call and response in the music of Bach and Beethoven, as well. In that style it's called antiphony and may involve different sections of the orchestra or multiple choirs. We hear it in bluegrass - "Dueling Banjos," in children's songs - "Old MacDonald," and in soldiers marching cadences - "I don't know but I been told." On Friday nights in the fall we can hear call and response in cheerleader's chants. And in December we sing it in songs like "Deck the Halls" and "Do You Hear What I Hear?"
And we find it in Jeremiah 33:3 when God gives us this promise - "Call unto Me and I will answer you..."
Meet you back here on Monday,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
