With the growing popularity of old hymns, the Christian community is beginning to see all kinds of hymn “rewrites” and new arrangements of classic hymns. Some have, say, a new chorus, while maintaining the original hymn lyrics as the verses, while plenty of other songs feature new music and lyrics and simply borrow the titles from old, popular hymns. Two songs with the same title now exist: the classic hymn and the modern praise chorus. Same name, two songs.

Over my time as a worship leader and through college, studying copyright law, I’ve picked up a few things on this subject that could be really helpful for other worship leaders out there. But please don’t take my word for it, as if I’m a lawyer.

Our churches all need to give credit where credit is due – to the songwriters who actually write the songs we sing. I think the Gospel demands of us to appropriate a certain level of care when reporting the songs we sing to licensing organizations like CCLI. (I don’t even know of any other church music licensing organizations.)

Here’s what I’ve learned, along with a few tips for your own churches:

1. Double-check the author’s name before reporting to CCLI (and before creating those ProPresenter slides). You can’t copyright a song title. So that means if you simply just search the CCLI website by song title, you might end up reporting the use of a song with the same title, written by the wrong author. I dare say that I have a hunch that a few, very business-savvy, popular Christian song writers and publishers today are intentionally using classic hymn titles because they realize this is happening, and they know they can earn some serious cash from churches not double-checking authorship before they report. The second part of identifying song ownership (IE: who gets paid when you play a song in church) is checking whether or not a song is in the public domain (more about that in #2).

2. Check if a song is in the Public Domain. Basically, any song [both music and lyrics] written prior to around 1850 A.D., in the U.S., is completely free for anyone to perform. No reporting. The song becomes a part of what is called the Public Domain, which means that the song, basically, is public property. Anyone can record it and sell those recordings, anyone can perform it, anyone can create sheet music for it and sell it. When churches sing hymns written prior to [about] 1850, you don’t have to report those songs to CCLI because nobody, according to U.S. law, is entitled to make money off of them. So how do you check? Just check the dates in your hymnal or search cyberhymnal.org. Do your homework. You might even find that you’re used to singing certain verses that are not a part of the original hymn, or that you don’t sing a few that were in the original. Over time, authors add new verses, publishers copyright new versions, and people forget the original words. It can be an eye-opening experience, and you might even decide to revert back to singing an author’s original lyrics.

3. Arranging a song is not the same as writing a song. If a recording artist takes a classic hymn and records it in a new arrangement, preserving both the majority of the hymn’s original melody along with the lyrics, even if he adds an instrumental bridge or cool intro and outro sections, it can not be said that he has written the song and he does not qualify to collect royalties when the song is played in your church. He has simply created a new arrangement of the song and should not collect songwriter’s royalties for this or similar arrangements. Some writers today are, in fact, collecting on this – again, because when churches report to CCLI, they are crediting the arranger/recording artist as the songwriter.

4. How to report a classic hymn with a new chorus. Okay, so a songwriter takes a classic hymn, preserves the melody and the lyrics, but adds in his own, completely original chorus. Now what? It’s pretty simple, really. If you only sing original hymn, without the additional sections from the new songwriter, it’s still just the old hymn and, assuming it’s in the Public Domain, shouldn’t be reported to CCLI. It’s not the work/song of the new, chorus-adding writer. In this case, you’re church’s song presentation slides should reflect the author(s) of the original hymn. But, if you’re church loves that new chorus section added by that new Christian songwriter, report it to CCLI and make sure to credit all the writers – original hymn and new chorus writers – in the presentation slides. For most churches, this means the hassle of keeping two different presentation files: one for the classic hymn (with the original writers) and one for the hymn with new chorus, crediting the original writers alongside the new.

Questions? Comments? Am I off somewhere here? Let me know. Comments welcome…

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Soli Deo Gloria!

Rosa Celeste: Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest Heaven, The Empyrean

Here’s a demo of the first verse I made using my new fancy Garageband app on my phone (so pardon the quality).

Beulah Land – Verse 1

I’ve reached the land of corn and wine,
And all its riches freely mine;
Here shines undimmed one blissful day,
For all my night has passed away.

Refrain

O Beulah Land, sweet Beulah Land,
As on thy highest mount I stand,
I look away across the sea,
Where mansions are prepared for me,
And view the shining glory shore,
My Heav’n, my home forever more!

My Savior comes and walks with me,
And sweet communion here have we;
He gently leads me by His hand,
For this is Heaven’s border land.

Refrain

A sweet perfume upon the breeze,
Is borne from ever vernal trees,
And flow’rs, that never fading grow
Where streams of life forever flow.

Refrain

The zephyrs seem to float to me,
Sweet sounds to Heaven’s melody,
As angels with the white robed throng
Join in the sweet redemption song.

Refrain

Pedro the Lion’s version, singing the John Calkin tune, is good stuff:

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day – Pedro The Lion from Nolan Gray on Vimeo.

The Birth of Jesus, Pietro Cavallini, 1291

The full collection of Prudentius hymns and a short biography can be found here, thanks to Project Gutenberg. It’s definitely worth a read, especially hymn IX above and hymn XI, “Hymn For Christmas Day.” Below is Of The Father’s Love Begotten, based on a translation of hymn IX from the Latin by John Neale and Henry Baker in the late 1800′s (tune here). May these ancient words encourage you this Advent as they have the Church for nearly two thousand years.

Of the Father’s love begotten, ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega, He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see, evermore and evermore!

At His Word the worlds were framèd; He commanded; it was done:
Heaven and earth and depths of ocean in their threefold order one;
All that grows beneath the shining
Of the moon and burning sun, evermore and evermore!

He is found in human fashion, death and sorrow here to know,
That the race of Adam’s children doomed by law to endless woe,
May not henceforth die and perish
In the dreadful gulf below, evermore and evermore!

O that birth forever blessèd, when the virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving, bare the Savior of our race;
And the Babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face, evermore and evermore!

This is He Whom seers in old time chanted of with one accord;
Whom the voices of the prophets promised in their faithful word;
Now He shines, the long expected,
Let creation praise its Lord, evermore and evermore!

O ye heights of heaven adore Him; angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him, and extol our God and King!
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert sing, evermore and evermore!

Righteous judge of souls departed, righteous King of them that live,
On the Father’s throne exalted none in might with Thee may strive;
Who at last in vengeance coming
Sinners from Thy face shalt drive, evermore and evermore!

Thee let old men, thee let young men, thee let boys in chorus sing;
Matrons, virgins, little maidens, with glad voices answering:
Let their guileless songs re-echo,
And the heart its music bring, evermore and evermore!

Christ, to Thee with God the Father, and, O Holy Ghost, to Thee,
Hymn and chant with high thanksgiving, and unwearied praises be:
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory, evermore and evermore!

Edit: Kevin DeYoung gives a fuller treatment here.

Angels Announcing the Birth of Christ to the Shepherds, Govert Flinck, 1639

Montgomery starts the song off like any good Advent hymn, focusing on the birth of Christ:

Angels from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth;
Ye who sang creation’s story
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.

Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ, the newborn King.

Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with us is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:

Refrain

Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen His natal star.

Refrain

*And here’s the shift–Christ is born, but there’s a far larger drama playing out. His birth was trumpeted by angels, marveled at by shepherds, and sought after by sages. But though He came, lived, died, and rose again, the saints are still waiting for the final victory. This is the great expectation of Advent:

Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear;
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In His temple shall appear.

Refrain

Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doomed for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you; break your chains.

Refrain

Though an Infant now we view Him,
He shall fill His Father’s throne,
Gather all the nations to Him;
Every knee shall then bow down:

Refrain

All creation, join in praising
God, the Father, Spirit, Son,
Evermore your voices raising
To th’eternal Three in One.

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

“Tis the season to be jolly and joyous!
With a burst of pleasure we feel it arrive!
It’s the season when the saints can employ us
To spread the news about peace and to keep love alive!”

Yeah, a bit humanist. Thankfully we know how to fill in the blanks.

“Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His belovèd Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blest Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble oxen stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God’s angel has foretold,
They did our Savior Christ behold.
Within a manger He was laid,
And by His side the virgin maid
Attending to the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.”

At least Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma know what’s up: