What makes a song a Classic?
Discussion over the last two days on Thursday’s Albums of Current Hits post has prompted quite a few interesting thoughts in the comments section. One of the areas touched on in the wide-ranging discussion deserves some further thought. What makes a song a classic, and what does that mean for the song?
The Kingsmen’s “Glory Road” was once new. That was in 1973. Within three years, just about every group out there (a slight exaggeration, but you get the idea) had recorded the song and was performing it live in concerts.
The Cathedrals’ “Boundless Love” was once new, too. But today many groups have tried their own version of the song.
For a modern day classic, try “Glory to God in the Highest.” It’s been done by the Inspirations, Brian Free & Assurance, the Old Friends Quartet, Ernie Haase & Signature Sound, and most recently the Inspirations again.
Some songs are signature songs for a group. What makes a song a Southern Gospel classic?
To pass the initial threshold, of course, it has to be a great song with a timeless message. It has to not only be a great song, but a song that connects with the fans. That’s the minimum threshold. But I think there’s a little more.
I believe that a song becomes a Southern Gospel classic when it “belongs” to no particular group but rather to the genre itself.
Several current songs have met that standard, one of which I named earlier. Others hopefully will. Let’s save the discussion of which songs are modern-day classics for another post. For today, let’s just see how well we agree on the definition itself.
Comment by Paul Jackson (June 2, 2007, 5:24 pm)
Daniel,
I think your definition is right on target.
I try to avoid singing other artist’s “signature” songs.
But many of these evntually transcend the artist/writer and become “property” of the genre…and even property of the church (Kingdom). Then they are “standards”, which to me is a step beyond “classics”…probably splitting hairs here, but I think it is possible to be a “classic” and still be identified with a particular artist…but when it transcends the artist it moves into the “standards” bin…just my way of thinking. I could share examples but you have asked us not to name song titles. We enjoy the minutia now and then. Thanks for airing your thoughts.
Paul Jackson / The Prophets
pauljackson7@sbcglobal.net
Comment by Gospel hog (June 2, 2007, 5:27 pm)
Amen forevermore boys!!!
Somebody sing “I’ll fly Away”…Hallelujah!
GH
Comment by Daniel J. Mount (June 2, 2007, 8:20 pm)
Paul, Good point on the terminology; that hadn’t really occurred to me.
Daniel
Comment by KB (June 8, 2007, 11:24 am)
Take a look at “Canaanland Is Just In Sight.” Jeff Gibson wrote the song and his group, Heavenbound, recorded it in 1982. Within a year, the Cathedrals had recorded it on an indie project, and over the next few years, nearly everyone had done it. Jeff has actually said that he quit trying to keep track of who had recorded it, as he simply couldn’t keep count.
As much as the lyrics play an intregal part, I’d say that the music/arrangement makes a difference. The best example is “A House Of Gold,” written by Hank Williams. This song basically sat for years (although a few quartets had tried some vanilla recordings of it). Then the two Michaels (Sykes & English) produced a cut of it with Mark Lowry (admittedly, not the most soulful singer in the world), and the arrangement was such that it became a very rousing number (thanks in large part to English’s vocal backups). From then on, I saw all kinds of groups recording the song….