Contemporary,

The Theotokos may have kept all sorts of things in her heart, and she may be the Mother most mild, but this song encourages crooning, not devotion to her. As such, it is an example of ego-massage.

Now, to be fair, there are many other songs about which this criticism could be fairly expressed, too, but since this thread is about HMGW, the comment sticks to it.

As examples of other songs which (even unconsciously?) promote crooning, the American standard tunes of O Little Town of Bethlehem and Away in a Manger must rank near the very top.

There is no appropriate time at Mass for narcissism.

Whether the repertoire is Glory and Praise, Taize, Gather Comprehensive, Breaking Bread or any of the P&W books whose names I don't know, the underlying philosophy is frequently that the music NOT sound Churchy. Surely this, alone, is grounds for disqualifying it for use in Church at a Church prescribed ritual?

I haven't used HMGW in years, but it still rings in my ears occasionally.

Narcissism is the practice of gazing at one's self in a pond and admiring the beauty of the pond's image. When I think of Schubert's Ave Maria, I don't hear devotional music, but a piece which was composed for a secular setting and adopted into the repertoire of many parish musical soloists.

I'll double-check for you, but I believe that HMGW and most of the rest of the Glory and Praise repertoire originated in solo artists. Ask Billy Joel if his work can/should be sung in Mass. Ask David Bowie. Ask Taylor Swift.

HMGW is rather slow and dull, with long stretches sung on a single chord. The opening section presents the text of the Hail Mary prayer on just three chords (I still have the original guitar books!) Compared to most classic hymns, that is a glacially slow rate of harmonic change. Structured as it is, it is too musically impoverished to belong at Mass.

But the piece can be saved. Take out the accompaniment, sing it a cappella, scrap the 6/8 meter, and sing it this way:

And it's suddenly less bad: it has more life and movement.

Oh, and stop after the word "Amen." The rest of the lyrics are cloyingly sentimental, repetitive, the most banal poetry imaginable: light, bright; dove, love.

Here's the GABC, for anyone who wants to complete the piece:
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(c3)Hail(e.) Ma(hh)ry,(h.) (,) full(kj) of(i) grace,(h.) (,) the(h) Lord(kk) is(j) with(i.) you;(h.) (;)
bless(k)ed(k) are(k) you(k) a(j)mong(i) wo(h)men(e.) (,) and(e) bl{e}st(gxg) is(gxg) the(gxg) fr{u}it(f) of(e) your(d)
womb,(e.) (,) Je(eh)sus.(h.) (:)

Karu,

If you get answers from either of these, let me know.

Thanks:
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(c4)Hail(d.) Ma(gg)ry,(g.) (,) full(ji) of(h) grace,(g.) (,)
the(g) Lord(jj) is(i) with(h.) you;(g.) (;)
bless(j)ed(j) are(j) you(j) a(i)mong(h) wo(g)men(d.) (,)
and(d) bl{e}st(f) is(f) the(f) fr{u}it(e) of(d) your(c)
womb,(d.) (,) Je(dg)sus.(g.) (:)