Jackson,

Yes, that's their vision of the Church: an anthropocentric social justice group which soothes the faithful by accompanying them in their self-affirmation, in more ways than one. They're proud of the relevant church which is prophetic, speaks truth to power and helps the Jesus in me meet the Jesus in you.


Mark,

Yes, this is one of the triumvirate of publishing houses. Sadly, these people heavily influence how the faith, such as it is, is handed on to the next generation. At one level, they're responsible for 3 generations of nones.

OCP is trash. I don't buy their stuff and never will. That doesn't mean some of the other publishers are always better.

Wait, wait!! How about Broadway-esque stuff? Piano-bar stuff? Is that all gone??

I don't get it.
I mean, maybe you could justify singing this stuff around a literal campfire, or at a book club, or something...

How does one even remotely equate this with sacred music for Mass, though??

At timestamp 3:25 is a poll ..

What are the primary sources you turn to in selecting music for the Liturgy?
a. Liturgia y Cancion / Todays Liturgy
b. The Sunday readings from the Lectionary for Mass
c. A liturgy planning program like Liturgy.com
d. The prayers and antiphons from the Roman Missal
e. Other

.. that creates dissonance with the GIRM # 48 ordering

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20030317_ordinamento-messale_en.html

In the dioceses of the United States of America there are four options for the Entrance Chant: (1) the antiphon from The Roman Missal or the Psalm from the Roman Gradual as set to music there or in another musical setting; (2) the seasonal antiphon and Psalm of the Simple Gradual; (3) a song from another collection of psalms and antiphons, approved by the Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop, including psalms arranged in responsorial or metrical forms; (4) a suitable liturgical song similarly approved by the Conference of Bishops or the diocesan Bishop.[55]

I don't want to spoil the party but... this thread is a yuuuge "Been there, done that, got the t-shirt" in terms of commentary.
Why give Portland the time of day?

Half of these songs just downright have no liturgical use, let alone are appropriate. It's like that abuse crisis hymn posted here a few weeks ago - when would you use it? Are any of these composers active music directors? Do they even step foot in a Catholic Church?

5:40

“Hit the ground running ... with at least a HALF-DOZEN or so new songs that you want your groups to learn...”

Really pushing the choristers hard this year, eh?

The 2015 Joncas work struck me as derivative and formulaic, and the latter not in a good way (litanies can be formulaic in a good way). I don't see how it fills a need better than other hymns in the active repertoire, other than the need of musicians to Try Something New.

I was surprised to see A. Peloquin's "In Memory Of You" revived from a generation of mothballs as New. I have a soft spot for some things of his, and this setting was a way to re-introduce Latin to communities still in the thrall of the PTSD reaction to Latin back in the day (as in, "Don't worry, the congregation can stick with the English and is not forced to sing Latin, which the schola will sing").

"Hallelujah Is Our Song" is actually more of a bad grunge folk than a Seventies folk.

1. Male singer singing tonelessly in a bad range for him. On purpose.

2. The most boring possible arrangement, most terrible strum pattern, and the least melody ever; maybe two chords if that. The chorus sounds somewhat better, but only by contrast to the terrible first couple of verses.

If it went another 25 boring verses, it would ascend to the dignity of a bad "pizza song." (A song where you order pizza when it starts, and the pizza arrives while the singer is still droning away at it.)

The beauty of this song is that anyone, including someone singing offkey and playing guitar on their first day, can make a better cover of this song than the OCP guy. It'd be extremely easy to make up harmony, and to liven up this dead corpse of a cover. (But yeah, it'd be better not to waste cash on it.)

I do like the lady who's all excited about the octavos. She's a little more warmed up on this song, and the range is kinder.

"Carry Me Home" seems to have an acceptable melody, but the words... um.

Why would you avoid rhyme in the verses? Why would you avoid most actual religious content? I mean, you don't have to have a theology lecture, but the first verse is nothing but a refrain.

In the chorus, the scansion and wording is clumsy in "As my last prayer ascends/'Round me fam'ly and gentle friends." Blehhhhh. I mean, seriously, why didn't the editor call for a rewrite?? Also, a prayer on your deathbed is obviously not going to be your "last prayer" -- unless you are going directly to Hell. (Do not pass GO, do not collect eternal life.)

In the second and third verses, I am frankly puzzled about the lyricist's theological stance. Are we promoting "soul sleep" now, or the idea that memories are everything, or what? It's not exactly heretical; but it's not clear and straightforward teaching for those in grief or those preparing for death.

We do actually have a lot of songs about Christian death in the Catholic tradition, so why not rip them off for ideas?

Sorry for commenting in so much detail, but I have a terrible feeling that my current parish will be acquiring these songs. It's better I should snark now than at practice.

I prefer the use of giant cue cards. Comic Sans is an attractive and easily readable font.

As I noted in an earlier post about OCP - DON'T BUY THEIR STUFF!!! It's an easy fix and you will sleep well at night with no regrets.

I agree OCP is trash. It will be continued to be rammed --- never mind.