and Passion . While not at all in opposition to the Mega Church produced CCLI smash hits , CityAlight seemed to be intentionally trying to fill a gap that was otherwise underserved .
As it says at the CityAlight website , “ Our vision is to write songs with biblically rich lyrics and simple melodies for the Christian church to sing .”
As I mentioned last month , most popular “ worship songs ” today , ( eg “ Praise ”) initially appear in a form that makes the song - firstand-foremost - a great listening experience . The original , polished rendition - utilizing highly skilled singers , instrumentalists , backing tracks and plenty of pre-and-post-production - works well in the mega church context . It sounds great as we listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube , too .
In striking contrast , CityAlight ’ s songs - including “ Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me ” - sound beautiful , yet intentionally understated , melodically simple , are infinitely singable , simply produced and ready to go in their original version . The songs are written , recorded and released as a resource for regular churches . They ’ re not trying to be hit singles . There ’ s no razzamatazz ! No ear candy .
No key change from the original will be necessary . “ Yet not I …” is already in a key that ensures that the melody is within reach of every man , woman and child in your congregation . No need to consolidation the melody ! The leading vocalist on the original recording , well supported by a full congregation throughout , will resist any temptation to add extra solosinger embellishments .
CityAlight ’ s arrangements and song structures flow naturally and intuitively . There are no musical booby-traps ! No tricky octave jumps , added bars , missing bars , unpredictable , inconsistent syllable counts , changes in how one verse is sung from another verse , bridge 1 ’ s , nor bridge 2 ’ s with uncertain repeat numbers .
And the CityAlight team have obviously gone to great effort to produce songs that cradle rich , deep , poetic lyrics that engage the mind as well as the heart and soul .
Do you resonate with the concerns of the Kiwi Pastor above ? Do you hope for songs that are readily replicated by your team of amateur volunteer singers and instrumentalists ? Contain rich , doctrinally solid lyrics ? Feel familiar and
instantly singable , straight out of the box ? I recommend you check out CityAlight ’ s “ Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me .”
But before you click the video image below to watch , please don ’ t expect a slammin ’ listening , viewing experience . Don ’ t expect it to thrill your ears and eyes like Elevation ’ s “ Praise ” might . It ’ s not trying to do any of that .
Could you hear your congregation singing this song ? I highly recommend that you give it a go and maybe add it to your repertoire . I ’ ll still want to have songs like “ Praise ” in my tool kit , but it ’ s good to have “ Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me ” in there too … despite it ’ s rather long , olde worlde title . And they both work best in the key of C ! ( I feel a smooth song transition coming on ).
The higher joy that ’ s available through “ Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me ” is not found as we watch and listen to it on YouTube . It ’ s found as a group of Believers gather together and sing it as a passionate expression of worship to Almighty God . Sing it they can . And sing it they will !
Grant Norsworthy founder of MoreThanMusicMentor . com
MoreThanMusicMentor . com CityAlight - “ Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me ” ( Live )
42 September 2024 Subscribe for Free ...