BETTER BY SUNDAY
[ O oo - O oo | Paul Herman ]
Just another worship trend?
the stage on Sunday mornings as these songs of the surrounding context. Basically, it’s a
drew people into worship in powerful ways. “shout for joy,” which is encouraged, yes, even
Working at CCLI, we see a LOT of new worship
commanded throughout the Psalms. Hmmm.
songs come in. And it’s pretty easy to spot the The first was Hillsong’s “With Everything.” The
two current trends in worship songwriting. song naturally builds and crescendos to the
OK. So much for my elitist view of songwriting.
“Ooo’s,” which is clearly the signature section But last Sunday morning, I was struck by the
First is the “octave jump,” and that one probably of the song. Case in point—in the YouTube “Ooo’s” in an even deeper way. Clearly, in both
deserves its own separate article. Second is video of the live version, the audience seems to of these examples, the “Ooo” sections feature
the “Ooo – Ooo” factor. A surprising ratio of hijack the song (at 3:30) and start the “Ooo’s” a strong musical hook. They sound good, and
new worship songs these days include “ooo’s” on their own. they’re fun to sing. But what struck me last
or “ohhh’s” as a significant portion of the lyrics.
weekend as we sang “You’re Beautiful” was
Leaving me to wonder: is this the new “thing,” The second one struck me even more watching our fairly sizable group of hearing-
like skinny jeans or goatees that eventually powerfully. In Phil Wickham’s “You’re Beautiful” impaired people sing-signing the “Ooo’s” and
became full (i.e., very full) beards? the “Ooo” line is woven throughout the song reveling in them just as much as the lyrics
and perhaps even more “signature.” surrounding them, and just as much, if not
With an appreciation for well-crafted lyrics,
my
somewhat-elitist
view
of
songwriting
more, than our crowd with full hearing. There’s
So, what’s the purpose of the “Ooo – Ooo’s”
immediately kicked in. In general, this “Ooo- anyway...especially
Ooo” trend seemed really kitschy. Amateurish. Seems to me like they’re the affirmation, the
Campfire-ish. “Amen,” the exclamation point, if you will,
That
highbrow
perspective
in
these
two
something very powerful here. Anointed.
songs?
Dare I say, much more so than skinny jeans.
seemed pretty accurate to me, and being
rather proud of it, I hung onto it for quite awhile.
Then I came across a couple “Ooo-Ooo”
songs that I liked. Really liked. And I had to
begrudgingly admit that the “Ooo’s” were
powerful elements of the songs—basically the
driving force. Time after time, I watched from
60
Hillsong “With Everything”
August 2017
Phil Wickham “Messiah / You’re Beautiful”
WorshipMusician.com