ONE MINUTE
This song by the Gospel duo, Mary Mary, evokes the image of the Jews' betrayal of God in the wilderness (the Golden Calf, etc.) and the repentance that follows. As usual, it appeals to the Law, or the Way (as early Christianity was called):
Oh, hmm, hmm I know it now that I was such a fool To turn my back on you When You had given me everything I let You down, I know that's true Now I've come to realize that there There are no happy days because You're not here, I need to know if There's a chance for me again, oh!
All I, all I need is one minute of Your time Five seconds of it may change Your mind Ten seconds to make You see Fifteen to say Lord I'm sorry For all the things I've done I'll take twenty more to say You're the one Nine to think it through I'll take the one to say I love You
Late at night when I was all alone You held me in Your arms I strayed away only to find There was no place to hide Lord please hear me when I say I'll give my life to You Whatever I've gotta do Show me Lord and I will live for You
All I, all I need is one minute of Your time Five seconds of it may change Your mind Ten seconds to make You see Fifteen to say Lord I'm sorry For all the things I've done I'll take twenty more to say You're the one Nine to think it through I'll take the one to say I love You
I'm not willing to, to give up on You Knowing that You always stood right by me Until you forgive me my world won't turn So if you hear me Lord I'm saying that I'm sorry Said I'm saying that I'm sorry, I'm saying that I'm sorry, oh!
All I, all I need is one minute of Your time Five seconds of it may change Your mind Ten seconds to make You see Fifteen to say Lord I'm sorry For all the things I've done I'll take twenty more to say You're the one Nine to think it through I'll take the one to say I love You!
HEART AND SOUL
This contemporary Gospel song is based on the Shema ("Hear, O Israel"), from Deuteronomy (6:4-5). The singer vows to love God with his whole heart and soul:This song by the Gospel duo, Mary Mary, evokes the image of the Jews' betrayal of God in the wilderness (the Golden Calf, etc.) and the repentance that follows. As usual, it appeals to the Law, or the Way (as early Christianity was called):
Oh, hmm, hmm I know it now that I was such a fool To turn my back on you When You had given me everything I let You down, I know that's true Now I've come to realize that there There are no happy days because You're not here, I need to know if There's a chance for me again, oh!
All I, all I need is one minute of Your time Five seconds of it may change Your mind Ten seconds to make You see Fifteen to say Lord I'm sorry For all the things I've done I'll take twenty more to say You're the one Nine to think it through I'll take the one to say I love You
Late at night when I was all alone You held me in Your arms I strayed away only to find There was no place to hide Lord please hear me when I say I'll give my life to You Whatever I've gotta do Show me Lord and I will live for You
All I, all I need is one minute of Your time Five seconds of it may change Your mind Ten seconds to make You see Fifteen to say Lord I'm sorry For all the things I've done I'll take twenty more to say You're the one Nine to think it through I'll take the one to say I love You
I'm not willing to, to give up on You Knowing that You always stood right by me Until you forgive me my world won't turn So if you hear me Lord I'm saying that I'm sorry Said I'm saying that I'm sorry, I'm saying that I'm sorry, oh!
All I, all I need is one minute of Your time Five seconds of it may change Your mind Ten seconds to make You see Fifteen to say Lord I'm sorry For all the things I've done I'll take twenty more to say You're the one Nine to think it through I'll take the one to say I love You!
HEART AND SOUL
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might."
With my heart and soul I wanna let you know I love you, I love you. (2x). When I first made you my choice, my heart was glad, my soul rejoiced. But tell me, how long has it been since I let you know exactly how I feel? I must apologize: time slipped away and I didn't realize. Give me just half a chance and I'll show the world how to dance. With my heart and soul I wanna let you know I love you, I love you. (2x).
Blue Monday never occurs. Every day's sweeter, with you in my world. Matter of fact, that's how it's been from the very moment I let you in. Funny how people will try to stop me from making you the center of my life. After all that you love me through giving you my heart is all I wanna do. With my heart and soul I wanna let you know I love you, I love you. (2x). Never let you go. All I have is yours, it's yours. And if I could I would give you more, you more. With my heart and soul I wanna let you know I love you, I love you. Etc.
The Shema gets its name from the first word of the Hebrew text ("Hear"):
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (6:4-5).
This text has led to three different interpretations, all of which are important in studying the Bible.
1. The first is the issue of centralization. As worship became centralized in Judah (Jerusalem) at the temple, there was worry that Jehovah would have as many personalities as local gods if worshipped outside the temple. The Levites wished to control worship in a single location. The Shema was an effort to remind Jews that there was only one Jehovah (one Lord) and one place to worship him. This theme becomes central especially in Deuteronomy and the Deuteronomistic history (Joshua, Judges, and the two books of Samuel and Kings).
2. The second reading is that the Lord ranks first among many gods (henotheism).
3. The third reading is that there is only one God (monotheism). It is this meaning that became most important.
Jesus said the Shema summed up the entire Torah (Law, Teaching):
"This is the first and greatest commandment" (Matthew: 22:38-40).
The CSNY song is based on the full Shema, which continues:
"These commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door-frames of your houses and on your gates" (Deuteronomy 6:6-9; also 11:18-20 and Numbers 15:38).
This torah about the Torah (or teaching about how to teach the Law) was taken literally. Jews even today put texts from the Torah (the Law) into little boxes. On the door-frames these boxes are called mezuzah. On the left arm and forehead, these are called phylacteries (tefillin).
The song follows the Bible closely. The "road" is the wilderness. The "code" is the Law or teaching. The word "live" means "so you may live long" (Deuteronomy 11:9). To "become yourself" means to keep the image of God, in which one is created.
"The past is just a goodbye" is a theme in Numbers, where a whole generation must be killed in order to kill the past, without which there can be no change.
"Teach your children" is part of the Shema; while the "fathers' hell" suggests slavery in Egypt.
After this, the song is slanted for the Youth Culture of the Hippie generation; here the children teach their parents too.
The word "dreams" also has a Bible reference, in the Book of Joel: "Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions" (Joel 2:28). The word "fix" suggests Deuteronomy: "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds" (11:18).
TEACH YOUR CHILDREN
You who are on the road must have a code that you can live by and so become yourself , because the past is just a goodbye. Teach your children well: their fathers' hell did slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams, the one they fix, the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why, if they told you, you would cry. So just look at them and sigh and know they love you. And you, of tender years, Can't know the fears That your elders grew by. And so please help them with your youth, They seek the truth Before they can die. Teach your parents well, their children's hell will slowly go by. And feed them on your dreams: the one they fix, the one you'll know by. Don't you ever ask them why; if they told you, you would cry. So just look at them and sigh and know they love you.THE SIX AND SEVEN BOOKS OF MOSES
Many Reggae songs are based on the Bible. This is one of them. Crediting Moses with authorship of the books in the Bible continues to this day, despite strong evidence to the contrary.
Yeah, the six and the seven books, he wrote them all. There are Genesis, and Exodus, Leviticus and Numers, Deuteronomy and Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. For the six and the seven books, he wrote them all. For the six and the seven books, yeah he wrote them all! There are Genesis and Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua, Judges, and Ruth. For the six and the seven books, he wrote them all. For the six and the seven books, yeah he wrote them all. For the six and the seven books, yeah, he wrote, wrote them all! Yeah he wrote them all!Many Reggae songs are based on the Bible. This is one of them. Crediting Moses with authorship of the books in the Bible continues to this day, despite strong evidence to the contrary.
This is from an English oratorio (The Crucifixion), quoting the typological reading of the Gospel of John 3:14-15. This is a type of music called recitative (English word=recite), halfway between singing and speaking, which usually introduces the main aria or chorus:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, should not perish but have everlasting life.
THE PRIESTLY BLESSING
This is one of the most famous texts in the Bible and the most famous in the book of Numbers. It's recited by some Jews each day and by some Protestant Christian churches in variant form. Some scholars see a gradation of lessening degree in the three-fold blessing: for the saint, for the good, and for the sinner. Others see in the three-fold blessing a reference to the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). (Compare Ecclesiastes: "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" 4:12b, and also the three theological virtues in 1 Corinthians 13.) The prayer is commonly recited with a hand formation spreading the fingers to each side, so two fingers on the left separate from two fingers on the right, supposedly to visualize verses from the Song of Songs, in traditional readings where the "lover" represents God, who "looks through the windows, through the lattice" (SS: 2:9b). Leonard Nimroy used this symbol for his character, Mr. Spock, in the Star Trek series.
The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you, to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. (Repeat). The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you (repeat) and give you peace, and give you peace (repeat) and give you peace. Amen.*This is one of the most famous texts in the Bible and the most famous in the book of Numbers. It's recited by some Jews each day and by some Protestant Christian churches in variant form. Some scholars see a gradation of lessening degree in the three-fold blessing: for the saint, for the good, and for the sinner. Others see in the three-fold blessing a reference to the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob). (Compare Ecclesiastes: "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" 4:12b, and also the three theological virtues in 1 Corinthians 13.) The prayer is commonly recited with a hand formation spreading the fingers to each side, so two fingers on the left separate from two fingers on the right, supposedly to visualize verses from the Song of Songs, in traditional readings where the "lover" represents God, who "looks through the windows, through the lattice" (SS: 2:9b). Leonard Nimroy used this symbol for his character, Mr. Spock, in the Star Trek series.
NOTE: "Amen" means "Certainly." In the Old Testament it's commonly spoken to approve someone else's words. Jesus however uses it at the beginning of sentences he himself speaks, seeming to speak with absolute authority ("Amen I say to you," etc.). Today the word is spoken to voice agreement after the priest or minister says a prayer or comment.
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