This is a Demo of a new song.  I hope to release a version of it as my a new single in January.  I played acoustic and electric guitars, midi organ, and bass on it.

Lost

Here's a song I wrote, based roughly on Psalm 34.  

"come see the beauty of the lord
come see the beauty of the lord
taste and see he'll set you free
come praise the living Lord

When I was down he raised me up
when I was down he raised me up
he raised me up he filled my cup 
with never-ending love


come lose your darkness in his life
come lose your darkness in his life
raise your face let it be bathed
in rays of golden light


lions grow hungry
eagles fall
the world is wide and the world is tall
the Lord will hear you when you call
and he will save you 

the lord will heal your broken heart
the lord will heal your broken heart
call his name, he'll heal your shame 
and mend your broken heart."

Come See the Beauty of the Lord

This is my version of one of my favorite hymns, which is an English version of Joachim Neander's German chorale "Lobe den Herren, den mächtigen König der Ehren," published in 1680.  The music was probably based on an old folk tune.  The text paraphrases Psalm 103 and Psalm 150. (source: Wikipedia).

"A Dictionary of Hymnology" lists at least 13 English translations of the text, but the only one I've ever heard is the translation by Catherine Winkworth, published in 1863.  Apparently Ms. Winkworth inserted a slightly more Victorian ethos into her text (referencing "health" and "work," where the original author apparently didn't, and removing his exhortation to awaken the  psaltery and harp).  Still, she was faithful to the psalms and I think she did a pretty good job.  (even though her line "Gladly for aye we adore him" is hard to sing without sounding like a pirate.  somebody changed it to "Gladly fore'er we adore him" which isn't better). 

I'll post her full translation below.  She had a couple of dark stanzas (5 and 6) which I only discovered today (after making this recording), having never heard them in 37+ years of singing this hymn.  Somehow these stanzas seem richer and more fitting than the others. Given today's world of persistent unrest and unbridled violence, from Ferguson to Fallujah, I think they ought to be re-inserted.  God have Mercy.  

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Recorded on my iPhone at home.

Praise To The Lord, The Almighty

Here is a try at "Battle Hymn of the Republic," which was of course a pro-Union , Anti-slavery anthem of the Civil War.  Sometimes it feels as if we in the US are on the brink of another one.

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Battlehymn

I'm a performing songwriter living in Brooklyn.  I travel all over the US and a little abroad, playing and singing, and leading songwriting workshops.  I work part-time as music director of Dwell church, a small CRC church in Manhattan.  

Jason Harrod

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