Ballads and the Bible.

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Ballads and the Bible

“Ballads have been an important form of folk music for centuries. Many were originally written as poems and were later set to music. 

Some are laments of love lost. Some are reflections on the twists and turns of life and human nature. Some are written with an intent to teach a moral lesson. And some are poetic and musical descriptions of actual historical events. 

Through music and poetry, a story can be kept alive in the cultural memory of people. As the lyrics and music are repeatedly sung and heard, they are embedded in the minds of the listeners. 

For example, if you are familiar with the five Great Lakes of the United States, you might know that on their bottoms lie the remains of hundreds of old shipwrecks. But how many of them could you name? 

If you can name one, it will likely be the 1975 wreck of the iron ore cargo ship the Edmund Fitzgerald, in which 29 sailors lost their lives. 

Why might we remember this shipwreck? Likely it is because of the folk ballad by Gordon Lightfoot, called “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” The song was played widely in the U.S. and Canada, reaching #2 on the Billboard charts in 1976. You may still occasionally hear it on radio stations that play “golden oldies.” 

When I was growing up, my family had an old vinyl LP with songs of the railroad that I used to love to listen to. Two of the songs from all those years ago that still are in my mind are “The Wreck of the Old 97” and “The Ballad of Casey Jones.” 

Both are folk ballads that describe actual events. Many of you may never have heard of the events or the songs, but there was a time when the songs were quite popular. (Both were recorded by numerous artists, including Johnny Cash.)

Casey Jones died in 1900 trying to avoid a collision with a stalled freight train and save the passengers on his train. He was successful in that no passengers were killed or seriously injured, and he was the only fatality. He was touted as a hero for his sacrifice. 

Southern Railway’s Train 97 accident occurred in September of 1903 as the engineer, pulling a load of U.S. mail that was behind schedule, tried to make up lost time. When the train hit the Stillhouse Trestle near Danville, Virginia, it was going much too fast. The entire train derailed and plunged into the ravine, killing or injuring those onboard. 

These songs, and the events they attempted to immortalize, are quickly fading into the mists of history. So why would I bother to bring them up now? What could they have to do with anything of value to us today?

We may not often think about it, but God has used ballads to embed in the minds of His people events they experienced, as well as His power and might in providing for and saving them. 

Music is a powerful communicator. Once a tune is in my mind, I can recall most of the words, even if I haven’t heard the songs for years. Something about music implants the message in our minds.

In the Bible, most of Exodus 15 is devoted to songs about the deliverance God gave Israel when they crossed the Red Sea. We have the words of both the Song of Moses and the shorter Song of Miriam, although the music itself was lost long ago. 

The same can be said for the Psalms. 

David was a skilled musician, and it seems most, if not all, of the Psalms were set to music. Once again, the original scores are long lost. 

However, today the words of many Psalms have been once again set to music. The music may not sound like the original, but the message carries through.

In fact, each week we sing hymns as part of our worship of God. It is significant that we are singing, and it is also significant what we are singing. 

When we sing hymns with words drawn from the Psalms, we are singing the Bible! If it is a familiar hymn, once the tune comes to mind, we can probably remember most, if not all, of the words. Music is powerful!

The ballads I mentioned at the beginning were written about real events and were intended to embed those events into the cultural memory of people—and they did that for many years. 

Large parts of the Bible were set to music for the same reason, and we can still sing them to our Creator as part of our worship, often directly from the words of Scripture. 

Over the years, some people have told me they “can’t sing” or “don’t have a good voice.” If that is how you feel, consider what we read in Psalm 100:1: “Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!” The King James Version says, “a joyful noise.” Verse 2 makes it clear the psalmist is talking about singing. 

God nowhere tells us to sing only if we think we have a pleasing voice, but rather to sing joyfully to God with our hearts as part of our worship of Him.

As we do, we ought to consider the words we are singing, because, just like those of a folk ballad, they convey meaning. Reciting events of history or the works of God set to music will embed those truths into our collective consciousness as His people.

Read more in our online articles “Songs of Praise” and “What Does the Bible Say About Music?”

Kind regards, and have a great rest of your week,”

Tom Clark, for Life, Hope & Truth

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