Category: Song of the Day

Song Lyric Sunday/Song of the Day: Marty Haugen, “Gather Us In”

Jim’s prompt for today is “Acquire/Collect/Gather/Secure,” and it reminded me of a song we used to play back in my Music Ministry days, “Gather Us In” by Marty Haugen. Haugen is a member of the United Church of Christ, but was raised in the Lutheran church and has written some of the most beautiful liturgical music used in Catholic worship. He’s recorded a number of albums, most of which can be found at Christian bookstores and online, and even has his own Spotify channel.

The lyrics are courtesy of SongLyrics.com:

Here in this place new light is streaming
Now is the darkness vanished away
See in this space our fears and our dreamings
Brought here to you in the light of this day

Gather us in, the lost and forsaken
Gather us in, the blind and the lame
Call to us now and we shall awaken
We shall arise at the sound of our name

We are the young, our lives are a mystery
We are the old who yearn for your face
We have been sung throughout all of history
Called to be light to the whole human race

Gather us in, the rich and the haughty
Gather us in, the proud and the strong
Give us a heart so meek and so lowly
Give us the courage to enter the song

Here we will take the wine and the water
Here we will take the bread of new birth
Here you shall call your sons and your daughters
Call us anew to be salt for the earth

Give us to drink the wine of compassion
Give us to eat the bread that is you
Nourish us well and teach us to fashion
Lives that are holy and hearts that are true

(bridge)

Not in the dark of buildings confining
Not in some heaven light years away
But here in this place the new light is shining
Now is the kingdom, now is the day

Gather us in and hold us forever
Gather us in and make us your own
Gather us in, all peoples together
Fire of love in our flesh and our bones
Fire of love in our flesh and our bones

And that’s Song Lyric Sunday and Song of the Day for August 2, 2020.

Song of the Day: Pratt & McClain, “Happy Days”

Happy Days was one of the most popular shows in the ’70’s and ’80’s. It starred Ron Howard (from The Andy Griffith Show), Henry Winkler, Marion Ross, Anson Williams, Donny Most, Erin Moran, and Tom Bosley when it started in 1974, and by the time the show ended, roughly 30 more actors were added to and subtracted from the cast. In the first two seasons, “Rock Around The Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets was the show’s opening theme, and this song was the closing theme; starting with the third season, it served both as the opening and closing theme. It was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox and sung by Truett Pratt and Jerry McClain for the first season, after which it was sung by Jim Haas. Pratt & McClain released it as a single in 1976, and it reached #5 on the Hot 100, #3 in Canada, and #31 in the UK.

Song of the Day: Joey Scarbury, “Believe It Or Not”

The Greatest American Hero ran from 1981 to 1983 and briefly in 1986. It starred William Katt as Ralph Hinkley (later Ralph Hanley) as a teacher who is visited by aliens and given a special suit that gives him superpowers enabling him to fight crime and establish justice. The suit comes with an instruction manual, which, as you probably suspect, he loses almost immediately and, as the aliens are never around to help, he has to figure things out for himself. “Believe It Or Not,” the theme for the series, was written by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and performed by Joey Scarbury. It was released in 1981 as a single, which peaked at #2 on the Hot 100 (kept out of the top spot by “Endless Love” by Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie), #1 on the Cash Box singles chart, #5 in Canada, #2 in Australia, and #1 in New Zealand.