Here's a tough question: what do we do with the Song of Songs in the modern church? The problem, I think, is that it creates a clash of categories for us. In the modern church, we sing together, about stuff in which we have some kind of communal investment. Even when our songs are individual ('I just really want to praise you' style) they represent topics and sentiments that are communal, public. In the modern church, sexual desire is not really a 'together' topic: it's deeply private. I feel resentment at being asked to sing 'I feel like dancing' in church, but I would feel intense embarrassment about being asked to sing 'Shall I climb that palm and take hold of the boughs?' in church. Not to mention the pastoral issues involved in singing of the sweetness of sexual desire for those for whom this desire is a matter of agony.
A friend and relation of mine, whom I will call Simone (because that's her name) suggests that the Song works best as a kind of pop music - for performance, not communal singing. She's used the Song as the inspiration for lyrics that could be sung as a solo performance, in 'pop' style. I reproduce it here: she'd happily receive any comments or suggestions!
kiss me, kiss me
1. My lover like no other,
A pear tree in the forest,
My joy to sit in his shelter,
His fruit is sweet, sweet to my taste.
Lay me down among your foliage,
Cover me with love, your banner, your flag,
Strengthen me with fruit for I, I am fev'rish
Revive my flesh for I am faint.
Kiss me, kiss me,
Fill me up
Delight my senses with your touch,
Kiss me, kiss me,
Soar above
I'm drunk on your fragrance
and your wonderful love.
2. My lover wants no other,
My vineyard his desire
Come see the buds that have blossomed
The flowers opened; they're in bloom
Come, come with me now, beloved
As you touch my hand, my pulse rises above
Open up your lips, your mouth to my sweetness
Drink the new wine of my love.
Kiss me, kiss me,
Fill me up
Delight my senses with your touch,
Kiss me, kiss me,
Soar above
I'm drunk on your fragrance
and your wonderful love.
Bridge:
I am a garden locked up,
My springs, my fruits are enclosed
But now I give you the key,
My lover coming to me
His left hand under my head,
His right hand holding me close.
Kiss me, kiss me,
Fill me up
Delight my senses with your touch,
Kiss me, kiss me,
Soar above
I'm drunk on your fragrance
and your wonderful love.
A friend and relation of mine, whom I will call Simone (because that's her name) suggests that the Song works best as a kind of pop music - for performance, not communal singing. She's used the Song as the inspiration for lyrics that could be sung as a solo performance, in 'pop' style. I reproduce it here: she'd happily receive any comments or suggestions!
kiss me, kiss me
1. My lover like no other,
A pear tree in the forest,
My joy to sit in his shelter,
His fruit is sweet, sweet to my taste.
Lay me down among your foliage,
Cover me with love, your banner, your flag,
Strengthen me with fruit for I, I am fev'rish
Revive my flesh for I am faint.
Kiss me, kiss me,
Fill me up
Delight my senses with your touch,
Kiss me, kiss me,
Soar above
I'm drunk on your fragrance
and your wonderful love.
2. My lover wants no other,
My vineyard his desire
Come see the buds that have blossomed
The flowers opened; they're in bloom
Come, come with me now, beloved
As you touch my hand, my pulse rises above
Open up your lips, your mouth to my sweetness
Drink the new wine of my love.
Kiss me, kiss me,
Fill me up
Delight my senses with your touch,
Kiss me, kiss me,
Soar above
I'm drunk on your fragrance
and your wonderful love.
Bridge:
I am a garden locked up,
My springs, my fruits are enclosed
But now I give you the key,
My lover coming to me
His left hand under my head,
His right hand holding me close.
Kiss me, kiss me,
Fill me up
Delight my senses with your touch,
Kiss me, kiss me,
Soar above
I'm drunk on your fragrance
and your wonderful love.
3 comments:
This is great -- I especially like the vivid expression, "Revive my flesh." Thanks for posting this.
lovely! will have to come back and read the rest of your Songs expose'!
I liked that. I am getting married in a month and the song lyrics and these posts helps to remind me of some key elements of the married life.
When you have time, you might enjoy the Original Unity of Man and Woman section of Theology of the Body at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0819873942/qid=1144950071/sr=1-3/ref=sr_1_3/002-7781317-4638426?s=books&v=glance&n=283155
and Man and Woman by Dietrich Von Hildebrand at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/091847714X/qid=1144950177/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-7781317-4638426?s=books&v=glance&n=283155. These are great texts that express some of the same sentiments you are, and they also offer phenomenological descriptions of the unity between a man and a woman, or marriage, and of conjugal love.
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