#hyns

Hyns, kuartet Rock/Alternative asal Surabaya akhirnya merilis single keduanya bernama Asters yang diambil dari bahasa Yunani berartikan bintang. Aster sendiri dikenal sebagai simbol kesabaran dan jimat akan hal percintaan. Meskipun punya berbagai kiasan di berbagai negara, namun disini Hyns mengambil arti secara general bahwa Asters yang melambangkan kesabaran, keanggunan, bahkan renungan yang dapat digunakan sebagai pengingat sesuatu atau seseorang yang tidak lagi bersama kita. Ini juga melambangkan renungan dari apa pun yang tertinggal atau apa pun yang akan datang.

Secara garis besar, Hyns mencoba mengutarakan bagaimana ketika kita tidak dapat menuntun menuju arah pulang. Kapanpun kita menuju ke tempat tujuan selalu ada yang mengikuti, dari kiasan perasaan hingga kenangan sampai kita menemukan cara untuk mengikuti arah yang lebih baik atau buruk. Aster, datang sendirinya dengan cara apapun dan bisa menjadi bintang sebagai penuntun untuk menemukan jalan keluar, tergantung dari cara kita memikirkannya sendiri dengan tenang.

Streaming singlenya disini

Why do people always feel the need to add "modern-day" choruses to traditional hymns? This morning at chapel, I was hearing a beautiful, old-fashioned hymn, Fairest Lord Jesus; one of my favorites. Suddenly while in the midst of worship, something jarring occurred: a displaced, stereotypical Tomlin-esque chord progression appeared alongside of a key change.

At first, my mind questioned whether this was turning into a medley (which honestly made me queasy, judging by where the tune was going). Sadly, the answer was much, much worse. Cheesy, contemporary lyrics flashed on the screen, going hand and hand with a pop-worship melody. Once the atrocity was over, I sighed with relief.

This has been done with many songs, including with When I Survey, several variants of Amazing Grace, and others. Why does our culture do this? It's as though people feel a need to update things to make them "fit." just because "Verse, Chorus, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Chorus, Chorus" is the standard of musical art today doesn't mean that it's the best. This kind of beauty can be found culturally, and the appeal of these old hymns is in their structure and language. Such a jarring, out-of-place experience inhibited my ability to worship, and honestly, ruined a beautiful song in my opinion.

This isn't to speak against well-intentioned people who are trying to make the oldies "accessible" for a new generation. This is to tell them to stop. I know you mean well, but this isn't about changing the past. It's about writing the future.