All Too Well

On my Spotify Wrapped last year, I listened to 23,214 minutes of music, almost 400 hours. Now, a lot of that listening was Taylor Swift, but nonetheless, music is a huge part of my life and presumably many other people's. Regardless of whether you are a fan of Spotify Wrapped or like to track your music taste, most people intentionally or unintentionally have their own playlist. Mine has a lot of Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan, Sleeping at Last, and Brandi Carlie (according to Spotify wrapped at least). But also, as someone who went to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, something about music, especially ones that tell stories, attracts people- an overwhelming amount of people in Taylor’s case. Several of my friends I grew up with went to her Eras tour in Atlanta. They aren’t necessarily churchy type folks, but from my perspective of someone in ministry, I was like, “Oh, I can now truly imagine the feeling Billy Graham had at Revivals or John Wesley many, many years ago.” It is fascinating that a Taylor Swift concert can create pure pandemonium and sell out in seconds. Our culture, our world today, desperately craves the communal experience, the emotions captured in melodies and lyrics, and the timelessness and universality of a breakup song. And I wonder, what if we looked at scripture, specifically the psalms, in the same way as a Taylor Swift song?

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Now, I am not trying to equate Taylor Swift with God. But, play with this idea for a second. Taylor Swift has spiked even more in popularity because she re-recorded all of her masters. So, there is the original version, and now there is the “Taylor’s Version.” This is a massive part of the Eras tour. In some of the songs, there are not very many changes. But in some, like “All Too Well, " a 5-and-a-half minute song now is ten minutes. New verses were added. New meaning was brought to life in the short film based on the new version. As Christians, we know this phenomenon all too well with all the various versions of the Bible. We have the New Revised Standard Version that we regularly hear in worship. But then, with several small changes, we get the New Revised Standard Version- Updated Edition, which is not entirely a new version but is now the academic standard. But then we have beloved favorites like the King James Version or the Common English Bible. I am not here to argue about the theological merits of different Biblical Translations, but to show that like music, many versions allow different messages and interpretations to be highlighted.

I like to think of scripture as this beautiful prism that can shine in so many different ways. The King James Version may bring to light the more poetic aspects. Common English may sound most like how I speak today. And, the New Revised Standard Version may align the most with my theological interpretations. But that doesn’t mean one is less valuable than the other. They have different purposes. They are all a part of a playlist of my faith. 

The Psalms are the easiest way to see this because they fall into this musical type category and historically have been used in worship. On the last Sunday in Lent, we looked at Psalm 130, which this year in the lectionary cycle and is heard during the Easter Vigil, but next year will be heard on Lent 5. In class, we first read the traditional Book of Common Prayer Version (p. 784-5), but then we heard two musical renditions. First, a more direct adaptation with Ellie Holcomb’s “Wait for You” and then a more abstract version of Psalm 130 with Josh Garrells's “The Watchman,” and each one brought something new and different to our understanding.

 I encourage you to do a little lectio divina (simply read, pause, reflect, and read again over and over again) to see what these three different versions might highlight for you as we look towards Holy Week. What was readily apparent across all three versions is that Psalm 130 is a great song to have in your Holy Week playlist as we wait for the Resurrection of our savior.