Transcripts: Our History in Motion

Transcript: Our History in Motion. The Gift of Song, Part 1
Presenter: It was made in secret, hidden in the lining of a jacket, and then smuggled out of the country. What was it? A recording of brothers and sisters in Siberia singing Kingdom songs. They sent it from one side of the earth to the other to be played at the 1958 international convention in New York for an audience of more than 250,000 people. Why is singing so important to Jehovah’s Witnesses? Let’s find out in this episode of Our History in Motion.
[Text: The Gift of Song. Part 1]
Jehovah’s worshippers have long praised him with song. But how did singing become a part of our modern-day worship? The story begins more than 150 years ago. The year is about 1869 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Charles Taze Russell is a young man searching for Scriptural truth. One evening he’s walking along and hears something, singing coming from a religious meeting being held in a basement. He goes in, and what he hears sparks a fire for Bible study like never before. Later, Russell and his associates make music’s role in pure worship clear as they rediscover Bible truth. Charles Taze Russell may have come to appreciate the power of music to stir emotions from a music business that his father owned for a period of time. He believed that “the singing of the truth “is a good way to get it into the heads and hearts of God’s people.” The first issue of Zion’s Watch Tower, published in July of 1879, announced a songbook, the first of many to come. It was called Songs of the Bride. It contained 144 hymns, or religious songs of praise. The Bible Students sang at their meetings and assemblies. What was it like to sing these songs back in the early 1900’s? Imagine you’re at one of Charles Taze Russell’s lectures. As you walk in, you’re handed a small sheet of paper. You look for a seat, but it’s packed. As the crowd quiets down, they announce that the meeting will start with a song and prayer. In a church, you expect to find a hymn book in your pew, but this is a rented hall. Then you realize that the paper you were handed has the song lyrics, and it also has a place to leave your name and address if you’d like a Bible study. So, when the audience starts to sing, you join in. What did songs sound like back then? Let’s listen to a song we sang for over eight decades. Here’s a recording from 1916. That’s a little different than how our songs sound today. Compare different versions of this song, and you’ll notice that the lyrics and theme changed over the years. Here’s a version of “All Hail” by the Watch Tower Male Quartet in 1935. In our first songbook this song was called “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” which was about, well, the power of Jesus’ name with zero mention of Jehovah. You see, many songs prior to this were adapted from existing church hymns. Now here’s the same song in 1950. Instead of the lyrics overemphasizing Jesus’ name, the lyrics refer to “making known God’s will” and mentions Jehovah by name.
[Hail the Signall.1950]
Why all the changes? Because our songs reflect our current understanding of Scriptural truth. As the light gets brighter, we understand the truth more clearly, so the songs change. Our first songbook explained the goal to publish “songs free from objectionable theology,” and it’s been the case ever since. We don’t hold on to songs for tradition or nostalgia. We sing it because it’s the truth!
[Song books past and present]
From the 1928 songbook onward, there was a big shift. Many songs were written by our brothers and sisters. They put more emphasis on Jehovah’s name, attributes, and Kingdom. You can even tell by the title Songs of Praise to Jehovah. Some of the songs might even sound familiar, like this one.
[Recognizing Earth’s New King 1966]
Are your parents in the truth? your grandparents? even your great-grandparents? If so, they sang the same song as you at their meetings and assemblies. That’s a real legacy! Let’s fast-forward to the 1940’s. Some of our brothers were imprisoned for their faith. The world was at war and needed good news. So, we intensified our preaching and teaching work. This is when the Watchtower Bible School of Gilead and the Theocratic Ministry School started, and it’s also when singing was reintroduced at our meetings. Wait a minute! Reintroduced? That means we stopped singing at meetings. When? Find out in the next episode of Our History in Motion.
[The Gift of Song. Part 1]
[Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2021 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.]