Transcripts: Our History in Motion

Transcript: Our History in Motion. The Gift of Song Part 2
[Our History in Motion. The Gift of Song, Part 2]
Narrator: In the previous episode, we explored the early history of our songbooks, but it ended with a twist. For the most part, we stopped singing at congregation meetings in the late 1930’s. For how long? Publications in the archive reveal that it was from 1938 to 1944. And though brothers and sisters did sing at conventions, they really missed singing together at congregation meetings. When did we start again?
[Vintage photos. Brothers crowd around desks at Bethel, work on printer presses, show vertical photographs]
It was a time of rapid progress; new methods were tried; meeting formats changed. Welcome to 1944. You’re at the United Announcers Theocratic Assembly in Buffalo, New York, U.S.A. The clock above the arena floor reads 4:30 in the afternoon. Brother F. W. Franz steps up to give a talk called “Song of Kingdom Service.” He says: “It is proper “and pleasing to God for His earthly servants to lift their voices in literal song.” As he’s speaking, Brother Nathan Knorr steps forward and hands him a red booklet. Then Brother Franz announces the release of the Kingdom Service Song Book. He explains that this book will be used for singing at congregation meetings. The crowd is overjoyed! Singing was once again a part of our meetings.
[Great Britain in 1946. Smiling attendees pick up their personal copies, then hold them overhead]
Since then, we’ve received several new songbooks, each one a gift from Jehovah.
["From House to House", 1966]
Songs from the 1950 and 1966 songbooks used terms from the more recently released New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. The topics and lyrics were more up-to-date, and any songs with false religious teachings were removed. From the Kingdom Service Song Book forward, the names of the composers and lyricists were not published. All credit was given to Jehovah. By 1984, musical arrangements were simplified. They even added chords, so it was easier to play the songs on guitar and piano. We produced records, cassettes, CDs, and digital files so that you could sing along at the Kingdom Hall, at home, or in the car. Jehovah’s people had so much music to enjoy in printed or recorded form.
[The Watchtower orchestra]
But that wasn’t always the case everywhere, which takes us back to where we started in Part 1, that secret recording from Siberia. During World War II, our brothers in the former Soviet Union faced extreme opposition. Imagine yourself there. You have almost no printed literature. Much of it is just copied by hand. You could be subjected to forced labor and exile if caught with a copy of The Watchtower. The only songbook available to them in Russian was the 1928 songbook. This means that they didn’t receive the 1984 songbook, the 1966 songbook, the 1950 songbook, or the 1944 songbook. What would you do? Would you stop singing? Did they? They sang what they already had in their minds and hearts. They made copies of the 1928 songbook, like this one. Our brothers and sisters kept singing even in the darkest of times. And they did this for decades until they were finally able to lift their voices publicly in song once again. And that’s exactly what happened at the first international convention in the former Soviet Union in 1992. At last, thousands of our brothers could sing together. But what would they sing, since they didn’t have a current songbook? Special brochures with lyrics were made so that everyone could sing along.
[A sister overcome with emotion]
So why is singing so important to Jehovah’s Witnesses? Because singing to Jehovah keeps us close to him. Singing Bible truths embeds them in our heart, and singing praises shows our appreciation to the Creator of music, Jehovah, for the gift of song.
[At a convention, an orchestra conductor holds a baton and sheet music. Our History in Motion - The Gift of Song, Part 2]
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