Apr

10

American Idol – Shout to the Lord

Posted on April 10th, 2008 in Faith, Music by Fred McKinnon

Hey Everyone -

Well in case you’ve missed the buzz …. American Idol closed out it’s “Idol Gives Back” evening with a performance of one of the top praise and worship songs of all time, “Shout to the Lord”. This song was made famous years ago when Worship Leader Darlene Zschech recorded it on the “Shout to the Lord” album for Integrity Music. It’s now one of the most popular worship songs of all time, in my opinion.

That’s big news. What some are making even “bigger news” is the omission of the word “Jesus”. The opening line should be “My Jesus, My Savior” … and instead, they sing “My Shepherd, My Savior”.

I’m blown away that this song was on American Idol. I have no idea what the motives were, what deals were made, but one thing is for sure … even with the controversy surrounding the lyric change, I praise God that His Name was glorified on what appears to be the “biggest tv show on the planet”.

I also learned from Chris (thanks, Chris) that the audio-download on iTunes from the studio cut of the contestants singing the song has the correct lyric.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXEraRnE4o[/youtube]

So, what’s your take on it? Click to Comment!

Fred

UPDATE: They did the song AGAIN tonight, but this time, with the Name of “Jesus” in the lyrics. This is amazing!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NQu4PhhmEI[/youtube]


  • http://www.robertpooley.org Robert Pooley

    Well, I my be 6’3 and 200+ pounds, but I’m a softy… after the Africa footage… which really touched me… then closing with this… I was just about in tears… Say what you want… everyone knew that song was about Jesus and not some anonymous “higher power.” That’s my story… and I’m sticking to it.

  • Karen Daniels

    I was surprised that this song was choosen to end the program last night. What is cool ..we are doing Shout to the Lord for our call to worship on Sunday.. Take a look as the idols as they sing it… THEY KNOW WHO IT IS ABOUT!!
    I am backing David A…. He has a gift!! Take it easy Fred!!

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  • http://www.myspace.com/kitpalmer Kit Palmer

    I thought it was great. Sure, there is an obvious attempt at PC my changing “Jesus” to “Shepherd”, but c’mon…even with that change, there’s no denying the focus of the song.

    Actually, I am amazed that they used a song so overtly Christian. If this had been a Christian show that was watering down the lyrics to pander to the masses, I would be irate. I think it’s safe to say that the majority (if not all) of the people making decisions on this show are non-Christians. Obviously, they recognize a great song, whether they see the spiritual significance of it or not.

    …wassup Fred! oooooooh!

  • Melanie Burney

    Well, I missed it but…. my only thought on the matter is that if I wrote the lyrics to this song and they were changed… I would be hurt, HOWEVER!!!!!….I think it is awesome that they actually used it…. great song …loved it then and love it now!

  • Ken Mullis

    It was great!

  • Ashley

    I thought it was absolutly AMAZING that this song was the closing act! It gave me chills and brought tears to my eyes. I can’t believe there is an actual issue with the fact that “Jesus” was changed to “Shepherd”… One word, even though it is the awesome name of Jesus, being changed doesn’t cancel out the greatness of the song and it’s meaning! “Savior” and “Jesus” are used over and over again in the song! What a powerful moment on American Idol!

  • http://www.chrismoncusphoto.com/ Chris Moncus

    It was done really well. Think they’ll come do it at SSCC?

  • http://www.chrisfromcanada.com Chris from Canada

    I’m doing Shout To The Lord on Sunday so that I can be relevant! Haha.

    I posted last night re: the American Idol debacle and I guess my timing was right – most of the day today my blog was ranked #1, 2 or 3 in a good search for american idol shout to the lord – and there were LOTS of people searching. I’ll do a post next week showing some of the behind-the-scenes stuff but it was pretty amazing.

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Hey Gang
    Update – they opened with it tonight, and they sang “Jesus” – woo hoo!

    Fred

  • http://forthejourney.wordpress.com Matthew Daniel

    Dang! I missed it tonight! They said Savior and Shepherd and Lord – I hate they left out Jesus – but COME ON!

    The only thing I’m sad about is that is about the most rigid and boring version of the song I think I’ve ever heard. LOL! I bet a little Fred McKinnon version of that one would have blown the audience away!

    mjd

  • debby

    it gives me hope.

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Hey Everyone that has commented so far – come back to the post, i’ve just embedded the version from tonight that includes the actual lyrics.

  • Bro. Rene

    The word of God says “Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ Is Lord” and that includes the American Idol. Hallelujah! Praise Him!

  • Jay Sellers

    What I dislike the most about this song is the fact that I didn’t write it.

    No, what I really really hate is that I played it so much that I got tired of playing it.

    It reminds me of a Louis Giglio message about how we have a bad habit of consuming worship songs then throwing them away.

    I’m a pretty progressive hard rock style worship leader (I wish Foo Fighters would put out a worship album!) but I have to admit that this is probably my favorite song of them all.

    Kudos to the folks at Fox for climbing out on a big ‘ol limb then having the guts to correct the omission for the second performance.

  • Karl

    Hi Fred! Greetings from the GNWDA!

    I think it’s awesome that they closed the show with Shout to The Lord and that they opened with it it tonight.

    I know that Fox runs a lot of kind of nutty things, but I wanted to plug a division of Fox – Fox Faith (see http://www.foxfaith.com/). They have several really excellent movies. My wife and I watched Saving Sara Cain this past weekend and it was very moving.

  • http://www.sojournmusic.com Bobby Gilles

    Whatever the reason for changing the word “Jesus” to “shepherd” on the Wednesday night edition, it’s great that they sang the original lyrics last night. And like others have said, it’s such an overtly Christian song that I’m surprised it was chosen in the first place.

    It’s very easy to look at all the things wrong in the world and say, “These are troubling times.” And it’s true — these are troubling times. But these are exciting times too, where God’s grace is truly evident. And this — that “Shout To The Lord” would be given prominent placement two days in a row on the number one TV show in the country — is indicative of that.

  • http://www.fredmckinnon.com Fred McKinnon

    Good morning everyone, … I agree so much .. I think it’s such a blessing to have seen this. And karl – WELCOME!

  • http://mattw23.wordpress.com Matt

    That really is awesome. I think that it is great that they picked to sing that song.

  • http://4whatitsworth.wordpress.com/ Shannon Lewis

    Hmm…without the name of “Jesus”?
    Surprised they weren’t made to sing “Shout to SOME Lord” as the chorus, honestly…

  • http://4whatitsworth.wordpress.com/ Shannon Lewis

    Wow…I should’ve scrolled down…
    they said “Jesus”?
    Impressive.
    Seriously.

  • http://www.RaisingUpWorshipLeaders.com Peter Park

    Let’s continue to move forward together to spread the name of Jesus.

  • http://www.myworshiprevolution.com bobby

    My honest thoughts. Cool that they did a worship song, but at the same time, I really wish they had picked a better one! Sorry to all who love it, but it’s a bit mid 90s and played out. But hey, better something than nothing I guess.

    Although I also had this thought just occur to me for the first time. By having the song on there, on a network and show that definitely isn’t “Christ-following”, does it add to the idea that America is a “Christian” nation and if you believe in God, you’re pretty much a Christian? Could it cheapen worship at all? Not saying that’s my opinion, honestly, but could be an interesting point of discussion. Food for thought.

  • http://justindavidson.wordpress.com justin davidson

    Praise Jesus, What a beautiful thing!! I love seeing Jesus get glorified!!!!

  • http://betterthanblank.org alex mclean

    weighing in late:

    Well, first off – we are HUGE AI fans (David Cook’s gonna win it).

    1. Musically, I thought they destroyed the song – no good.
    2. Leaving out Jesus – eh, what did you expect?
    3. Just the fact that they chose it? Well, they are about 15 years behind (they should have chosen a United, Tomlin, DCB, or Hall song).
    4. Was it worship? Who are we to judge? God was surely glorified even if it was indirectly. HE gave the song, HE gave talent to sing/play/produce, HE gave the ears to hear, HE allowed it to happen. Even if the 61 million viewers weren’t worshipping the one true God – he was glorified. So for that, I am thankful and excited… even if it wasn’t that great.

  • Clive

    From Canada, wow what a performance. Perhaps they will use some more Christian music, how about Brian Doerksen, Paul Baloche(sp) Robin Mark, etc. That is great stuff!!!

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