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CCLI Top Songs – Open The Eyes of My Heart
Posted on September 3rd, 2008 in Church Life, Faith, Music, Worship Leadership by Fred McKinnon
Hey Everyone,
Today’s post is a continuation of an ongoing, yet erratic series that started several weeks ago with my original post where I asked the question, “What Makes a Great Worship Song”?
Since then, we’ve discussed the #1, #2, and #3 top worship songs as reported by CCLI in the USA as of August 2008. Over the next week or two, I’d like for us to come together here on the blog and discuss more of the “Top Worship Songs” according to the most recent, August 2008 CCLI Survey.
Previous Songs:
#1. How Great is our God
#2. Blessed Be Your Name
#3. Here I Am To Worship
CCLI Top 25 Songs
#4: “Open the Eyes of My Heart”
by Paul Baloche
This is definitely one of the most popular songs worldwide. It’s lower #4 spot is reflective in my own thoughts as this one is definitely used the least of the Top 4 in our worship services.
Singable?
Paul Baloche is an incredibly gifted songwriter and knows how to craft a singable melody. The opening lines are simple and repetitive.
“Open the eyes of my heart, Lord. Open the eyes of my heart. I want to see You. I want to see You.”
The Chorus and Bridge are similarly repetitive and the melodic line is easy to sing.
Theology and Lyrics
This song isn’t saturated with deep theology, but two truths about God are presented clearly:
1. His being “high and lifted up”
2. His being “holy”
(see Isaiah 6:1-3 @ YouVersion.Com)
This song brings these two theological statements together with a personal declaration of our desire to have our “eyes opened to see” … a prayer that should always be present in our hearts.
Lyrically the song offers a personal plea … that our eyes be opened. Even the “high and lifted up” Chorus is a continuation of this personal plea. With the exception of the Bridge which declares “Holy, Holy, Holy”, the song is more of a personal request than adoration or worship directly to God. There are some that argue songs like this have no place in our corporate worship … that our music should be full of theology. Although I agree theology is important, I believe a song like this is vital in ‘preparing’ a worshiper’s heart and helping them engage with God on a more personal level. The song could be considered a prayer, actually, and I’ve not heard anyone proclaiming that we need to remove prayer from our worship services. Balance is the key.
Accessibility?
As I’ve said before, I don’t think many songs will make the Top 5 that aren’t accessible. A few easy chords and easy arrangement make this song special whether it’s a full praise band or a simple guitar or keyboard version.
Personal Arrangement:
As many have discovered, the Bridge segues perfectly into the traditional hymn, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, though you may want to start “Open the Eyes of My Heart” a whole step lower to prevent the hymn from being too high.
Singable? Theology? Lyrics? Simplicity? Accessibility?
What are YOUR thoughts?
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11 Responses to “CCLI Top Songs – Open The Eyes of My Heart”
Would you join in the discussion? Checkout the responses below, and click "reply" to reply to someone's comment, or scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to leave your own comment in the box!
I think we’ve done this song twice this past month, including last Sunday. And it’s on my mp3 player. Simple, easy, truthful.
I love Paul’s testimony about this song – song that come out of times of prayer or free worship can be so powerful. This is a song you can play full out, or one guy on an acoustic, and it works either way.
Mikes last blog post..Man Power
Mike,
Yeah – those songs, the ones that just come out of a person’s personal worship times … I love that. From what I’ve heard, the bulk of Paul’s songs have come from personal or corporate worship times.
For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
http://www.fredmckinnon.com
http://www.theworshipcommunity.com
Yes – a simple plea for a Holy (isn’t being “High & Lifted Up” an analogy for holiness – being “set apart”?) God to reveal Himself to us… one of the fun things about this song is that it seems to work in nearly ANY genre or tempo. I’ve led it as a ballad, mid-tempo, and fast song – as ’soft-rock’, pop, and even punk… it’s just one of ‘those’ songs… it’s versatile! And man o’ man – if you haven’t read Paul’s “God Songs”: that’s one helpful book.
p.s., Fred – if the Hanna doesn’t hit too hard & cancel church, I’ll bring Kauflin’s book for an even trade with Best’s (not for keepsies, though)! Deal?
Re: theology, you know that I’m a “theology” dude, myself, but for sure, not every song has to explore the whole of systematic theology itself. I think this song is theologically solid, even if not a dissertation: God is holy – holy, holy, holy (which, in Hebrew, means REALLY VERY SET APART – a term ONLY used of God) – high & lifted up… a God so Holy that the only way we can know Him, or see Him, or experience Him is through His stepping down and revealing Himself, which is why we are asking Him to open our eyes…
Man, that’s GOOD STUFF – I wish I could condense good theology into a song that simple and easy to sing!
Shannon Lewiss last blog post..THANKS FOR LISTENING!
CHeck this out: I’m actually going to say that this song actually DOES go deep theologically. In my opinion, even though the lyrics don’t actually talk about Jesus I believe that this song is a nutshell version of Ephesians 1:15:23 (which is the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus).
The Apostle Paul prayed that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened to basically see the hope and power that God used to exalt Jesus.
Read through that passage and then think about this song in the light of this passage. I’m not necessarily saying that Paul Baloche used this specific passage to write the meat of the song lyrics, but the concept is definitely taking the idea of God opening the eyes of our hearts to see Jesus exalted, and making it a personal prayer song.
Great post!
It’s BACK – CCLI Top Songs Discussion Series, #4 Open The Eyes of My Heart @ FredMcKinnon.Com – join at http://is.gd/2aBi
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what makes this song so perfect is the singability factor in small services. you only need one guitar or one keyboard, no drums, no bass, no choir…..this song is a great for the lone leader…..which our churches are consumed with. the small group phenomenon has had to help this song as well.
Oh, cool! re:your arrangement idea. The last time we did this in worship and I was playing flute, I went into “Holy, Holy, Holy” because I just felt it coming… plus we’d just done it earlier in the traditional service that day, so it was on my mind.
I’ll take your use of that as confirmation!
Amandas last blog post..Simple Encouragements
Like John Lennon said when asked at the famous New York press conference in early 1964, when asked the secret of their success: “If we knew that, we’d be managers and make all the money.”
Ed Schiefs last blog post..That Lucky Old Sun, Part 2
This is a great song to pull out once in a while. It’s easy and everyone knows it and the theology IS definitely there.
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