Death In His Grave - Bethel Church Feat... by chretien1959
John Mark McMillan has a way of crafting songs with
incredible hooks and anthemic choruses, but his wordy verses, packed
with imagery, are oft better mused than corporately led. Exemplified by How
He Loves, this formula has not prevented that song from becoming a
hand-over-heart tear-jerk classic in the mouths of Crowder and Kim Walker-Smith. John
Mark’s recent collaboration with wife, Sarah, has provided more accessible
fodder for congregants to sink their syllables into – but that’ll be for
another day.
Around 3 years ago, a dear friend was strongly impacted by the
song Death In His Grave – found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM0a2YNH3gE.
Originally released on McMillan’s 2010 album, “The Medicine,” Death In His Grave is a powerful,
ultimately triumphant statement, incorporating a range of emotions and
perspectives to illustrate the ransom model of the atonement [Heb 2:14, eg.]. I’d
always found it a difficult piece to cover, for even if I had internalized the lyrics, there is still the issue of finding a
tempo that doesn’t drag but also doesn’t rush the words into mush.
In most instances, neither worship nights in a candle-lit
second floor flat, nor sing-alongs 'round a fire-pit ember glow set the most
appropriate stage for McMillan's dexterous pen. Where then?
Coffee houses, for certain – or maybe on the corner log-bench, waxing poetic
while the rest of the gang roasts a round of marshmallows. But, you say, this
Californian mega-church is the furthest thing from a chilly pebble-stone beach –
however can we relate the two?
Let’s have a look here - Bethel is most assuredly not the
type of culture where a fidget in the pew or the din of an infant could rattle
proceedings. To the contrary, they encourage the praise pit, and spontaneous outbursts
therein. We could even loosely equivocate an enthusiastic Holy Ghost ‘whoooaaa!’
with the intermittent pops and crackles of a driftwood bonfire.
Brian Johnson has this special force of confidence that
knows you don't always have to lead off a set with a 4-on-the-floor 'hype' song
in order for the rest of the service to be effective. He is also not too
proud to lean on the tele-prompter in the back – for a leader, it’s far better
to look out than look down at a music stand. Brian’s brother, Pastor Eric, has welcomed
the people, opened with a Psalm, and most likely encouraged them to ‘love on’
one another – cold handshakes be-damned!
Instead of demanding full attention
right off the bat, the drummer’s rolling fill swings into a gentle 6/8; a pair
of ‘down’ verses and choruses give time for the milling about to organically
settle. The keyboardist dials in a bubbly jazz organ patch and through the mix,
Jeffrey Kunde expertly wafts glassy slides. By the time the up-chorus kicks
into a tag, just over 2 minutes in, the flock is noticeably engaged. And then,
following the John Mark pattern, we have a shout-it-from-the-rooftops bridge.
Where the verses crammed four words into half a bar, here each single lyric is drawn-out
over that same length of time: it is a victorious summit befitting the message:
“one time, once and for all.”
