Top Catholic Songs – share, learn, promote

I took the Hip Hop lyrics by Alexander John and with his permission adapted them to create a Country-Folk ballad.

Love 101
Country-Folk version. Lyrics, music and performance by Richard Schletty.
 
There used to be a coldness all around
But something kept my soul from going down
I've come to know a man I call My Lord
Who's telling me to lay down my sword
 
Suddenly, my frown is down side up...

I am trying to encourage participation by members of this site. Perhaps some significant structural changes are needed in the way posts and comments areas are presented. Perhaps it needs to be more like a Facebook interface. Not sure. I know that people experience Internet overload and "fatigue." My hope is that members here would make collaboration a priority. Maybe a live chat feed would engage people. 

Here is an example of songwriting collaboration: I helped Asiansa09 with his English translation of a prayer he learned as a child.

I like to post photos and 1-minute videos at Instagram. Instagram is a nice model of social networking. 

However, here at TCS, we need to dig deep into Catholic music making and spend some time reflecting, sharing and helping each other. We have a Forum area being neglected. 

Your suggestions for enlivening this site are most welcome!

In Christ,
Richard

It is too bad how our best ideas get limited by technology, time, resources and talent.  

Limited by technology – because I can visualize a vibrant music sharing and collaboration site but can't quite design it myself. At least not until I enhance my skills with WordPress or Drupal.

Limited by time – because I have 

The Everlasting

God is shrouded in history, in mystery.
Prior knowledge infuses me, confuses me.

[refrain]
The Everlasting ever casting
mystic shapes on humanscapes.
Love poured down on every frown.
Take me to a place of wonder,
free of all disgrace and blunder,
where the truth is in the here and now...

Before the summer of 2004, I had a vague notion that I'd like to write and publish songs. But I didn't know how. I lacked the formal training and resources to "produce" a song. I had written some poems in my 40s – stuff that was deeply personal and reflective of my "human condition" as a husband, father of seven, graphic design solopreneur and music minister/choir member at a Catholic church. I thought it would be neat to put my experiences and values to music. Well, suddenly I became enabled by technology. I started playing around with GarageBand on my Macintosh computer. I did an internet search for "GarageBand collaboration" and found www.macjams.com – an online community for sharing original music and collaborating on new music via the internet. I started writing songs with Jack Miller, Hendrik Steiner, David Gomez, André van Haren, Luca Frappola, Johnny Katchoolik, Norman Miller, Bill Furner, Robert Andrews, Roxylee Smith, Johannes Curry, Warren Smith, Harold Luper, John Luper and others. I contributed mostly lyrics and vocals but sometimes added some guitar and simple keyboard or percussion. We sent MP3 tracks back n' forth to create a mixes in Apple GarageBand or Apple Logic (music sequencing programs). This engagement at MacJams became my informal education in music theory, recording, mastering, publishing and promotion. I advanced even as far as creating sheet music using Sibelius notation software. I currently am doing ongoing collaboration with André van Haren, an orchestral composer in Sweden. I am also working on an album called Hungry For Heaven with two musicians in Spain – David Gomez Sanz and Alberto Ayuso Domingo.. It's been quite a journey since the summer of 2004 and I'd like to share this with you in a blog series I am calling "Virtual song collaboration." I will detail my methods for solo and collaborative songwriting and production. Feel free to comment and ask questions as we go along.

The world needs positive music to help offset the negativity and false values which infect our lives. How can we write about sin and cultural death in an engaging and affirming way? I have tried to do this in my own lyrics. Here are samples of my lyrics:

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Leaving Flesh

Leaving flesh gates the soul,
like a bird that soars with grace,
like a worm that leaves the hole,
taken to an extraordinary place.

Give your all until the dawn.
Take what little stuff you need.
Smile until the shades are drawn,
knowing well that you've planted the seed.

Gift of knowing, gift of feeling.
Golden orb, precious sight.
Life's abrasions the sun is healing
for those who simply step out into the light.

What is money? What is power?
Lust and vengeance, blood and bile?
Selfless motives don't devour.
Look for treasure in a neighbor's smile.

Music ©2006 Hendrik Steiner and Karl Anselm. Lyrics ©2006 Richard C. Schletty

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You Are

See the light that streams from the darkness
from a soul who is weeping.
Hear their silent lips, 
the shuffle of tired feet. 

Bring your gifts to the doorstep
of a heart in a sling.
Bring your juice pressed from fruit
both sour and sweet.

You are the poet, you are the clown,
you are the artist able to fashion
a new smile on someone draggled by despair.
Take the lead, plant the seed of hope with compassion. 
Help a shattered spirit find repair.

Rain, tears and fears, the falling and the rising:
necessary grayness for the whetting of new growth.
Life and death in circles ever flowing.
Inspiration, expiration -- not one but both.

Music ©2006 Hendrik Steiner and Karl Anselm. Lyrics ©2006 Richard C. Schletty

Please feel free to comment below. Thank you!