I don't like this song.
Ok, let me rephrase that. What I mean is that I don't LOVE this song, which is a big deal when you're making a top 100 list. Most of the songs on this list I absolutely love, so it's noteworthy when I'm kind of 'meh' on a particular song. Ironically, I really LOVE Kathryn Scott's other big hit, a song simply titled 'Meh'.
So then, why is this song on the list, you may ask (go ahead, ask). Well, while I was preparing the list originally, I found that, while I'm not a big fan of this song, it seems that everyone else is. Even though Blessed Be Your Name was written 14 years ago, if you go to the CCLI top 100 (as I just did), you'll see that it's CURRENTLY ranked #16.
So, it appears that the general consensus is that Blessed Be Your Name is a great song, and as the '#1 Ranked Worship Blogger in the History of the Internet', I have an obligation to you, faithful reader, to put my personal feelings aside and do what's best for the blog (if I feel like it). So the song makes the list, even though if they put me on one of those Survivor-type shows, and I was allowed to only bring 100 songs, this song wouldn't be one of them.
Actually, come to think of it, if I was on Survivor, I doubt I'd even need 100 songs. There's no way I'd last long enough to listen to them all. First of all, the 'no indoor plumbing' is a major deal-breaker. And, who would take care of my cats while I was gone? Can I bring them? But most importantly, by about noon on day 2, I'd sell out my entire alliance for half of a cheeseburger. (1)
(1) And hey, why the heck am I bringing music anyways? It seems like as soon as I got settled into my hut, I'd realize that there's no place to plug in my iPod, and I'd be smacking myself in the head saying, "COOKIES!, I should have brought cookies!"
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| This is me on Survivor. At 10:30 am on day 1. |
So, while I don't love the song, the good news is that I LOVE the artist. Kathryn Scott may not be a huge name in worship circles like Chris Tomlin, Darlene Zschech, or Andy Prosseda; but she's had a huge impact on modern worship. She was one of the main contributors on the groundbreaking Hungry album, recently named the #1 worship album of all time HERE.
She not only was a contributor, but she actually wrote the classic song Hungry. And it's her voice you hear on that song as well as another classic from the album, Breathe. (2) In 2003 she embarked on a solo career, and I have several of her solo offerings on my iTunes. As a matter of fact, maybe we should throw another Kathryn Scott song (Thank You For The Cross) on Andy's Extras 2.
(2) Spoiler Alert: We'll talk more about the songs Hungry and Breathe later in the countdown.
She did not, however, write Blessed Be Your Name. The song was actually written by Beth and Matt Redman, as an exhaustive 5 minute google search reveals. The reason I'm using the Kathryn Scott version is because this is the one that we always used when I was leading worship back in the day. I'm pretty sure I heard this version before I even heard the Matt Redman version.
I think the reason we used this version is that all of my peeps back in the day were really into her, and were very excited when she put out her first solo album. The conversation went something like this, "Don't you know her? She's the one who sang Hungry, and she sang Breathe, and she sang backup on Meatloaf's Bat Out Of Hell album" (3).
(3) This Meatloaf reference lacks citation. At least now I know that anyone who googles 'Bat Out Of Hell' and Kathryn Scott's Blessed Be Your Name at the same time will come directly to this page.
Anyhoo, we're going with this version, and that's final. And you know what, as I was mowing the lawn today, Blessed Be Your Name came up on my iPod. This is the second time that has happened (I talk about the odds of that happening HERE), and I was kind of singing along. I guess I do really like this song. I hope you do as well. Enjoy.
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