I don’t know Matt Redman, the singer of Blessed Be Your Name, but I have to imagine he’s somewhere right now wearing solid gold pants, riding an Arabian horse named Montalban on the sandy shores of the Grand Caymans.
That’s if he gets paid per time a church uses his song, because if there’s ever been a stuff Christians like, it’s that song.
But I think some people are getting tired of it. I love that song and don’t think for a second it has jumped the dolphin (That’s a nicer, churchier version of the shark) but maybe there need to be some new ways we approach that worship jam.
Here are four ways you can Febreze the song, “Blessed Be Your Name”
1. Reinvent it as an R&B song.
Two weeks ago at church, they brought out this amazing African American singer who kind of looks like Teddy Pendergrass. I thought for certain they were going to finally do my Barry White meets the Song of Solomon jam. Then the organ started up all Stevie Wondery and I got even more excited. Then they broke into an R&B version of Blessed Be the Name. It was kind of like Timbaland remixed the whole joint. Try that someday.
2. Get little kids to sing it.
I’m pretty sure that if a chorus of young children sang the song, “Jon Acuff is getting audited by the IRS,” even that would sound adorable. Start a band called “The Matt Red-minis” and have kids sing the song. But be careful, if you just have them come in at the end of the song you’ll have to pay musician Lincoln Brewster a finder’s fee.
3. Find one of those drums that people sit on.
I’ve never been on staff for American Idol, as I am clearly holding out for the superior “So You Think You Can Dance,” but I think whenever they want a contestant to get votes they just get the dude who sits on the drum. I’m not sure what that thing is called but it automatically makes you feel like some sort of street party is about to happen a la El Debarge. Play the entire song on the sit down drum.
4. Get Lil’ Wayne on it.
Prediction: when Lil’ Wayne gets out of jail he’s going to sit in on a song with TobyMac and our favorite pastor’s kid Katy Perry. You heard it here first. And it will probably be about either rain or fire, because those are Christian music’s favorite two elements. (Dirt never gets any love.) Once that’s happened, I bet you can get Lil’ Wayne to do a cameo on your church’s version of Blessed Be The Name. Just make sure you don’t make a mistake and get the female version of Lil’ Wayne, Nicki Minaj. That song would take a decidedly different direction with her involved.
Those are my thoughts on how we can collectively, as the Body, Febreze Matt Redman’s Blessed Be Your Name. I might actually be able to pull off numbers 2, but I’ll have to convince my kids not to just tell spanking jokes when we record the song. We’re working on their comedic rhythm, but right now every one of their jokes ends in someone getting spanked. It’s an issue.
How about you though, any ideas on how we can make Blessed Be Your Name feel brand new?
