(February 9, 2018 at 2:04 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote:(February 9, 2018 at 1:45 pm)Minimalist Wrote: You can sing a song about dog shit but it remains dog shit.
But if it's a good song, it doesn't matter what it's ultimately about. It remains a good song. Aretha Franklin's "Climbing Higher Mountains" is one of my favorite tunes ever. Everything that woman touches becomes gold. Plus that, to me, the song merely uses religious symbolism to talk about real-life things. In this case, difficulties and tribulations--something everybody has, regardless of their religion. A lyrical song is just a poem put to music. Any one poem can be interpreted in a number of ways.
If you pass up rocking to gospel music because you're an atheist, you're missing out.
I'll admit in my subjective opinion there are a few good gospels songs out there.
BUT - according to the OP, this was a government (city) event and religion does not belong in government-sponsored events. I find it hard to believe that MLK cannot be adequately honored without people singing songs about their god.
My kid learned about MLK at her public school and somehow they managed to effectively teach about MLK without injecting god into the discussion. It's simple, really. Keep religion in your church and don't shove it down anybody else's throat.
-Teresa
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