Psalm 80 - Refrains

The Song Structure of Photography

Until Sunday morning, I don’t think I had ever thought about the song structure of photography. This started to emerge for me out of the way that Psalm 80 is written. It is written in a form common to song writing today.

Verse / Refrain / Verse / Refrain / Verse / Bridge / Refrain

Verse 3, verse 7, and verse 19 of Psalm 80 are the refrain and in between are the verses and maybe even a bridge. Here’s the refrain (verses 3, 7, and 19):

Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved. (NRSV)¹

In Fischer’s translation, he translates them all the same:

Turn our hearts around, shine on us, open us up

The refrain in a song is used to help continually bring the hearers back to the main message. The verses are each rooted in the refrain but they branch out into something wider and then come back in. And in most songs, the refrain is pretty much the same. In this case, “Turn our hearts around, shine on us, open us up.”

Moving to contempoary songs, we see this as well. One of my most-played songs is called Farthest Shore by David Wilcox. The song is a reflecting back on a formative experience in Wilcox’s life of going swimming (possbily skinny dipping) across a lake and coming to the other side. The song starts with this:

We were there in the woods by the water
We left our packs up against that willow tree
We dove right in, keeping just what we were born with
Our Memories, Knowledge and Dreams
As I swam away from our possessions
I imagined that they were gone forever more
And for once I was glad that all I treasured
Would still be with me as I reached other shore

So these first two verses are moments in the past that were formative but the third and fourth verses begin to look more ahead into the future. The third verse reflects on when a beloved cabin burned down and the lesson learned about how to let go of what was and dive in again. Then the fourth verse looks ahead to a time when his life is coming to an end and a desire to want to have lived life to the fullest when looking back...

When my time to live this life is over
I'll tip my hat when I think about that swim
And of all the things that make a life worth living
That only come to those who dive right in

But in between these verses is the same refrain:

So...Let me dive into the water
Leave behind all that I've worked for
Except what I remember and believe
And when I stand on the farthest shore
I will have all I need

This refrain is the centering point for the song and each verse stretches out from the refrain before being drawn back in. The refrain reminds us of holding to what is essential and letting go of everything else.

Carrie Newcomer has a song called Betty’s Diner that does this same thing. She tells the story of a group of regulars in a 24 hr diner with the refrain throughout singing about the diner and about Betty - a refrain that makes this diner sound very much like a holy space:

Here we are all in one place
The wants and wounds of the human race
Despair and hope sit face to face
When you come in from the cold
Let her fill your cup with something kind
Eggs and toast like bread and wine
She's heard it all so she don't mind

Each verse tells the story of different people at the diner and how they find community and connection in that unique place. But then it retruns to the refrain about community and then stretching back out into another story of one of the regulars. It keeps reminding us of this holy space of connection, welcome, and community called Betty’s Diner.

Psalm 80 does the same. The song stretches out into verses about the peoples’ relationship with God and then returns to the refrain of “Turn our hearts around, shine on us, open us up.” The refrain is a combination of repentance, restoration, and transformation which echoes what we see in the “verses” of the Psalm. The verses reflect these themes from the refrain but each verse does it in its own unique way. I wonder how the song was originally sung. Was the refrain such that people might slow down and dwell on those simple words… turn our hearts around // shine on us // open us up. Maybe take a moment and speak those three phrases. To which are you drawn to today?

So let’s move to the song structure of photography (or at least how I experience it)...If there could be a refrain of my photographic song, this photo would be it.

This photograph from Sunday morning has pretty much everything that regularly finds its way into my photography.

• Morning - check

• Sunrise - check

• Colors - check

• Bench - check

• Reflection - check

• Heron - check

• Faith/church - check

• Water - check

• Scout - not in frame but right beside me

In fact, these things are so much a part of the song of my photography life that I wrote a book on all of them - Ordinary Benchmarks.

When I look at my photographs and what I share here, I find myself returning to these refrains (morning, sunrise, bench, colors, wildlife, faith, water, etc) but then stretching out to new places and new ideas but then still coming back to these before stretching back out again. Sometimes I find myself needing to stay with the refrain for a bit of an extended time (much like the way that chants or taize-type music does) and other times I go on a bit of an extended time in the verses. But it seems I keep returning to the refrain.

This all got me thinking further, what about the other “refrains” of life? People - spouses, partners, close family, friends? Places - a religious community, a park, a path, a bench? Stories - particular books or movies that we return to for grounding and rooting? Others?

A Question

What might be the “refrains” in your life? How do they root and ground you in order for you to be able to stretch out into the verses beyond?

---

Pop Culture Pastors’ Hour - Andor Geekery

So, this Wednesday MaryAnn McKibben Dana and I will be doing another Pop Culture Pastors’ Hour as we dig into the themes (theological, social, political, etc) of the latest three episodes of Andor. If you have Disney+, this show is incredible. It has taken the top spot in my favorite shows of all time (Sorry Battlestar Galactica, you are at #2) and depending on how it sticks the landing with the final three episodes this week, will likely top Empire Strikes Back as my top Star Wars “story.” It speaks so powerfully to this moment and this time. Spoilers will abound in our conversation so be warned before you wade into our discussion.

---

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

PS - Our daughters each got home for the summer this past weekend and our daughter who was in Ireland brought home this snappy looking bowtie for Scout

1. Note that verse 7 says “O God of hosts” and verse 19 says “O Lord God of hosts” but the rest is the same.