A little harder than you thought, wasn’t it? If Sunday-morning hymns belong to the King of Kings, and heavy metal is the Prince of Darkness’ domain, they sure seem to copy each other’s notes a lot. If you haven’t seen our little sacred-vs.-profane brain-teaser yet, go ahead and take a whack at it before we reveal the answers.
Ready? Click away – and prepare to be surprised.
A. “Now let my people go, land of Chosen/ Go, I will be with thee, bush of fire”
METAL (Metallica, “Creeping Death”)
B. “Signs of endings all around us/ Darkness, death, and winter days/ Shroud our lives in fear and sadness/ Numbing mouths that long to praise”
HYMN (Dean W. Nelson, “Signs of Endings All Around Us”)
C. “O sacred head, sore wounded/ Defiled and put to scorn/ O kingly head surrounded/ With mocking crown of thorn”
HYMN (Paulus Gerhard, “O Sacred Head, Sore Wounded”)
D. “God give me the answer to my life/ God give me the answer to my dreams/ God give me the answer to my prayers/ God give me the answer to my being”
METAL (Iron Maiden, “No Prayer for the Dying”)
E. “And still they come, new preys of plague/ While often in their rooms of prayer/ God’s people worship, safe and sound/ Unheeding, even unaware”
HYMN (Jane Manton Marshall, “From Miles Around the Sick Ones Came”)
F. “In His purpose I will stand/ I’ve been renewed by the Maker/ In His purpose I will stand/ I’ve been renewed by Him alone”
METAL (Zao, “Growing In Grace”)
G. “Tombstones are bursting, poor sinner stands a-trembling/ The trumpet sounds within my soul, I ain’t got long to stay here”
HYMN (Traditional, “Steal Away”)
H. “O Lord, here is thy offertory/ Here is thy glory sown/ Here is the hunting ground/ Here is thy rightful throne”
METAL (Marduk, “This Fleshly Void”)
I. “Voices of victory all shout and proclaim/ The Kingdom of Glory is mine/ The raise of the will, our prophecy filled”
METAL (Manowar, “King of Kings”)
J. “Yet nations still prey on the meek of the world/ And conflict turns parent from child/ Your people despoil all the sweetness of Earth/ The briar and the thorn grow wild”
HYMN (Joy F. Patterson, “Isaiah the Prophet Has Written of Old”)
K. “Could it be you’re afraid of what your friends might say/ If they knew you believe in God above?/ They should realize before they criticize/ That God is the only way to love”
METAL (Black Sabbath, “After Forever”)
L. “Break new ground of a new frontier/ New ideas will surely get by/ No deed or dividend, some may ask why/ You’ll find the solution, the answers in the sky”
METAL (Megadeth, “Foreclosure of a Dream”)
M. “Human sin your plan has twisted/ Human wills defy your own/ All the world reverts to chaos/ Rule and judge as God alone”
HYMN (Charles P. Price, “God Beyond All Human Praises”)
N. “Raise me from mortal/ My will be your will/ My words speak your words/ Your pains raise me to bliss”
METAL (Morbid Angel, “Rapture”)
O. “O life whose crushing was for love/ O love whose spending was to death/ O death, your mourning is our seed/ A seed for wheat, our bread and life”
HYMN (Delores Dufner, “O Wheat Whose Crushing Was For Bread”)
P. “Save me, don’t let me fall/ Heaven sent, I heard the call/ Stop me, don’t let me go/ Touch my heart, then let me know”
METAL (Dokken, “Heaven Sent”)
Q. “Yet to the end the song went on/ A supper’s parting hymn/ A psalm intoned on dying lips/ When sun and hope grew dim”
HYMN (Carl P. Daw Jr., “As Newborn Stars Were Stirred to Song”)
R. “If mercy’s abandoned by those who’d be brave/ Economy squandered by those who’d be generous/ Humility slighted by those who would lead/ This is sure death”
HYMN (Colin Hodgetts, “These Three Are the Treasures”)
S. “I know my robe’s gonna fit me well/ I’m gonna lay down my heavy load/ I tried it on at the gates of Hell/ I’m gonna lay down my heavy load”
HYMN (Traditional, “Bye and Bye”)
T. “Should I feel lost somehow/ Do I feel less than thou/ Could I be less undone/ Could I fall deeper down”
METAL (Danzig, “Son of the Morning Star”)
U. “O world invisible, we can touch thee/ O world intangible, we can touch thee”
METAL (God Dethroned, “Cadavers”)
V. “I lay in dust, life’s glory dead/ And from the ground there blossoms red/ Life that shall endless be”
HYMN (George Matheson, “O Love That Will Not Let Me Go”)
W. “Light of my sun, light in this temple/ Light in my truth, lies in the darkness”
METAL (Lacuna Coil, “The Prophet Said”)
This article appears in Apr 29 – May 5, 2010.
