Hymns: 2001 Memories

I don’t have many interesting personal memories of 2001. I generally remember summer holidays more than anything else, but for these few years, with four very young kids, we just went on a few day trips, the main destination being Lahinch in Country Clare.

In 2001, The English Standard Version (ESV) Bible was officially released. The ESV is very well respected in evangelical circles. However, nowadays, it’s just one of several translations on the market. It makes it more difficult to memorize Scripture than back in the King James Version days, when Protestants just used one version. I generally use the New International Version (NIV), and it’s still the most widely used version. I often listen to it as well as read it. My favourite audio version is David Suchet’s.

The following hymn was published in 2001:

I first heard In Christ Alone at a funeral at Limerick Baptist Church in 2004. It has become hugely popular since. In some ways, it’s much more like traditional hymns than many of the modern worship songs.

I don’t remember any secular songs that touched on Christian themes in 2001, apart from a line in Destiny’s Child’s Survivor, where it says:
I’m not gon’ compromise my Christianity
I’m better than that

I did wonder if Shining Light by Northern Irish group Ash was a Christian song because it used a few New Testament metaphors, but I discovered that it was about Tim Wheeler’s girlfriend. Romance can give us heavenly feelings, but magical romantic feelings generally don’t last longer than a few years. Look up Microsoft Co-pilot as ask: How Long Do Romantic Feelings Last? The magical feelings usher us into longer term deeper attachments. I would think that in heaven, we’ll have the best of both worlds. It’s a pity that the pop charts don’t feature great artists singing about God. I can remember George Harrison, who died in 2001, and Bob Marley, who died in 1981, singing about God. The funny thing is, neither of them were known for living Godly lives, being faithful in marriage and so on. And although both were influenced by Christianity, neither of them were Christians. George Harrison was more into Eastern religion and Bob Marley was a Rastafarian. But then again, classical music has a huge number of great works based on Scripture, such as Handels Messiah. And you do get many good Christian songs in Country music and in soul or gospel music. Cliff Richard did have a few Christian songs in the pop charts, but you’d hardly describe them as classics. Some were Christmas songs. One exception is The Only Way Out, which reached number 10 in July 1982. His version of Little Town followed that Christmas.

And modern worship music probably matches the pop chart songs in quality. I rarely hear a song nowadays that I’m mad about. But who knows? That might change. Because musical memories play such a big role in my life, I’d like to create musical memories of the 2020’s.

Around 2001, I remember seeing the lead singer of Boney M, Liz Mitchell, a popular 1970s group on BBC’s Songs of Praise. They recorded Rivers of Babylon back in 1978, a few years before I discovered what the book of Psalms was. It was actually a cover of a reggae song by the Meldodians, who were Rastafarian, but I don’t think there were any Rastafarian references in the Boney M version.

Here are some other secular songs that use the term born again:

• Born Again – Christians (Funnily enough, not a Christian group or song)
• Born Again – Badly Drawn Boy
• Airbag – Radiohead
• Born Again – Star Sailor
• With You I’m Born Again – Billy Preston and Syreeta
• Born Again – Tiffany
• Born Again – Black Sabbath
• Born Again – Rihanna
• Born Again – Lisa (featuring Doja Cat and Raye)

Anyway, let’s get back to 2001. Here’s some music, events, and films/TV shows that would have formed the background to 2001. I don’t necessarily endorse all the songs or films😀, but thinking of them takes me back to 2001.

10 Songs

• Love Don’t Cost A Thing​ – Jennifer Lopaz
• Love What You Do – Divine Comedy
• So Why So Sad​ – Manic Street Preachers
• Don’t Stop Movin’​ – S Club 7
• Imitation Of Life​ – REM
• Sing – Travis
• Elevation – U2
• Knives Out – Radiohead
• Can’t Get You Out Of My Head​ – Kylie Minogue
• Venus and Mars – Jo Breezer
• The Music’s No Good Without You​ – Cher
• Gotta Get Thru This​ – Daniel Bedingfield

Daniel Bedingfield is a committed Christian, but I don’t know if he’s recorded any explicitly Christian songs. Like his sister Natasha, he comes from a Christian family.

10 Events

• 9/11 Terrorist Attacks
• War in Afghanistan Begins
• Gujarat Earthquake (India)
• Wikipedia Launches
• George W Bush Inaugurated
• Foot-and-Mouth Disease Outbreak (UK and Ireland)
• Apple Launches the iPod
• IRA Begins Disarmament
• Holy Cross School Protests in Belfast
• Launch of the Xbox game console

10 Films or TV Shows

• The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
• Shrek
• Monsters, Inc.
• A Beautiful Mind
• Moulin Rouge!
• Black Hawk Down
• Scrubs
• The Office (UK)
• Band of Brothers

10 Famous People Who Passed Away

• George Harrison – Lead guitarist of The Beatles
• Aaliyah – R&B singer and actress, died in a plane crash
• Jack Lemmon – Oscar-winning actor (Some Like It Hot, The Apartment)
• Joey Ramone – Punk rock pioneer and lead singer of The Ramones
• Douglas Adams – Author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• Anthony Quinn – Actor known for Zorba the Greek
• Perry Como – Crooner and TV personality
• John Lee Hooker – Influential blues musician
• Nigel Hawthorne – Acclaimed actor known for Yes, Minister and The Madness of King George
• Tove Jansson – Finnish author and creator of the Moomins