#536: God Be with You Till We Meet Again

Is this actually a metaphor for death?

I'm not sure? We're in the "Sending" section which is mostly hymns for like the end of church services, and the verses are mainly generic requests for God's love and support towards another person/people. But then the refrain is "till we meet at Jesus' feet," which uh, feels a little more ominous than "next week, same time, same place."

What's up with the bass clef?

The men (tenor/bass) have an "echo" type response in the harmonization: "Till we meet (till we meet), till we meet (again)." A little bit like the "evermore (evermore)" from "Guide Me Ever, Great Redeemer."

But this is an American Gospel song?

Sounds like it. Just looking it up, it looks as if the text was written by Jeremiah Rankin, who also wrote, uh, fanfic from the point of view of Aaron Burr's mom...!!

#554: Lord, Your Hands Have Formed

What's the range?

There's no harmonization, just the melody, but it seems to go pretty low for melody-only; low-A to high-D (octave plus a fourth). Then again, maybe it's the wide range that's notable, not how low it is. (Well, it's a problem for some sopranos, I guess.)

Is the imagery particularly morning-esque?

Not really? Sunlight and warmth, but that's...true most of the daytime. I guess the connection is "each day's signs" of God's love, but this could have gone in the "Creation" section easily. (There's a lot of crossover; the index says stuff like "for this topic, see the given range ###-###, but then also all these other random songs.)

The part about "like a mat you roll out land" seems like a nice image of human technology/building in contrast to the natural world stuff. Again, I'm just sort of coming across this now, don't think I know this one at all.

How about the grace note?

Uh, yup, there is one, near the end of the first line. Just an optional/quick note to sing before slurring onto the main note.