Familiar

I have been hearing this phrase repeated over and over again regarding song selection.

"Choose songs that are familiar to the congregation"

The person telling me this is usually asking me to bring an old overused song or a klove hit and I usually discount what they are saying because: what do they know?  really.

I just heard a worship band that is known for unique songs sing a super mainstream song and I was so bummed and I immediately realized why the "familiar" phrase bothers me. Two reasons:

You will not find a biblical example of singers choosing or singing songs based on what people knew. David used common tunes and melodies but he is always introducing new words (or at least rearranging old words) to go with those melodies.   Our understanding of God and relationship with God is new every day so we need songs with words that reflect this.

Church music is the only form of artistry where the artist is encouraged to copy another artist. Can you imagine a photographer doing really well by simply taking pictures of other peoples pictures? Or a painter becoming famous because he paints replicas of other peoples paintings?   I guess these people do exist in the world of the arts, but they are not respected the same as the ones who did the piece in the first place.  They are usually labeled as sell outs or copy cats who make cheap copies. I guess that's why people like Weird Al or the Apologetics are good for a laugh, but they don't carry the same weight in the musical world as those who create their own original works. This is why I can't handle klove. There is no originality to what they play. 

So for those reasons, every time I step on stage I want to sing a new song... or at least a new-ish song with a new interpretation.