DR. WATT(S) SONGS???? Relic Of The Past?

[ndel]

OK, I'm going out on a limb with this one because,(I think)Unless you've ever visited a small Baptist Church in the South, you probably don't have a clue what this is about.

I'm saying this because the only place I ever heard these kinds of songs was in  small southern churches.    They are like call and response.  The leader  would sing out something like -

"I love the Lord He heard my cry"     Then the congregation would sing back to him,  but only real , real, painfully slow and real, real stretched  out.   It would take them forever to finish singing back each part the leader  would sing.  Anybody know anything about this kind of singing?

I think they are called Dr. Watt or Dr. Watts, (if that's right I don't know why they're called that)

I heard someone try to lead off on a song like that and it really fell flat because the congregation
didn't know how to sing the song and the leader didn't have a strong enough voice to keep it going.

[keptbyJesus]

Yes we were talking about this a few days ago.  These songs are called Meter (or Metered) Hymns.  Don't know about the south, but they are not really common in the churches here in the north anymore, but up here you will come across a church that will break out with one here and there. 

Yep, those were the days of Deacon Devotions, where the 1 deacon would stand up the cong up, shack each of the Deacons hand, sit the cong down, and get down on one knee and pray forever .   

[hardheaded]

Yes we were talking about this a few days ago.  These songs are called Meter (or Metered) Hymns.  Don't know about the south, but they are not really common in the churches here in the north anymore, but up here you will come across a church that will break out with one here and there. 

Yep, those were the days of Deacon Devotions, where the 1 deacon would stand up the cong up, shack each of the Deacons hand, sit the cong down, and get down on one knee and pray forever .   

yea i belong to a little baptist church down in Texas and we still do the devotion (longest part of church)but i thoroughly enjoy it i love the Dr. Watt type songs.  Im a gospel rapper and currently im working on a track that incorporates I LOVE THE LORD HE HEARD MY CRY
 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII LOVVVEEEEEEEEE Thaaaaaaaaaaaaa LOrrrrrddddddd when i finish it ill post a link so yall can tell me what you think

[momuzik]

I witnessed that a few weeks ago.
The guy that led the song looked to be about 90 years old.
It reminded me of something they would've sang in the cotton fields.

[apostoliczak]

Oooh them is my songs!!!! I may be white but I sho nuff love to sing those songs!! I have an old carlton pearson cd with I love the lord on it and I sing it all the time!!!!

[hardheaded]

Oooh them is my songs!!!! I may be white but I sho nuff love to sing those songs!! I have an old carlton pearson cd with I love the lord on it and I sing it all the time!!!!

is that the same cd with shine on me on it i love those songs

[betnich]

I think this may also be called 'lining out' where one person sings the line real slooow and everybody else sings it after them. Used to be done in many American churches way back in the 18th-19th centuries, when there were mainly vocals, and less access to musical instruments...

[apostoliczak]

Yeah I think its got father I stretch my hands to thee on it also...

[kingrhollo]

Many people are confused about these songs, but when the history of the song is understood it has a different feeling to it.  I am 31 and I have been a deacon for about 4 years and I did not like starting devotion with those songs.  But then I learned that the songs were sang that way because back then, the "learned" person in the congregation would sign out the words and everyone would repeat in a metered style.  To think about church mothers and deacons singing the old hymns that gave them strength....when pews had no cushions and churches didn't have AC.  When oppresion was a way of life and so ws poverty and illiteracy...but none of that stopped people from praising God.  So someone would start off by saying "I love the Lord, He heard my cry" and others would repeat in complete adoration and worship casting their cares on the Lord.  When I picture those times, those hymns have a new meaning.

[CHI-MD]

Im suprised that no one has mentioned or done the research on this. Dr Watts was a white man, These hymms were taught to blacks as we learned slave owners relegion....some people say it was the songs slaves came up with, but if we blacks were not allowed to read how would one be a "Dr."...think about it LOL

[upmost]

oh yeah, we still sing them down in the south. Tradition is starting to fade (especially because now this generation does a segment of praise and worship), but years ago that's what we would call devotion. Here's some clips

Pastor E.Dewey Smith Jr. Ole Fashioned Hymn 'Lord I Come to Thee'

I Love The Lord, He Heard My Cry

Before This Time Another Year - Old Baptist Hymn

[Starlingj]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PozIV8aTcdI&

[PastorAlF]

These songs and other meter songs are part of what is know as the "Old one hundreds" and are a important part of the heritage of the black church - we can't allow the wonderful songs and hymns of the present make us forget from whence we came, and the hymns and songs that brought our foreparents through.