Song - Fall Praise
Lyrics
[Verse 1]
The Fall is now upon us,
the grey clouds fill the sky.
The golden days are fading now,
as colder winds draw nigh.
[Verse 2]
The fields have yielded fully,
the harvest gathered in.
We turn our hearts again to God,
and give our thanks to Him.
[Pre-Chorus]
The light begins to soften,
the evenings linger long.
Yet still the Lord is near to us1,
[Chorus]
In this fading season,
let us still celebrate,
forgiveness of our crimson sins4,
the Lord has washed away.
Be Thou our vision, Lord,
as night drowns out the day.
Mould us in your image now,
we are to You as clay5.
[Verse 3]
The days are getting shorter,
the devil still deceives,
but through the power of the Lord,
he’ll fall like crimson leaves.
[Verse 4]
The world may play with shadows,
and costumes roam the streets.
But we will walk with He who crushed,
the serpent with His feet6.
[Pre-Chorus]
The light begins to soften,
the evenings linger long.
Yet still the Lord is near to us,
our refuge and our song.
[Chorus]
In this fading season,
let us still celebrate,
forgiveness of our crimson sins,
the Lord has washed away.
Be Thou our vision, Lord,
as night drowns out the day.
Mould us in your image now,
we are to You as clay.
Background
Fall Praise is the third in a series of worship tracks designed to correspond with the 4 seasons. As noted in the background to Spring Praise, the series owes its origins to George Baker's "Una Paloma Blanca", though the song instead borrows its lyrical structure from a children's TV show called "Fun Song Factory", as do all the others in the series. Another repeating theme throughout the series is that each song must reference another popular Christian song. In this case, Fall Praise references "Be Thou My Vision".
Fall Praise is somewhat more thematically heavy than others in the series, as it directly references Halloween. With the exception of Summer Praise, each song in the series alludes to some kind of holiday. Spring Praise references Easter, and Winter Praise alludes to Christmas. But Halloween, by its nature, is more divisive among Christians, and more worldly among believers. Thus, rather than alluding to it in the chorus as part of the seasonal celebrations, I have instead included a verse (specifically, verse 4) to deal with Halloween by establishing it as something that shouldn't shake our faith. No matter what the world does on that day, even if they directly celebrate the devil himself, we still walk with Christ.
As with most songs in the series, I used a variation of the Celtic genre for this one. Specifically, Fall Praise is set to "16-Bit Celtic", maintaining the Celtic theme I so enjoy, while also adding a bit of playfulness. I didn't intend for Fall Praise to feel "gloomy" despite the otherwise depressing fact that the cold is beginning to set in, and the days are decreasing in length, but I also didn't want it to be excessively joyful like the warmer, sunnier months. The playful energy of the 16-Bit Celtic genre seemed appropriate.
Fall Praise also has a particular faith theme: Focusing on the Lord. This seemed especially appropriate during the season most associated with darkness. Whether thinking specifically about Halloween, or simply noting that the days begin to get shorter, darkness inherently limits vision. This is not only the reason I chose "Be Thou My Vision" as the hymn to reference, but why the lyrics constantly encourage focus on the Lord. This is made slightly deeper by the way it is directed specifically towards the goal. It's not just "look at the Lord" the way we might look at a picture, but rather, "look at the Lord" as the very goal of life itself. What we seek, as Christians, is to be moulded in God's image, not simply keep Him in our peripheral for when things look bleak.
Scripture references
Psalm 145:18
Psalm 46:1
Psalm 118:14
Isaiah 1:18
Isaiah 64:8
Genesis 3:15
AI usage
This song was produced using Mozart AI.
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