Singing

During services at COTT we sang from a variety of hymn/song books to include as many of S.A.’s languages as possible. Each book had its own code on the hymn board so you knew which one to use. The books we used were:
‘Xhosa’ Iculo Lase –Tshetsi –which was in Xhosa and was known as ‘Xhosa’ and represented by an ‘X’.

Sing Together –which included songs in English, Afrikanns, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, N.Sotho, and an ‘additional section’. It was represented by letters, e.g. ‘B 16’, as each letter referred to a langue, i.e. A was English songs, B was Afrikanns songs, etc.

Ancient and Modern –Yes, the Ancient and Modern we used to use here and some still (unfortunately!) use. It was symbolised by AM.

Songs for Worship –A mix of songs in different languages compiled by COTT. It was denoted by a space ‘ ’.

Where the Rainbow End –which was known as ‘Rainbow’ and was COTT’s hymn book and so included songs in various languages and the words to the marimba settings to the Eucharist which they used. It was denoted by a small rectanglar box. We often sang from this book and I bought a copy myself. I enjoyed singing from this book and some songs we sang from here include ‘Sa is a zour, Sa is a zour’ (i.e. ‘This is the day’), ‘My Jesus, My Saviour’, ‘Besiel my, Gees van God’, ‘What a friend we have in Jesus’, ‘Modimo wa matla le thata’, ‘In moments like these, I sing out a song (Singing, I love you, Lord)’, ‘E, ke lumetse, Nthole, Morena’, ‘Be still and know, that I am God’, ‘Ukubantu bakho Nkosi, Ngezikhathi zonke’, and ‘My al is op die altaar’.

Inside the front cover was a beautiful poem by Richard Rive, called ‘Where the Rainbow Ends’:
Where the rainbow ends
There’s going to be a place.
Where the world can sing all sorts of songs,
And we’re going to sing together.
You and I, though you’re white and I’m not.
It’s going to be a sad song,
Because we don’t know the tune,
And it’s a difficult tune to learn.
But we can learn, you and I
There’s no such thing as a black tune.
There’s no such thing as a white tune.
There’s only music,
And it’s music we’re going to sing
Where the rainbow ends.


Extra songs –we also sang some songs regularly which weren’t in any books. These were generally V lively songs, with few lines to learn, sung in English and sometimes also sung in two parts. Here are a couple I particularly liked:
‘You are Alpha and Omega. We worship you our Lord, You are worthy to be praised’ x2, followed by ‘We give you all the glory. We worship you our Lord, You are worthy to be praised’ x2. This sequence is repeated as many times as wanted!

‘Oh yes the blood of Jesus (the blood), Oh yes the blood of Jesus (of Jesus), was shed for me and you, shall never loose its power. Shall never never loose its power, shall never never loose its power, shall never loose, shall never loose its power. Shall never never loose its power, shall never never loose its power, shall never loose, shall never loose its power. Oh yes the blood of Jesus (the blood), Oh yes the blood of Jesus (of Jesus), was shed for me and you, shall never loose its power. Shall never never loose its power, shall never never loose its power, shall never loose, shall never loose its power. Shall never never loose its power, shall never never loose its power, shall never loose, shall never loose its power. Shall never never loose its power, shall never never loose its power, shall never loose, shall never loose its power.’ And so on and so on for as long as you want!