What constitutes a refrain? In the hymn "We Have Heard the Joyful Sound" 3 out of 4 lines end with "Jesus saves, Jesus Saves." I do not consider this a refrain, but a poetic and organizational device. comments?
But ... isn't a refrain a poetic and organizational device? Granted, it's often used viciously, but that doesn't mean that it's inherently vicious, or that it's not a valid rhetorical device. Psalm 136 and 42-43 use refrains effectively. More recently, in Fred Pratt Green's "When in our music God is glorified" "Hallelujah!" appears at the end of each line as a syntactically necessary part of the sentence. But that is still a refrain.
In my rather feeble experience, refrains are extremely hard to use effectively. Other kinds of repetition sound fresh rather than hackneyed to me--perhaps simply because I haven't been so over-exposed. But I keep coming back the challenge of writing an effective refrain--so far, with uniform lack of success.
But I wonder if people who have something to say (and aren't just trying to fill up the space under the music) tend to use refrains much less often than, say, some other people--giving all refrains a bad name.
To answer your question, I believe that particular device is called an interlinear refrain. Another example would be "Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood."
I have nothing in particular against refrains. It would be easy to peg refrains as lazy since they come from the gospel tradition, which is not known for its depth of poetry. Nonetheless, if a truly gifted writer uses a refrain or a repeated phrase of any kind, the inclusion of such a device does not automatically cheapen the writer's work. Repetition in poetry is usually intended to emphasize a point, to aid memorization or promote memorability (as with a mantra), or to invoke some other affect (see Timothy Dudley-Smith, "No tramp of soldiers' marching feet.")
I'm usually hesitant to adopt modern refrains that are appended to old hymns. For example, I have never quite been willing to ask my congregation to sing the refrain added to "Take my life and let it be," by Chris Tomlin, even though the refrain has been popular in some circles. I must say, on the other hand, that recently I was thrilled to come across a moving refrain by Travis Cottrell for "Man of sorrows, what a name." The climax of the original tune is very brief, but the added refrain extends this climax and seems (to me) to add a greater sense of musical fulfillment to the hymn.
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But ... isn't a refrain a
But ... isn't a refrain a poetic and organizational device? Granted, it's often used viciously, but that doesn't mean that it's inherently vicious, or that it's not a valid rhetorical device. Psalm 136 and 42-43 use refrains effectively. More recently, in Fred Pratt Green's "When in our music God is glorified" "Hallelujah!" appears at the end of each line as a syntactically necessary part of the sentence. But that is still a refrain.
In my rather feeble experience, refrains are extremely hard to use effectively. Other kinds of repetition sound fresh rather than hackneyed to me--perhaps simply because I haven't been so over-exposed. But I keep coming back the challenge of writing an effective refrain--so far, with uniform lack of success.
But I wonder if people who have something to say (and aren't just trying to fill up the space under the music) tend to use refrains much less often than, say, some other people--giving all refrains a bad name.
Refrains
To answer your question, I believe that particular device is called an interlinear refrain. Another example would be "Would you be free from your burden of sin? There's power in the blood, power in the blood."
I have nothing in particular against refrains. It would be easy to peg refrains as lazy since they come from the gospel tradition, which is not known for its depth of poetry. Nonetheless, if a truly gifted writer uses a refrain or a repeated phrase of any kind, the inclusion of such a device does not automatically cheapen the writer's work. Repetition in poetry is usually intended to emphasize a point, to aid memorization or promote memorability (as with a mantra), or to invoke some other affect (see Timothy Dudley-Smith, "No tramp of soldiers' marching feet.")
Refrains 2
I'm usually hesitant to adopt modern refrains that are appended to old hymns. For example, I have never quite been willing to ask my congregation to sing the refrain added to "Take my life and let it be," by Chris Tomlin, even though the refrain has been popular in some circles. I must say, on the other hand, that recently I was thrilled to come across a moving refrain by Travis Cottrell for "Man of sorrows, what a name." The climax of the original tune is very brief, but the added refrain extends this climax and seems (to me) to add a greater sense of musical fulfillment to the hymn.
CF