Okay, so anyone who knows me knows that I’m a TOTAL sucker for good music. Now, ever since I came in contact with Kari Jobe’s music about two or three years ago (on one of the CFNI worship albums, Glorious), I have been totally captivated by her ability to lead people into times of passionate worship. To me, one of the measures of an artist is the ability iconify a song not their own and make it theirs, i.e.: Jeff Buckley with Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, or Joe Cocker with the Beatles’ “With a Little Help from my Friends.”
Contrary to popular belief, Revelation Song was not written by Kari Jobe, but by an East-Texas housewife named Jenny Lee Riddle, but everyone knows this song as it is sung by Ms. Jobe.
Revelation Song is an interesting song in the fact that it contains only four chords (D-Am-C-G). This gives the lyrics the spotlight, to be sure, but it also is demanding on a worship band in the area of dynamics. Intensity has to be TIGHTLY controlled on this song or else you risk either stealing its iron or GROSSLY overplaying it.
That being said, watch the following video below to see the utter MASTERS of dynamics, Gateway Church, do something that can only be described (in the words of Emeril Laggasse) as “kicking it up a notch.” Watch for the INCREDIBLY cinematic interlude that starts after the third verse (around four minutes). I’d suggest watching the whole video, but pay SPECIAL attention to this particular section. Enjoy:
