Abstract
The two sets of song lyrics with which I open these ruminations are separated in time by about a quarter of a century. They are separated in mood—or perhaps we should say “attitude”—by a distance not so easily measurable. One is a children’s song that has been sung in countless Bible School sessions since the late 1970s. The other is a recent song by a so-called “alternative” rock band, the sort of band whose compact discs are often decorated with stickers warning parents of “explicit” content, or in some cases have had alternate packaging in plain white in