Retro Choruses Week - "O Lord hear my prayer"

A humdinger for today's "Retro Chorus".

I remember when Taizé struck. Suddenly even relatively mainstream congregations could enjoy modern music (i.e. a form of music that was probably no more than 50 or 60 years old) while still insisting they were being "serious". This song was best played over a prayer, where it could inflict maximum damage on what was going on.

To recreate the experience exactly, we will be sitting in a circle, cross-legged for those who are up to it. The lights will be dimmed and the tea lights firmly lit - in fact, I think we'll go for a big tea light in a bowl of pebbles on this occasion.

Crucially, we have managed to get hold of a guitarist with exactly the right level of expertise to accompany this. Brüdwell is normally able to pass for competent, with the use of a capo. The Em and Am chords are - quite literally - at the tips of his fingers. But the B7 is the one that makes "O Lord, hear my Prayer" work. Brüdwell is almost - but not quite reliably - able to play a B7. Sometimes he manages it, others he doesn't. Sometimes he just gets his fingers a bit wrapped up, and makes the strings buzz. As we reach the end of the verse each time, we will all be on edge as we wonder whether this one's gonna work right or not. Tonight we're gonna pray like it's 1979!