Rivers Of Babylon

I was asked about the song Rivers of Babylon whether it was a Christian song. I wasn't too sure of the full story and promised to blog it. Now having researched the answer, I say well yes but no. It was written by the Melodians in 1972 but is mostly famous for the 1978 Boney M version. I know my mum sung it to me as a lullaby so it is a song that has stuck with me for a long time.

Why it is Kinda a Christian song:

Well it is based off Psalm 137:1 and Psalm 19:14. Psalm 137 is a hymn sung by the Jewish people in exile in Babylon. To us I suppose we can identify- that we are kinda in exile as well- until the day we are able to join with others in God's Presence- there is a sense of expectation and loss.

Why it is Not a Christian song:

The song takes verses well and truly out of context- whilest there are large "Christian" music groups (one in particular) who do this often, I think it is enough of a departure from the original Psalm to disqualify it from being a "Christian" song much in the the same way System of a Down's "Chop Suey" is not a Christian song. But make up your own mind:

Psalm 137

¹ By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

² There on the poplars
we hung our harps,

³ for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

⁵ If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill .

⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
"Tear it down," they cried,
"tear it down to its foundations!"

⁸ O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-

⁹ he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.

Psalm 19:14 (New International Version)

¹⁴ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in your sight,
O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.