As The Deer – Martin Nystrom

Written in 1984 this is one of the most beautiful American penned pentecostal worship songs.

The opening line comes straight from Psalm 42:1 and the song is a gentle meditation on the deep longing for God that comes from the soul.

Nystrom wrote the song using King James english and by habit I’ve unintentionally adapted the words to sing ‘you’ where I am supposed to sing ‘thee’ every now and then. You’ll have to forgive me! That’s what happens when you sing this stuff a lot on your own.

For me the song is a beautiful example of a song that does not need to be embellished by musical crescendos and slow dramatic builds. You could play this song with a full band or with a guitar and the impact would be exactly the same because the melody and words are so beautifully connected and communicate everything.

It’s worth noting that the song does of course have two extra verses which are clearly and well written – however I’ve always found them a little distracting.

To me there is a poetic completeness in the first verse and chorus that is diminished with the introduction of the ideas developed in the second and third verse.

Perhaps this is unfair? Truth be told a church song’s function (to facilitate worship) is probably more important than the artistic prowess of its craftsmanship and if there is some kind of revelation contained in the extra lyrics then far be it from me to stand in the way of more verses…

I just find when I sing this song I’m so eager to stay in the quiet intimacy created by that first verse that I’m happy to just keep going back to the top.

Anyway – at any rate this is a beautiful song and I challenge you to find another worship song that gets away with singing the word ‘deer’.

Thanks for reading. Turns out there are actually people out there who do. That blows me away.

Say hi any time 😀
B