Yeah, Greg ... I kind of had a feeling that you were talking about praise and worship songs. I have this theory that p&w songs are actually nothing more than intentionally incomplete pop songs. Consider ...

Praise and worship "artists" (and I think we need to use that term loosely) recognize the fact that they are never going to get a lot of radio play. So any money that they make is going to come from performance rights when churches play their tunes on a Sunday morning. As it's tough to live on love, they need cash, and thus they write for the church.

But having said that, they face two additional problems. First, most churches in America are not bursting at the seems with musical talent. Visit enough small churches (as I have through Tri-County) and you come to the very quick conclusion that we are not a musically gifted generation. Secondly, even if your church is blessed with talent, there's still the issue of time and learning the music. Most worship teams practice for less than three hours per week and that barely gives them enough time to learn the music and to learn how to play it in time with one another.

So if you are a praise and worship "artist" looking to get paid and make a living, you have to write music that is simple to learn and ladden with catchy popularly accessible hooks. Hence, the creation of the incomplete pop song - a tune often devoid of inovative lyrics, distinct bridges, and minor key leanings.