Photo by Claudiu Pusuc
The Cutting Edge Band formed in 1992, a collection of musicians who performed for youth outreach event “Cutting Edge” in Littlehampton, West Sussex. They performed at Arun Community Church with the hopes of winning the lost for Christ. Cutting Edge events played throughout England for three years to increasingly larger crowds. One such event occurred near Littlehampton’s beach, where about 4,000 people attended. They also released four EP’s over five years.
The Cutting Edge became Delirious? in 1997, releasing their first album King of Fools, with widespread fanfare as one of the most popular CCM and rock bands of the later ’90s in the UK and here in the States. Eleven years later, they would release seven more albums, including:
- Mezzamorphis (1999)
- Glo (2000)
- Audio Lessonover? (2001)
- Touch (2002)
- World Service (2003)
- The Mission Bell (2005)
- Kingdom of Comfort (2008)
The Mission Bell was nominated for a Dove Award for Rock/Contemporary Album of the Year but did not win.
Interestingly, their song Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? did not appear on any album released by Delirious?. It is contained within their third EP Red Tape, under their former band name.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
It is primarily celebratory language describing our joy when sinners bow the knee to Jesus. It contains a deep concentration on experiential testimony, touching on God’s stirring of the unbeliever’s heart. It also has some unfortunate linguistic issues that I cover more in section 2, communicating that our collective efforts can undo sin and (possibly) set captive hearts free.
Score: 7/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
Most of it is Scriptural; However, Verse 3 does not.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ, the risen One?
The faith of a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20, Mark 11:23, and Luke 17:6). Imagine what the body of Christ can accomplish if we all took our faith seriously?
Thank You, Lord
Hey
An attitude of gratitude is Godly behavior (1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 107:8-9, and Colossians 3:17).
[Verse 2]
Did you feel the people tremble?
Did you hear the singers roar?
When the lost began to sing of
Jesus Christ, the saving One?
An earthly equivalent of the heavenly hosts that rejoice when one sinner repents (Luke 15:7 and Luke 15:10).
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And we can see that, God, You’re moving
A mighty river through the nations;
And young and old will turn to Jesus
God’s activities through kingdoms are manifested through changed hearts (Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:33, and Hebrews 8:10).
Fling wide, you heavenly gates;
Prepare the way of the risen Lord
Open heavenly doors precede the King of Glory who enters (Psalm 24:7-9).
[Chorus]
Open up the doors (Open up the doors)
The heavenly doors mentioned in Pre-Chorus 1, line 4.
And let the music play (Let the music play)
Let the streets resound with singing
(We’re singing about the wonderful Savior)
Songs that bring Your hope (Songs that bring Your hope)
Songs that bring Your joy (Songs that bring Your joy)
Dancers who dance upon injustice (Oh yeah)
Delirious?‘s call for believers to use music as a medium to evangelize to the lost. I cannot imagine that lyrical content would be excluded from Christ’s Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). The singing and dancing celebrate the eventual second coming of Christ, when He will rid the world of injustice and strike down the nations (Revelation 19:11-16).
[Verse 3]
Do you feel the darkness tremble?
When all the saints join in one song
Combines three concepts: the unity of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, and Ephesians 4:1-16), the fact that we have light (Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:5-7, and 1 John 2:7-11), and that God’s light (that we possess) is that which drives out darkness (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).
And all the streams flow as one river
This could refer to the saints joining in one song or a universalist perspective, that multiple worldviews combine as one. The former seems more likely.
To wash away a brokenness?
This could modify either line 3 or the combination of lines 2 and 3. If we assume that the “saints join as one song” theory is accurate for line 3, then Delirious? is saying that the saints’ collective song can undo sin. This is incorrect. It is not the saints joining in one song that washes away sin. Rather, it is the blood of Jesus (Ephesians 1:7, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Peter 1:2, and 1 Peter 1:18-19).
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And here we see that, God, You’re moving
Repeats Pre-Chorus, line 1.
A time of jubilee is coming
When young and old return to Jesus
See commentary in Verse 2. Not to be confused with the Year of Jubilee, an Old Covenant celebratory custom in Israel occurring every 49 years.
Fling wide you heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord
Oh, prepare the way of the risen Lord
Repeats Pre-Chorus, lines 4 and 5.
[Interlude]
Let the music play
Repeats Chorus, line 2.
Did you feel?
Did you feel?
Repeats the beginning words of each Verse.
[Spontaneous]
Oh, we will play, we will play
Play like we’ve never played before
A platitude that is non-biblical, but not unbiblical.
Oh, God is gonna bring you a new song
God is gonna bring you new music
He puts a new song in our collective mouths (Psalm 40:3).
Oh, praise the Saviour
Praise the Saviour
Expression of praise.
God is gonna bring you new sounds with songs
See line 3.
Gonna release the broken hearted
God released the broken-hearted (Psalm 147:3).
[Spontaneous (2)]
It’s because of You
It’s because of You, Lord
Something is changing
See commentary in Spontaneous, line 8.
Did you feel the mountains are moving again?
Essentially repeats Verse 1, line 1.
Fling wide the gates
Lift up the gates
Lift them up
Lift up the gates
Essentially repeats Pre-Chorus 1, line 4.
Score: 7/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
It will be evident in the unbelieving mind that this song is meant for Christians, with a similar interpretation to my own. Of course, they will not be able to join in the celebration in the same way us Christians do, unless they decide to follow Jesus. A keener eye will pick up the error I found in Verse 3.
Score: 7/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Delirious? glorifies God through their triumphant commemoration of one sinner who repents; However, it is dulled by their error mentioned in other sections.
Score: 7/10
Closing Comments
Delirious?’s Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? is a decent song. An unbeliever’s repentance and faith placed in Christ is worthy of celebration and worth singing about, bringing glory to God. Most of it is Biblical; However, the unfortunate linguistic errors in Verse 3 severely impact its scoring.
In light of this mistake, I cannot recommend this song for worship without modification.
Final Score: 7/10
Artist Info
Track: Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? (listen to the song)
Artist: Delirious?
EP: Red Tape
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 1994
Duration: 5:29
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 1994 Curious? Music UK (PRS) (adm. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
03/09/2022 – After a brief conversion with Martyn Ingham, as well as carefully listening to the song in question, my criticiam of Spontaneous is based on a misleard lyric. I corrected the line and updated my commentary. I also updated criticism of Verse 3 in section 2, to clarify precisely my critique. I did not alter my score.
03/23/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.
02/07/2020 – Corrected lyric in Verse 3, line 4. Thank you again Sue!
02/05/2020 – Added further commentary in Chorus to explain the purpose of singing and dancing. Thank you Sue for asking about it!
11/12/2019 – As a result of my conversation with BuzzBuzzMeow, I updated my commentary on Verse 3. I did not alter the score.
Comments
BuzzBuzzMeow
In the third verse, couldn’t you interpret it to mean that the darkness trembles when the saints join in one song AND when the streams flow as one river to wash away a broken mess? It doesn’t say that the saints’ song will wash away anything, just that the darkness trembles at it, and that the darkness ALSO trembles at the cleansing flood of lines 3 and 4.
The second two lines fit the flood motif of the Bible. The flood of Noah’s day washed away the broken mess of the world (or, as I thought the lyrics said, “our brokenness”–the destruction of sin). Similarly, Christ cleanses us from unrighteousness. In Noah’s day, there were only a handful of people saved, but now there are a great host, and together we join to sing against the darkness. So there are two things: the saints, and God’s sanctifying power. The darkness trembles at them both.
The troubling part to me in this stanza is “all the streams flow as one river.” It hints at universalism, although I can’t imagine Delirious intended it that way. I’d appreciate seeing how others view this line.
Vince Wright
BuzzBuzzMeow,
Thank you for your challenge! I have a few thoughts:
1. I was attempting to follow the sentence structure logically, that both the saints’ song and the combined flowing rivers are that which wash away sin. Your interpretation makes more sense; However, one could legitimately read it as I have from a grammatical standpoint. Thus, the last line of Verse 3 becomes a dangling modifier.
2. I’ll have to find Bible verses to support your view that the singing saints make darkness tremble.
3. If all the streams flowing as one river represents an unfortunate universalist interpretation, doesn’t that take away from your comments about Noah and the flood as causing darkness to tremble?
I’ll think more on your comments intermixed with my own. Expect an update on Wednesday or Friday this week.
-Vince Wright
BuzzBuzzMeow
The last line would only be a misplaced modifier if it were supposed to connect to the second line instead of the third: “all the saints join in one song to wash away a broken mess.” But it reads: “All the streams flow as one river to wash away a broken mess”–the phrase modifies the one directly preceding it.
I think that the word “song” is a metaphor–the saints joining together as the Church. Using “song” to describe this alludes to the harmony spoken of in Ephesians 4, 1 Corinthians 12, and Romans 12. And the Church does have power over the darkness, as Matthew 16:18 says: “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
“’For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.’
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:31-39
As I said before, I don’t think they intended a universalist interpretation–I’d guess it was simply poor poetry which unfortunately breeds confusion.
Thanks for thinking through these things and allowing us to do it with you!
Vince Wright
BuzzBuzzMeow,
Thank you for your additional comments. I am enjoying this discussion!
I was thinking misplaced modifier because of the possibility that “To wash away a broken mess” could either modify “When all the saints join in one song And all the streams flow as one river” or “all the streams flow as one river”. That, or perhaps I don’t understand misplaced modifiers as much as I thought I did.
I’ve been mulling it over and thought that, perhaps, the saints joining in song could potentially combine three concepts: the unity of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:17, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, and Ephesians 4:1-16), the fact that we have light (Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians 5:8, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:5-7, and 1 John 2:7-11), and that God’s light (that we possess) is that which drives out darkness (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).
I understand what you mean by a universalist perspective. It could also be that the “streams flow as one river” could be a second reference to the same concept as “all the saints join in one song”. That is, all our individual streams come together. Under this interpretation, “To wash away a broken mess” still falls in line with my original commentary.
I won’t make any changes yet. I’d still like to hear from you first.
-Vince Wright
BuzzBuzzMeow
Maybe we can call it an ambiguous modifier? 🙂 I like your thoughts about the saints joining in song. I’m still as confused about “all the streams flow as one river”! I think that perhaps you’re right, though. I can’t see any other meaning it might have.
Thanks for the conversation!
(ps I have a degree in English Linguistics, but even so I like to reference Grammar Girl at http://www.quickanddirtytips.com to refresh my mind about misplaced modifiers and other quirks of the English language).
Vince Wright
BuzzBuzzMeow,
I enjoyed our conversation! I am willing to concede on misplaced modifier. My degree is in Computer Science, so I tend to think of and’s and or’s as conditional terms.
Now that we have consensus, I plan to update my post on Tuesday.
-Vince Wright
Sue
Hi, quick question. What does “dancers who dance upon injustice” mean?
Vince Wright
Sue,
Great question!
Dancing is paired nicely with singing and music. It typically occurs as part of a celebration. For example, King David danced in an undignified manner in 2 Samuel 6:14-23. He was celebrating the return of the Ark of the Covenant.
What does dancing celebrate in Delirious?’ song? Jesus’ second coming. He will come back again and rid the world of injustice.
I added further commentary to Chorus to include this, along with Scripture.
-Vince Wright
Sue
Another thing, I was looking on SongSelect and I think that “to wash away a broken mess” is actually supposed to be “to wash away our brokenness”
Vince Wright
Sue,
Thank you! I checked three other sites and found it consistent with your correction. I updated my page.
-Vince Wright
Brian Westhead
In the late nineties I played with a cracking worship band and we didn’t dare attempt this epic song as we didn’t think we could do it justice. We never considered it was supposed to be a corporate worship song. Then I heard two blokes on acoustic guitars do it with one shouting out the chords to the other. Rather ruined it…
Martyn Ingham
Hi there.
I believe this review needs a rewrite as your main bone of contention is a misheard lyric.
You have written:
“Let us remember the new sound with songs
Delirious?‘s call for us to remember the new song God placed into our mouths.
Gonna release the broken hearted
This is a dangling modifier. Does God release the broken-hearted (Psalm 147:3) or us? Delirious?’s intention is clear, but this use of language requires a slight modification, perhaps “God releases the broken hearted”.”
What Martin Smith actually shouts is:
“God is gonna bring new sounds, new songs, (He’s) gonna release the broken hearted.”
It is obvious that God is doing the releasing, not Deliriou5?
Vince Wright
Martyn,
Thank you for your comments!
First, this is a review of Delirious?’ version, not Martin Smith’s.
Second, Martin Smith’s version doesn’t contain a Sponteneous section nor does it have “God is gonna bring new sounds, new songs, (He’s) gonna release the broken hearted.” in the lyrics. At least. not according to https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/5880277/Hillsong/Did+You+Feel+the+Mountains+Tremble.
Third, maybe you don’t know what a dangling modifier is. A dangling modifier occurs when the intended subject for the statement’s modifier is unclear. For example, there’s a joke in the Disney film Mary Poppins when Bert states, “I know a man with a wooden leg named Smith.” Is “Smith” the name of the man or the wooden leg? We probably know the answer, it’s the man. However, based on the rules of English, it’s not clear if “Smith” refers to the man or the wooden leg. Hence, Uncle Albert replies, “What’s the name of his other leg?”. This exposes the dangling modifier for what it is.
In the same way, Delirious? sings,
“Oh, God is gonna bring you a new song
God is gonna bring you new music
Let us remember the new sound with songs
Gonna release the broken hearted”
If it us or God who released the broken-hearted? Again, I have a pretty good idea that it’s God. However, based on the rules of English, it’s not clear if God or us does this.
-Vince Wright
Martyn Ingham
Hi.
I’m a bit bemused by your comments. Martin Smith was the lead singer of Delirious?! Hence, it is Martin Smith singing on the Delirious? version. Surely you knew that?
Vince Wright
Martyn,
I am too, because there is a “Martin Smith” version, as well as a Delirious? version. The lyrics are somewhat different too, despite the same person/lead singer.
-Vince Wright
Martyn Ingham
Groan.
Your review is of the Delirious? version of the song. I have commented on your somewhat flawed review of the Delirious? version of the song. Martin Smith is the singer on the Delirious? version of the song. Therefore it is only reasonable to mention the name of the singer when talking about the lyrics you have got wrong. Why on Earth would I be referencing a different version? Good grief.
Vince Wright
Martyn,
At any rate, I made a mistake and will amend my review later this week.
-Vince Wright
Martyn Ingham
The point is, you have the lyrics wrong.
The words you have quoted, “Let us remember the new sound with songs
Gonna release the broken hearted” are incorrect.
The correct lyrics – as per the original recording – are:
“God is gonna bring new sounds, new songs, (He’s) gonna release the broken hearted”.
I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you have actually listened to the song and merely misheard the lyrics.
Vince Wright
Martyn,
Thank you for your generosity!
I got the lyrics originally from https://genius.com/Delirious-did-you-feel-the-mountains-tremble-lyrics when I reviewed this song, which does not contain the word “He’s”. So, I wasn’t listening for it when I heard the audio.
I just listened to the original Cutting Edge 3 & 4 version again from https://youtu.be/P0YbwJNs0cw?t=367. The YouTube link provided starts at the top of “spontaneous”. Around the 6:46 to 6:47 mark contains the line in question. I listened three times for it, but I just can’t hear the word “He’s” from this version. Maybe he did say “He’s” and it wasn’t picked up in this particular video? The audio quality isn’t the best. It was recorded in 1995 after all!
-Vince Wright
Martyn Ingham
Oh dear.
You have missed the point again.
The lyrics clearly say, “God is gonna bring you…” NOT “Remember the…” (where on Earth did you get “remember” from??).
The word “He’s” is therefore implied by this clause, that’s why I only included it in brackets.
Thus, “God is gonna…
1) bring you new sounds
2) bring you new songs
3) release the broken hearted.
Vince Wright
Martyn,
Aha! You just asked “where on Earth did you get “remember” from?”. It came from the Genius link. However, the audio says “God is gonna bring you new sounds with songs”, not “Let us remember the new sound with songs”. This changes everything! There’s no more dangling modifier as the Genius link is incorrect.
I’ll update this review when I get a chance. Probably later in the week, around Thursday or Friday.
-Vince Wright
Martyn Ingham
Thank you Vince.
I think trusting other websites for lyrics is a bit like using Wikipedia to do your history homework!
The lyrics can only be confirmed by listening yourself.
Vince Wright
Martyn,
Fair point.
-Vince Wright