New feature: Submit lyrics & tags

Shalom, holy friends and fans of Messiah’s music.

I’ve rolled out some new features this week on Chavah that I think you may like.

First up, lyrics and tags. Chavah now allows you, the listener, to submit lyrics or tags for a song.

To start, click Submit tags for this song:

Alternately, click Lyrics and then Submit lyrics for this song:

Doing either of these will take you to the song edit page:

Here you can type the lyrics for the song, or enter tags for a song.

Lyrics can be encouraging to read as they often amplify the Scriptures. It also helps to include English translations for songs have Hebrew, French, or Spanish lyrics.

FAQ: What should I do for songs that have Hebrew lyrics?

My default stance is to include the English transliteration of the Hebrew, e.g.

“Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu”

If you’re comfortable with Hebrew, by all means include it in the lyrics, as many of our listeners are also Hebrew speakers:

שמע ישראל יהוה אלהינו יהוה אחד

If you do type the Hebrew lyrics, please include an English transliteration for our listeners who cannot read Hebrew.

If you wish to include Hebrew nikkudot, that’s fine but not required.

For bonus points, include a translation of the Hebrew, either inline or after the Hebrew lyrics.

Bottom line: For a song that was a simple singing of the Sh’ma, your lyrics should ideally look something like this:

שמע ישראל
יהוה אלהינו
יהוה אחד

Shema Yisrael (Hear, Israel)
Adonai Eloheinu (The Lord our God)
Adonai echad (The Lord is one)

Here we have the Hebrew, transliteration, and English translation.

If you’re unable to include all these elements, that’s OK! Submit whatever you’re able.

FAQ: What about the name of God?

Our stance at Chavah Messianic Radio has been to reflect the reality of the broad Messianic movement and its variety of stances on speaking the divine name of God.

I’d suggest that if a song includes a rendition of the divine name, simply include it in the lyrics as-is.

Likewise, if a song includes a circumlocution (Lord, Adonai, Hashem, etc.), I recommend simply using the circumlocution as-is.

In short, whatever the artist has in their song, use that lyric. This helps preserve artistic integrity of the songs and doesn’t inject one’s personal theology into the equation.

FAQ: What are song tags?

Song tags are characteristics, or traits, of a song. It should include defining traits of a song, such as prominent instruments, vocal arrangement, the relevant Scripture the song is based on, and so on.

For Micha’el Ben David’s – Mi Kamocha (Who is Like You) song, I’ve defined the tags like so:

I’ve tagged this song as:

• song of moses
• torah
• exodus
• praise
• strings
• trumpet
• hebrew-english
• male vocal

Tagging a song like this helps Chavah play music more finely tuned for each listener. For example, if you tend to thumb up praise songs in hebrew-english (that is, songs with both Hebrew and English lyrics), Chavah will play more songs like that.

In a nutshell, tagging makes Chavah smarter so she’ll play more of the good stuff for you and other listeners.

FAQ: Can anyone submit lyrics and tags?

You must be signed in to submit lyrics or tags.

When you submit lyrics and tags, they’ll be queued up for approval. Admins will review your submission within 24 hours and apply it immediately upon approval.

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Enjoy the new lyrics and tags features, fine Chavah fans! An early shabbat shalom to you.