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Six More Songs-bookcover

By: Ivor Moody

Six More Songs

Pages: 178 Ratings: 5.0
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In a society many consider now to be post-Christian, with traditional rituals and expressions of belief and faith struggling to maintain their appeal, we desperately need different signs and symbols to help us realise afresh the message of the Christian Gospel and the importance of faith. Ivor Moody argues that the songs studied in this book can provide a way to do just that. They are familiar, much-loved icons of music played and admired by millions and famous throughout the world; but also, they might contain a message to the world of faith and spirituality to look again at how the sacred can be found within the secular. They are stories of a priest and a parishioner feeling crippled by their loneliness; a musician who has ended up in a dead-end bar with others who need to blot out life for a little while; a community living with division and repression, a dying soldier, a singer experiencing a kind of epiphany and people living with mental illness. Each song connects us to something in our own story. Songs which have been with us for years and which thread through our lives but which could provide those new signs and symbols which will be able to inform and enrich our relationship with God.

The Rev’d Canon Ivor Moody is Vice Dean and Canon Pastor of Chelmsford Cathedral and he has held the post since 2010. He Chairs Essex Mind and Spirit, the Mid Essex Inter Faith Forum, the Chelmsford Single Homeless Forum and the Essex Faith Covenant. He is also Chaplain to the Essex County Council.


Ivor has served all his professional life in the County of Essex, working in the Diocese of Chelmsford. After studying for a theology degree at Kings College London and then training for the priesthood at the College of the Resurrection in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, he served two curacies, at St. Margaret’s Leytonstone and at St. Margaret’s Leigh on Sea. He then became vicar of St. John the Baptist Tilbury Docks, before moving to Chelmsford in 1996 to become Chaplain of Anglia Ruskin University (Chelmsford campus), where he gained an MA in Pastoral Theology with the Cambridge Theological Federation.


 Ivor is married to Ruth and they have four grown up children.

Customer Reviews
5.0
2 reviews
2 reviews
  • Voxrhythm

    These days, it’s more important than ever to communicate hope and healing that the Gospel message offers in ways that people clearly understand. The scriptures record that when Jesus spoke, ‘The common people heard him gladly’, often using stories that were contemporary in nature and relevant to all. Drawing on songs from popular culture and using them as a springboard, each chapter of ‘Six More Songs’ weaves together different aspects of faith and how it intersects with human experience. Ivor Moody skilfully unpacks the implications of the lyrics of each song in a way that is accessible not only to church people but to those for whom the pathway of belief in spiritual realities is largely untrodden. The themes behind McCartney’s ‘Eleanor Rigby’ and Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’ are explained and developed. I found particularly interesting the chapter on Peter Gabriel’s ‘Solsbury Hill’. Written at a time of change for him and pertinent to all of us at certain points in our lives. The final chapter covers what for me was up until then an undiscovered song- ‘Into the Fire’. Here Ivor addresses the very relevant issue of mental ill health and estrangement. Presenting and expanding on these six significant musical compositions of our time along with notable quotes from writers and poets such as Rowan Williams, Gerard Manley Hopkins, R.S. Thomas and Henri Nouwen gives the reader lots to think about in applying these observations into their life. I found ‘Six More Songs’ both thought provoking and inspiring to read. Recommended.

  • Dr. Liz Anscombe

    Having found inspiration from Ivor‘s first book, ‘Songs for the Soul’. I found ‘Six More Songs’, full of depth, insights from the Gospel’s and with links to history. Ivor explores David Bowie’s song, ‘Heroes’ and how the song became an anthem for the fall of the Berlin wall, and ‘Brothers in Arms’ by Dire Straits , written around the time of the Falklands conflict.

    My personal favourite is, “Into the Fire.“ Being a Grey’s Anatomy fan. These lyrics and refrain carried some intense medical drama, and reminded me of my own experiences working in a hospital. We all have our own links to the songs and Ivor Moody helps us in our exploration by turning the key.

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