We Await You O Lord

This song for Advent can be found on John’s best-selling CD Welcome Home for Christmas (WLP 008282). Mixing old and new, John takes musical elements from the well-known hymn tune MORNING SONG as inspiration for a new tune, paired with the familiar Advent text by John Brownlie. The syncopated, melodic vocal line is supported with a steady pulse and chord changes in the keyboard. With the leap of the major sixth in the refrain’s initial and succeeding phrases, John’s writing expresses a message of hope: “You have promised the dawn, Christ our life, we await you, O Lord.” Whole-step modulation sets up the choral verse and smooth transition to the final refrain.