I can imagine that singing the Sacred Harp would be quite thrilling....not for the words, per se, but more for the epic nature of the sound. Most Sacred Harp songs are about the extremes of joy or anguish. This is the kind of music you imagine was sung in remote areas of the country hundreds of years ago. It's one of those branches of "Soul Music" - it takes on the "religious" tone and expresses matters of the soul. However, I can't completely buy into it. It's aesthetically pleasing and moving, but it isn't anything truly meaningful. It's not some primordial method of meditation or purgation. It is what it is: a folk art.

Awake, My Soul: The Story of The Sacred Harp