Page - 43 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

What Makes Popular Christian Music “Popular”? | 43www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 41–57 “Contemporary Christian Music” into YouTube and selected the top match in each case, namely the song “You Say” by the US-American singer Lauren Dai- gle and the song “Alles ist möglich” (“Everything is Possible”) by the German band Koenige & Priester (Kings & Priests).6 This article analyses these songs through close readings, focusing on the lyrics and the musical design but also providing contextualizing observations. Before commencing, I wish to express some self-reflections to outline both my relationship to the subject as well as my motivation. Although I was con- firmed in the Lutheran Church at the age of 14, I now identify as agnostic; as such, I approach the phenomenon of PCM from an outside perspective. Whilst PCM has not been my main field of research so far, PCM is becoming a strong academic interest, and I am eager to explore and understand what PCM means to evangelical circles and how it is used to transmit their beliefs. Approaches to the Terms “Popular” and “Popular Culture” Concerning the terms “popular” and “popular culture”, I will focus on the plu- ralistic definitions as outlined by the publication Handbuch Populäre Kultur7 (Handbook of Popular Culture) and avoid providing a straightforward defini- tion (i.e. “‘popular’ / ‘popular culture’ is …”), as what can be expressed through the terms’ complex (and at times contradictory) aspects can fuel a substantial seminar without reaching a standardized (or conclusive) definition.8 Etymologically, the word “popular” is related to the Latin adverb “popula- ris”, the latter meaning “regarding the people / popular within the people”.9 A first, superficial understanding of “popular” is thus that it describes some- thing heard/read/watched by many people, that enjoy it for different reasons, in a quantity that might be assessed via sales numbers, bestseller lists, charts, download/streaming numbers or ratings. A second perspective sees “popular culture” as a counterpart to “high cul- ture”, a dichotomy found in the dispute between Gottfried August Bürger, who understood “the popular” as a standard for art, and Friedrich Schiller, who distinguished the public as an uneducated crowd from the educated 6 You Say (Lauren Daigle, US 2018); Alles ist möglich (Koenige & Priester, DE 2017). 7 Hügel 2003a. 8 An overview of the pluralistic definitions can also be found in: Storey 2008. 9 Hügel 2003b, 343, my translation.