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Description

Whilst Lewis Capaldi’s ‘Heavenly Kind of State of Mind’ isn’t a worship song, the lyrics within it are a powerful reminder of the love and power of God’s love for us. Let’s explore some of those lyrics in more detail.

Resources

What you'll need
YouTube or a music streaming service
Speakers
Projector/large TV (if showing lyric video)
Lyric sheets
Large sheets of paper (i.e. flip chart or A3)
Colouring pens
Bible



Leader Preparation
A leader will need to prepare a means to listed to the song. This could be via speakers, or you could use a projector and large TV if watching the lyric video.

Instructions

Did you know
- Almost all forms of religion feature music as an important part of worship, ritual or ceremony.
- There are many genres of Christian music today include Christian rap, pop, metal, hip hop and more.
- Paul encouraged the Church to “Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19)

Getting into the activity
1) Listen to the song ‘Heavenly Kind of State of Mind’ by Lewis Capaldi, trying to listen in particular to the lyrics of the song. Please note there is a swear word at the start of the song. We suggest starting the song from 24 seconds in to avoid this.
2) What are your initial thoughts about the song and the lyrics within in? What do you think Lewis is singing about? Were there any key words or themes that stood out to you?
3) Whilst Lewis has at no point suggests he is a Christian or has a Christian faith, his lyrics are filled with imagery and references to faith, sacrifice, sin, unconditional love and the afterlife. Some elements of it almost feel like a worship song.
4) Whether Lewis Capaldi was aiming to do that or not is unknown. However it is interesting that when Lewis wants to talk about love, hope and sacrifice, he turns to references about God to do that. Even in today’s society, where faith is talked about less and less, these references are still a powerful way to express strong feelings and meaning. These lyrics could easily have been written by a Christian expressing their faith and relationship with God.
5) Heavenly State of Mind Collage: Split into groups and each group should pick one of the lyric sheets. Stick them onto large pieces of paper (i.e. flip chart paper) and then around the outside of the lyrics you should add annotations that help express the Christian context of this lyric. This could include printed images, drawings, bible verse, key words, thoughts etc. Aim to include at least one Bible verse. To do this you could use Google to search for Bible verse linked to the theme of your lyric.
6) Whilst doing this activity, be encouraged to reflect on the potential meaning behind the lyrics and how they can help us to further understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross.
7) After each group has created their collage, come back together as a big group and share what you have created and your reflections on the lyric.
8) Finish the activity in prayer, bringing your reflections and collages before God.

Ideas to take this further
This activity could also be done with other well-known songs too, including ‘Fix You’ by Coldplay or ‘You’ve Got the Love’ by Florence & the Machine.

Tags

• faith
• music
• praise
• song

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