St Luke's Church Eccleshill, Bradford, UK

Daniel 1 as a Rap

The idea is there's a regular pulse throughout, which I've indicated by putting a * before each of the stressed syllables. There is no gap between verses. The word "Abednego" in this poem has a stress on the first "A" and its rhythm (taking the beat as a crotchet) is a semiquaver, a quaver, a semiquaver, and the start of the next beat.

I'll *tell you the *story of the *friends of *Daniel:
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o;
what *happened to *them in the *palace of *Babylon -
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

They were *fine young *men from the *land of *Israel,
*taken a*way and *they had to *go
to *work for the *king after *three years' *training:
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

The *king said that *they were to *eat good *food -
*food that was *sacrificed to *Babylon's *idols,
but *they thought the *idols were a *great big *NO!! NO!!
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

"*We want to *try eating *nothing but *vegetables.
*Test us to *see if *we'll be o*kay.
*After ten *days we'll be *fitter and *healthier," said
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

The *chief of*ficial *tested them and *tried them,
and *sure e*nough, they were *raring to *go.
It *just goes to *show that *God looked *after them:
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

At the *end of the *training the *king ex*amined them
to *see what *they had *learned to *know,
and in *all the *kingdom there was *no-one *cleverer than
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

Will *you stand *up for what's *right and *true?
And will *you stay *pure in *what you *do?
If *you honour *God then *he'll honour *you, like
*Shadrach, *Meshach, *Abedneg*o.

John Hartley