Dancing Magnificat (I’m bursting with good news) (website only)
Refrain
I’m bursting with good news that means new life,
I’m dancing to the tune of God, my midwife,
Stepping out in the faith to live this role,
And moving to the beat that makes me whole.
God has turned expectations on their head,
And mercy flows in waves to us from One who saves,
God, in power, has scattered human plans,
With promise of new hope, continuous kaleidoscope.
Refrain: I’m bursting …..
God declares that the poor shall have their fill,
While rich are turned away, the poor will see their day,
God declares the promised one is close,
The prophecy complete, and now it moves my dancing feet.
Refrain: I’m bursting …..
Celebrate the choice that God has made,
The blessing here inside I will not try to hide,
Watch with me the progress of God’s plan,
The baby I will bear, our endless hope, religion’s heir.
Refrain: I’m bursting …..
Words and music © Clare Stainsby 2024, inspired by Luke 1: 46 - 55 (The Message) and the statue of Mary dancing by David Wynne in Ely Cathedral (Images: above, courtesy of Ely Cathedral www.elycathedral.org; below, photo by Clare Stainsby)
Listen to a recording of the song
Ideas for use
Dancing Magnificat is a paraphrase of the song of Jesus’ mother Mary, after she learns from an angel that she is pregnant with God’s son (Luke 1: 46 – 55).
With its themes of justice and re-establishing God’s dream for the world, these are words that transcend the Christmas story and mirror the vision of a new heaven and a new earth in the book of Revelation. They apply as much to Homelessness Sunday or Christian Aid Week as they do to the fourth Sunday in Advent.
Clare says the song has been used in various ways: with a choir, with a worship band, and “with just me on a guitar, teaching the congregation”. The recording (link above) was made by Clare “with a teenage member of my worship band, recognising that Mary was probably a teenager herself”.
More information
Clare wrote Dancing Magnificat in a creative writing workshop at a Methodist ArtServe Conference. “We were given the text of the Magnificat in various versions of the Bible, and I was especially struck by The Message version (Eugene H. Peterson The Message, 1993). There was also a throw-away mention of the statue of Mary dancing in the Lady Chapel at Ely Cathedral.”
A number of phrases in the text allude to Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase, in particular the opening line, which Peterson renders: “I’m bursting with God-news; I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.”
There are other hymn paraphrases of Mary’s song in Singing the Faith (notably, Timothy Dudley-Smith’s Tell out, my soul, StF 186, and Owen Alstott’s My soul rejoices, StF 60). Clare’s setting is markedly livelier – dance-like, and suggestive of other Hebrew or Klezmer-style melodies and rhythms. (Also see You shall go out with joy, StF 487). As befits a setting that speaks of dancing feet, there is perhaps a greater connection with the earth here, with everydayness (no mention of "soul" in the opening line).
Clare's words contain memorable phrases (“… the poor will see their day”; “The prophecy complete, and now it moves my dancing feet.”). Others are thought-provoking in a different way – the reminder, for example, that God’s good news “means new life” and that God is Mary’s midwife. Also, the closing phrase of verse 3, which declares that Mary’s baby will be “religion’s heir” – which might be interpreted as saying not only is Mary’s Magnificat about turning the world order upside down, but the assumptions of organised religion also.
The Revd Clare Stainsby is a Methodist superintendent minister. She has a number of other hymns included in Singing the Faith and on the Resource Hub, including the Christmas hymn, Beneath the paper wrappings.