http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=227766&highlight=Lord+of+the+Dance

1. Lord of the Dance was composed in 1963 by the radical English poet, composer and folk singer, Sydney Carter.

2. The tune is adaption of the American Shaker hymn, "Simple Gifts"

3. The composer himself described his own religious views in the following words:
"I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in other times and places, other planets, there may be other Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words of Jesus."

4. Carter said that inspiration for the song came, in part, from a statue of the dancing Shiva (a hindu god) that he kept on his desk and that he was astonished by its success:
"I did not think the churches would like it at all. I thought many people would find it pretty far flown, probably heretical and anyway dubiously Christian....Anyway, it's the sort of Christianity I believe in"

5. The lyrics may perhaps be connected to the second century heretical Apocryphal Acts of John in which before his Passion, Christ stands in the midst of his disciples and bids them join hands and dance with him, whilst he sings a hymn to the Father.

------
This cryptic and subtely non-Catholic song is regularly sung at the Novus Ordo mass. There are also countless other ambiguous and completely idiotic "hymns" sung at the Novus Ordo. Whenever I hear something like this song at the Novus Ordo it makes me feel uneasy.