Custom to sing about moshiach

Question

Does anyone know of sources documenting people singing about moshiach. For example, there is a chosid of the Ruzhiner who composed a song about the Ruzhiner as moshiach. Likewise it says in the Talmud that the leviim would sing mizmor shir l’yom hashabbos and think about the redemption. I’m wondering if anyone knows of any communities that sang about Moshiach or his coming and which has been documented specifically in the past 1000 years.

Answer 1

This question could be either very good or very bad. Maybe the questioner wants to know why moshiach is such a common theme in Jewish music. I could ask the same thing about any sport, why do the fans of X team sing Y song, is it written in a book that they have to sing it? Why do they sing the national anthem when the USA president goes somewhere? Is it a law?

• Answer 1: When something matters to you, it shows up in your songs. Jews have longed for moshiach for so long that we sing about it with passion.

• Answer 2: Most of the Jewish songs we sing today were composed and written after the holocaust, when the only hope that Jews had was that this was the start of the moshiach era, so it became a classic Jewish song.

• Answer 3: It is one of the beliefs that Jews say every day, and it is the only one out of the thirteen that fits to the tune.

• Answer 4: Moshiach is song, this is a deep answer and needs thought. If there are those interested I am more than happy to explain this idea.

Rebbe Nachman in Lekutei mahran 49:5.

וְזֶה בְּחִינַת הַשִּׁיר שֶׁיִּתְעַר לֶעָתִיד, וְהוּא שִׁיר פָּשׁוּט, כָּפוּל, מְשֻׁלָּשׁ, מְרֻבָּע, וְהֵם עֲשָׂרָה מִינֵי נִגּוּנָא. 5. This is the aspect of the song that will be roused in the Future. It is a simple-twofold-threefold-fourfold song, this being the Ten Kinds of Song. זֶה בְּחִינַת הֵא, שֶׁהִיא דָּלֶת עִם יוּד. דָּלֶ"ת, זֶה בְּחִינַת שִׁיר פָּשׁוּט, כָּפוּל, מְשֻׁלָּשׁ, מְרֻבָּע. יוּד, זֶה בְּחִינַת עֲשָׂרָה מִינֵי נִגּוּנָא. This is the heh, which is a dalet and a yod. The dalet is the aspect of a simple-twofold-threefold-fourfold song; the yod is the aspect of the Ten Kinds of Song. וְזֶה עַל־יְדֵי הִתְגַּלּוּת מַלְכוּתוֹ, בִּבְחִינַת שָׂרָה עַל כָּל הָעוֹלָם. וְשָׂרָה זֶה בְּחִינַת שִׁיר, בְּחִינַת: וְשָׁרִים כְּחוֹלְלִים. וְזֶה בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת דָּוִד, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת: נְעִים זְמִירוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל (שמואל־ב כג). This through the revelation of His Kingship, in the aspect of “sarah (she ruled) over the entire world.” And SaRah is the aspect of ShiR (song), corresponding to “Then the ShaRim (singers) will be like flute players.” This is also the aspect of the kingdom of David, for he is “the sweet singer of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). וְזֶה פֵּרוּשׁ (ב"מ נט): אִתְּתָךְ גּוּצָא – גְּחֹן וּלְחִישׁ, פֵּרֵשׁ רַשִׁ"י: שְׁמַע עֲצָתָהּ. This is the explanation of: If your wife is short, bend down and l’ chish (listen) [to her] (Bava Metzia 59a). Rashi comments: listen to her counsel. כִּי בֶּאֱמֶת אִשָּׁה יִרְאַת הַשֵּׁם הִיא בְּחִינַת עֵצָה. כְּשֶׁהַתְּפִלָּה, הַיְנוּ בְּחִינַת מַלְכוּת, בְּשִׁפְלוּת וּבְקַטְנוּת, בִּבְחִינַת אִתְּתָךְ גּוּצָא, בִּבְחִינַת (שיר השירים ח׳:ח׳): אָחוֹת לָנוּ קְטַנָּה, בְּחִינַת (בראשית א׳:ט״ז): אֶת הַמָּאוֹר הַקָּטֹן, בִּבְחִינַת עֲצָתוֹ נוֹפָלֶת (סנהדרין כב ע"ש) – In fact, a Godfearing woman is the aspect of advice. When the prayer—i.e., the aspect of <David’s> kingdom—is lowly and KaTNut (constricted)—in the aspect of “your wife is short,” and “we have a KTaNa (little) sister” (Song of Songs 8:8) —it corresponds to “the KaTaN (lesser) light” (Genesis 1:16), in the aspect of “his counsel falls away” (Sanhedrin 22a). צָרִיךְ לְהָקִים אוֹתָהּ, בִּבְחִינַת (עמוס ט׳:י״א): אָקִים אֶת סֻכַּת דָּוִד. וְסֻכָּה זוֹ שָׂרָה, שֶׁסָּכְתָה בְּרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ (מגילה יד), וְשָׂרָה זֶה מַלְכוּת, בִּבְחִינַת (משלי י״ט:כ״א): עֲצַת ה' הִיא תָקוּם, בִּבְחִינַת (בראשית א׳:ט״ז): שְׁנֵי הַמְּאוֹרוֹת הַגְּדוֹלִים. [When prayer is lowly] it is necessary to erect it, in the aspect of “I will erect the sukkah (booth) of David” (Amos 9:11). SuKkah is SaRah, for “she SaKhtah (foresaw) with the spirit of holiness” (Megillah 14a), and Sarah is Malkhut. [Prayer is also] the aspect of “the counsel of God that will stand” (Proverbs 19:19), and the aspect of “the two great lights” (Genesis 1:16). וְזֶה: וּלְחִישׁ לָהּ – תְּקַבֵּל עֲצָתָהּ. וְזֶה עֲלִיּוֹת הַתְּפִלָּה שֶׁהִיא בְּלַחַשׁ, שֶׁהִיא עֲבוֹדָה שֶׁבַּלֵּב: This is “L’ChiSh (listen) to her” accept her counsel— the ascent of the prayer, which is [recited] b’LaChaSh (silently), for it is the service of the heart.