Favorite hymn?

[Bossy Monkey]

Yeah yeah yeah, I'm another one of those agnostics (thought of putting "damned atheists"; didn't want to cause irony overload) who likes church music. (I also like sacred harp, much to the chagrin of anybody who rides in my car.) I was raised Catholic in the period just after Vatican II, meaning the church was running around trying to find any hymns from anywhere that were in English and doctrinally acceptable. Surprisingly (I guess), a lot of this stuff came from the Lutheran church. My favorite, thus, is "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty." If you don't know it, you can read the words and hear the tune here:
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/p/t/pttlta.htm

Oddly, it was written by a fellow after whom the Neanderthal was named: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/n/e/neander_j.htm Kicky, no?

So what are your favorites?

[trof]

1. Amazing Grace

Done by a piper.
And I'm an atheist too.

[FloridaJudy]

32. Amazing Grace

Is just about the hopeful song I know, and I'm a unrepentant Pagan. I *love* that hymn! It fits my belief that most humans want to do the right thing whenever possible.

Second is Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze".

Okay, so I'm a bleeding-heart, tree-hugging liberal. I've never pretended to be anything else.

[grannylib]

34. Amazing Grace can be sung to "House of the Rising Sun" and also

to the theme song from Gilligan's Island.

[rustydog]

36. My sister's husband passed away and the minister sang

Amazing Grace acapella.
Man, he made the hair stand up on the nape of my neck and on my arms.
It is the most powerful hymn.
Bernie Ward starts Sunday God Talk with a bagpipe version of Amazing grace that is very powerful.

[montana_hazeleyes]

72. I love Amazing Grace just because-no religious reason

Bernie used to use many versions of Amazing Grace but I guess he's settled with the bagpipes. I think it's the most popular with his listeners. It's really wonderful to listen to.

[mlawson]

2. None. They are all depressing. n/t

[GOPisEvil]

3. Ave Maria

It might be the most beautiful piece of music ever. When done well, of course.

[trof]

5. Yeah, medium-rare suz on that one.

I just can't help myself.
;-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. Praise to the Lord the Almighty is on my list

along with

Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Come Down, O Love Divine
Immortal Invisible God Only Wise
Christ is Made the Sure Foundation (Purcell tune)
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Wake Awake, for Night is Flying
For All the Saints

I sing in a cathedral choir, so I'm learning new ones all the time.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

6. How Great Thou Art is one of my all time favorite songs let alone hymns

[MissMillie]

43. Gets my vote too

The first verse just brings a lump to my throat.

Followed closely by "Let There be Peace on Earth"

[mitchum]

7. "Precious Memories" is pretty cool...

especially when sung by Waylon Jennings

[blackcat77]

8. "I'll Fly Away."

My wife has been told in no uncertain terms that is to be the only religious song at my funeral.

[Bertha Venation]

59. never thought of that as a hymn. maybe because

the first time I heard it, it was from Allison Krauss. What a great song.

[mndemocrat_29]

9. Eternal Father, Strong to Save

n/t

[SiobhanClancy]

12. Mine,too

The mariner's hymn.

[NightTrain]

10. Rupert Holmes

Him, him, him, what's she gonna do about him?
She's gonna have to do without him
Or do without me, me, me
No one gets to get it for free.
It's time for me to make the girl see
It's me or it's him.

[Selwynn]

11. Great is thy Faithfulness is my favorite hymn.

[forgethell]

13. Lordy! Sacred Harp?

Do you go the all day sing-a-thons? do you take fried chicken, or potato sald?

Just curious

[Bossy Monkey]

21. Nah, I just have old Lomax records from the 60s

specifically this one: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000002UQ/ref=m_art_li_1/103-2052958-9768647?v=glance&s=music

I can't carry a tune in a sack. Also, I learned to read music the regular way; shape notes would be pretty confusing at this point.

[Cheswick2.0]

14. Be Still My Soul

Just As I Am

[Maeve]

15. "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace" (St Francis prayer)

"O Master grant that I may never seek
So much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand,
To be loved as to love with all my heart...

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
In giving of ourselves that we receive
And in dying that we're born to eternal life."

[ElsewheresDaughter]

38. "make me a channel of Your peace" too maeve

[radwriter0555]

16. George Clooney of Course.

You had to ask?

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. Not a fave hymn, but a fave hymn tune: Finlandia

Beautiful!

Though I also really like "Amazing Grace" and "For The Beauty of the Earth" (though someday I will rewrite it into a groovin' 7/8 meter) and "Were You There" and "That Old Rugged Cross". And I'm sure a few that I'm totally forgetting.

[marigold20]

23. Finlandia is one of the most beautiful melodies

in the hymnal. I prefer the old time hymns - the new ones just leave me cold. And to me old time means the ones in the hymnbook in the 1950's!

[DemExpat]

18. Don't know the title...First line was "Glory, Glory, Glory, Lord God

Almighty".........

Lots of beautiful hymns - I sang in the church choir, and played hymns on our piano/organ at home.

DemEx

[chefgirl]

26. That would be Holy, Holy, Holy

Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
God in three persons, blessed Trinity........right?? I loved that one too.

My favorite is the 'Ave Maria'. I completely agree with the poster who said it was one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.

-chef-

[supernova]

19. Be Thou My Vision

it's an old, old Irish melody, very singable, like a lullabye. And I love the words too.

"Be thou my vision oh Lord of my heart
Nought be all else to be save that Thou art..."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. That would have been on my list above

if I had recalled it. That's a lovely one.

[VelmaD]

20. "The Master Hath Come"

I seem to recall that the tune is traditional Welsh and I like the words of the hymn ok. But the reason it's my favorite is because my momma used to sing me to sleep with it - only instead of the regular words she used the words from "Mother Seals Lullaby" from the short story "Kotick the White Seal" in Kipling's "The Jungle Book".

Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us,
And black are the waters that sparkled so green.
The moon, o’er the combers, looks downward to find us
At rest in the hollows that rustle between.
Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow;
Ah, weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!
The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,
Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas.

*happy sigh*

[Nikia]

22. It is Well with my Soul

The words were written by Horatio Spafford after he was financially ruined by the Chicago fire and an accident that killed his four daughters.
It is sad but inspiring. It gives me hope.

[Bertha Venation]

60. heh... I should've read the thread before replying

I would've linked my response to yours; this is my fave too.

[Mrs. Venation]

74. I Agree

I have found much comfort in the words of this hymn during some painful times in my life. And I think the melody is breathtaking.

I love southern gospel music. When I was a child my mom and dad would take me to gospel concerts at Bill Myer Stadium in Knoxville, TN. I remember seeing The Oak Ridge Boys when they were a gospel group. My favorites were always the Happy Goodman Family (Vestal Goodman just passed away last week) and the LeFevres.

Does anyone remember a gospel trio called Wendy Bagwell and the Sunlighters? They did a comedy album about 25 or 30 years ago called "Here Come the Rattlesnakes." The album was all about true things that had happened during their concerts and their travels. The rattlesnake story was hilarious!

[rumguy]

24. Bring the Pain

[Kat45]

25. "Amazing Grace"; also, "Shine, Jesus, Shine"

There are a couple of more I like, but I can't think of them right now.

[Red State Rebel]

27. In The Garden....

I come to the Garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear
falling on my ear
The son of God imposes

And he walks with me
and he talks with me
and he tells me I am his own
and the joy we share as we tarry there
none other has ever known

[OneBlueSky]

28. "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" . . .

not sure if it qualifies as a hymn, but I like it . . .

[absyntheNsugar]

29. "Jerusalem"

Sends shivers up and down my spine. Funny too, because the song celebrates the Crusade wars and the conquering of the Jerusalem for the English Crown.

But the melody is amazing.

[TheMightyFavog]

33. Yeah...

ELP did a really cool version of it on their Brain Salad Surgery Album.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

46. Wonderful tune

too bad the words are so specifically British.

Actually, I didn't think it was about the Crusades. I thought it was from Blake's poem decrying the environmental pollution of the industrial revolution and wishing to remake England into a "new Jerusalem," with references to legends about Jesus making a side trip to England during the undocumented years of his life.

[Liberal Christian]

58. "Jerusalem"

Do you mean The Holy City?

"Jerusalem! Jerusalem!
Lift up your gates and sing,
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna to your King!"

My grandfather would roll up his sleeves, bang out those chords on the piano, throw his head back and really whale on that chorus. So fun to watch!!!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

70. No, that's The Holy City, as you said

Here are the words to Jerusalam, written by 19th c. mystical poet William Blake

And did those feet in ancient times
walk upon England's mountains green
And was the holy lamb of God
on England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the countenance divine
shine forth upon our clouded hills
and was Jerusalem builded here
among those dark Satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold,
bring me my arrows of desire
Bring me my spear, o clouds unfold
Bring me my chariot of fire---(Now you know where the title of the movie came from)

I will not cease from mental fight
nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
till we have built Jerusalam
in England's green and pleasant land.

You probably haven't heard this song unless you have CDs of English choral music, because as you can see from the words, it's kind of an English patriotic song. But the tune, by Charles Villiers Stanford, is wonderful and has been set with different words for use by American choirs.

[LiviaOlivia]

30. Mormon exodus hymn-Come,Come Ye Saints

Come, come ye Saints, no toil nor labor fear,
But with joy wend your way;
Tho' hard to you this journey may appear,
Grace shall be as your day.
'Tis better far for us to strive
Our useless cares from us to drive;
Do this, and joy your hearts will swell--
All is well! all is well!

On the Plains, from Missouri to Utah, 1852. Oscar Winters writes:

"One night, as we were making camp, we noticed one of our brethren had not arrived. A volunteer party was immediately organized to return and see if anything had happened to him. Just as we were about to start, we saw the missing brother coming in the distance. When he arrived, he said he had been quite sick. So some of us unyoked his oxen and attended to his part of the camp duties. After supper, he sat down before the campfire on a large rock, and sang in a very faint but plaintive and sweet voice, the hymn, "Come, Come Ye Saints." It was a rule of the camp that whenever anybody started this hymn all the camp should join. But for some reason this evening nobody joined him. He sang the hymn alone. When he had finished, I doubt if there was a single dry eye in the camp. The next morning we noticed that he was not yoking up his cattle. We went to his wagon and found that he had died during the night. We dug a shallow grave, and after we had covered his body with the earth we rolled the large stone to the head of the grave to mark it, the stone on which he had been sitting the night before when he sang: "'And should we die before our journey's through, Happy Day! All is well! We then are free from toil and sorrow too, With the just we shall dwell. But if our lives are spared again, to see the saints their rest obtain, Oh how we'll make this chorus swell—all is well! All is well!'"


http://www.affirmation.org/voices/come_come_ye_saints.asp

[LWolf]

31. I've got peace like a river

I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul,
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river,
I’ve got peace like a river in my soul.

I’ve got love like an ocean,
I’ve got love like an ocean,
I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul,
I’ve got love like an ocean,
I’ve got love like an ocean,
I’ve got love like an ocean in my soul.

I’ve got joy like a fountain,
I’ve got joy like a fountain,
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul,
I’ve got joy like a fountain,
I’ve got joy like a fountain,
I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.

[nyrnyr1994]

35. Morning Has Broken

An old Gaelic melody, I also like the Cat Stevens version too.

[jimbo fett]

37. The first song in the United Methodist hymnal...

O, For A Thousand Tongues To Sing

[Richardo]

39. "A Mighty Fortress is Our God"

Lucky Lutherans - get J.S.Bach as a music resource...

[Liberal Christian]

63. Well, the Lutherans did have Bach

But Martin Luther did words and music to "A Mighty Fortress."

[Love Bug]

40. "His eye is on the sparrow..."

"...and I know He watches me."

I don't do church anymore but I miss the music.

When my mother was in the nursing home prior to her passing from Alzheimer's 2 years ago, I would sing her favorite hymns to her. At that time she was pretty much beyond communicating but I knew she liked the songs because she would squeeze my hand... ;(

[Esurientes]

41. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

I like the ones previous posters have mentioned,too, most of which were sung at my "high" Methodist church.

The only time I heard "Leaning" was in the film "Night of the Hunter" and it was very touching. ( I guess because the grandmother was singing it sitting on her porch with her shotgun in her lap waiting for her murderous son-in-law to show up...)

[arwalden]

42. I like him... and him... and him and him and him. Oh... and HIM!

-- Allen

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

44. I forgot O HAPPY DAY!

every version of it too!

[arwalden]

45. How About The "Sister Act 2" Version...

that one is just awesome.

-- Allen

[supernova]

49. The Sister Act "Ode to Joy"

is marvelous too! I think that's my favorite version!

[Richardo]

50. I second "O Happy Day"

Thanks, NSMA! :thumbsup:

[Whitacre D_WI]

48. Peace in the Valley

And "The Lone Wild Bird" (check out the Gibson Bros. 1987 album "Dedicated Fool" if you wanna listen).

[Tracer]

51. It doesn't really qualify as a hymn ...

... but Mozart's Ave Verum is quite possibly the most beautiful piece of music ever written.

And Ñ UndisclosedLocationÑ have you been in a Catholic church lately?

'Cause if you haven't, you'll never hear Mozart, Bach, Handel etc. again.

The church has imposed an unspoken ban on anything except "modern" music.

And if there is anything worse than bad church art Ñ it's bad church music. As a former choir member, I've been both driven mad by the hideous "mod" music, and driven out of the choir (and mostly the church).

[Bossy Monkey]

52. Grrrrrr! Is this a JP2 thing or an American bishops thing?

If the former, not to be indelicate, but this could be changing soon.

Nah, my last go-round with churches (loosely defined) was a brief bout with the Unitarians, and their stirring hymns, such as "We Feel Vaguely Strongly About A Possible Higher Being."

[Liberal Christian]

62. It's probably more a Vatican II thing. n/t

[Bossy Monkey]

66. To the contrary; that's one thing I can be pretty confident about

My Catholic career ran from Vatican II to the mid 1980s; no noticeably modern music in Catholic Churches during that time. Vatican II is notable mainly for changing the Mass from Latin to vernacular, as implied in my original post.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

71. The Episcopalians still go for the classics

especially at the larger churches.

[ChoralScholar]

53. I really enjoy "He Hideth My Soul"

He Hideth My Soul in the cleft of the rock
that shadows a dry thirsty land.
He hideth my life in the depths of his love
and covers me there with his hand.

-'He Hideth my Soul' -Fanny Crosby/William Kirkpatrick - 1890
Rejoice Hymnal # 553

[peacefreak]

54. Simple Gifts

'Tis the gift to be simple,
'Tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
It will be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gained,
to bow and to bend, we will not be ashamed
To turn, turn, will be our delight,
'Til by turning, turning, we come round right

Old Shaker hymn.

[La_Serpiente]

55. I guess I am agnostic

but I sort of grew up in the church. Some of mines are:

Band of Angels
Ave Maria (By Franz Biebl)
How Great Thou Art
Blessed Assurance
And the rest is mostly Christmas music.

Some songs from Sister Act I and II as well.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

56. Rock of Ages fell on me...

Now I'm only 2 foot 3.

[Cheswick2.0]

68. LOL

I have never sung that one! :7

[Bertha Venation]

57. It Is Well With My Soul -- was # 404 in our hymnal

When peace like a river attendeth my way
when sorrows like sea billows roll
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well with my soul"

In the years since the denoument of upheaval and crisis, I've learned that for me the "thou" is myself.

Also, this was my mother's favorite hymn.

[Shakespeare]

67. I'll second that one and add....

Abide With Me

[Liberal Christian]

61. Too many favorite hymns to list

I love most of the ones that people have already mentioned.

I'm coming to an appreciation of the older, "white gospel" hymns:
Blessed Assurance
Standing on the Promises
What a Fellowship

I go out of church tapping my toes if we've sung some of these standards:
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
God of Grace and God of Glory (ever heard this sung by a Welsh men's chorus? AMAZING!!!)
All Creatures of Our God and King
For All the Saints
Holy, Holy, Holy
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling
Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart
Beautiful Savior
Lift Up Your Hearts
O God, Our Help in Ages Past

And I love some of the newer stuff:
Here I Am, Lord
Let Us Talents and Tongues Employ
Take My Gifts and Let Me Love You
You Have Come Down to the Lakeshore

Ok. I can't pick just one :)

[JVS]

64. Lots of good hyms

"Now the green blade rises" is my favorite http://www.lutheranhymnal.com/lbw/lbw148.mid
"Es ist ein Ros entsprungen"
"O sacred head now wounded"
hymns using the Hyferdol tune, such as "Love devine, all loves exceeding"
"Children of the heavenly father"
"Christ Jesus lay in Death's strong bands"
"A lamb goes uncomplaining forth"
"Lasst uns erfreuen"

www.lutheranhymnal.com has a lot of good midis

[Fixated]

65. Ohhhhhh

I thought it said favorite hymen, and I was interested in all the responses.

[Cheswick2.0]

69. How Can I Keep From Singing?

How Can I Keep From Singing?
Traditional Quaker Hymn(or Shaker depending on who you are talking to)

My life flows on in endless song
Above earth's lamentation.
I hear the real, thought far off hymn
That hails the new creation
Above the tumult and the strife,
I hear the music ringing;
It sounds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?

What through the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
What through the darkness round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since love is lord of Heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,
And hear their death-knell ringing,
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging.
When friends by shame are undefiled,
How can I keep from singing?

[MrSlayer]

73. "The Oath" by Mercyful Fate.

It doesn't have to be praising God to be a hymn does it?