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"'Amazing Grace'"

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound

That sav’d a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now am found,

Was blind, but now I see.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears reliev’d;

How precious did that grace appear,

The hour I first believ’d!
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;

’Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,

And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis’d good to me,

His word my hope secures;

He will my shield and portion be,

As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease;

I shall possess, within the veil,

A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;

But God, who call’d me here below,

Will be forever mine.
''John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­i­ver, 1779)''

"'Amazing Grace'" is a well-known Christian hymn. The words were written late in 1772 by Englishman John Newton. They first appeared in print in Newton's Olney Hymns, 1779 that he worked on with William Cowper.

Contents

History

Extra verses

Alternate versions

Cherokee lyrics

Bagpipes

Artists who have recorded the song

References

External links

Audio samples

History

John Newton wrote this hymn some time after converting to Christianity in the village of Kineton, in Warwickshire, England. The lyrics are based on his reflections on an Old Testament text he was preparing to preach on, adding his perspective about his own conversion while on his slave ship, the ''Greyhound'', in 1748.
The melody most often used for this hymn was not original (nor was Newton a composer). As with other hymns of this period, the words were sung to a number of tunes before and after they first became linked to the now familiar variant of the tune "New Britain" in William Walker's shape-note tunebook ''Southern Harmony'', 1835. ^[1]
There are several tunes to which these words have been sung. "New Britain" first appears in a shape note hymnal from 1829 called ''Columbian Harmony''. The melody is believed to be Scottish or Irish in origin; it is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune; the hymn is frequently performed on bagpipes and has become associated with that instrument. This tune seems to have been firmly established as the 'standard' for this hymn after an arrangement of it appeared in a series of popular hymnbooks in the early twentieth century. (See also the versions in the Sacred Harp article.)
Another tune to which it has sometimes been sung is the so-called "Old Regular Baptist" tune. It was sung by the Congregation of the Little Zion Church, Jeff, Kentucky, on the album ''The Ritchie Family of Kentucky'' on the Folkways label (1958).
Newton's lyrics have become a favorite for Christians, largely because the hymn vividly and briefly sums up the doctrine of divine grace. The lyrics are based on I Chronicles 17:16-17, a prayer of King David in which he marvels at God's choosing him and his house. Newton apparently wrote this for use in a sermon he preached on this passage on New Year's Day 1773, and for which he left his sermon notes, which correspond to the flow of the lyrics^[2]. (He entitled the piece "Faith's review and expectation.")
The song has also become known as a favorite with supporters of freedom and human rights, both Christian and non-Christian, in part because many assume it to be his testimony about his slave trading past. The song has been sung by many notable musical performers, including iconic folk singer Judy Collins.
The hymn was quite popular on both sides in the American Civil War. While on the "trail of tears," the Cherokee were not always able to give their dead a full burial. Instead, the singing of "Amazing Grace" had to suffice. Since then, "Amazing Grace" is often considered like a Cherokee National Anthem^[3]. For this reason, many contemporary Native American musicians have recorded the song.
In recent years, this song has also become popular in America with drug and alcohol recovery groups, particularly Christian ones, at celebrations of how they "once were lost, but now are found."
A great irony of the song's history and its role in the civil rights era is that Newton reached his greatest success in the slave trade after writing the song and being born again (although this is not to imply a connection between his profession and his faith).

Extra verses

In her novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'', Harriet Beecher Stowe includes an extra, final verse which may have been taken from another hymn. The additional verse is part of most hymnals today.
Whereas the original lyrics were penned by John Newton in 1772 (stanzas 1-6), this additional verse (stanza 7) was written in the nineteenth century, and is credited by some to John P. Rees (1828-1900)^[4]. This verse became firmly established as part of the hymn by its addition in popular hymnbooks of the early twentieth century.

Alternate versions

Some modern hymnals change the second line, "that saved a wretch like me" to "that saved and set me free".
For the 2006 movie Amazing Grace [1], the following verses by Chris Tomlin were added to the original lyrics:
''"My chains are gone, I’ve been set free
''My God, my Saviour, Has ransomed me''
''And like a flood, His mercy reigns''
''Unending Love, Amazing Grace"''

Cherokee lyrics

The Cherokees sang this version of the song as they were forced to walk along the Trail of Tears.
:''u ne la nv i u we tsit

:''i ga go yv he i

:''hna quo tso sv wi yu lo se

:''i ga gu yv ho nv


:''a se no i u ne tse i

:''i yu no du le nv

:''ta li ne dv tsi lu tsi li

:''u dv ne u ne tsv


:''e lo ni gv ni li squa di

:''ga lu tsv he i yu

:''ni ga di da ye di go i

:''a ni e lo hi gv


:''u na da nv ti a ne hv

:''do da ya nv hi li

:''tsa sv hna quo ni go hi lv

:''do hi wa ne he sdi

Bagpipes

The association with bagpipes is relatively modern; for over a century, the tune was nearly forgotten in the British Isles until the folk revival of the 1960s began carrying traditional musicians back and forth between the British Isles and the United States (where "Amazing Grace" had remained a very popular hymn). It was little known outside church congregations or folk festivals until Arthur Penn's film ''Alice's Restaurant'' (1969), in which Lee Hays of The Weavers leads worshipers in singing "Amazing Grace."

Artists who have recorded the song

Owing to its ability to be adapted easily, the song is a popular recording choice. In essence, it has a very basic tune. Singers can then very easily add melismatic phrases, and alter the melody to make it match their own style/genre of singing.
The hymn has been recorded by many artists over the last century; All Music Guide lists over 1800 recordings.^[5] Two versions have made the UK Singles Chart: Between 1970 and 1972, a version by Judy Collins spent 67 weeks in the charts, a record for a female artist, and peaked at number five. In 1972, an instrumental version by the Pipes and Drums and Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards spent five weeks at number one, it also reaching the top spot in Australia. It has also been used in cultures beyond its Western origin: award winning Native American flautist Jay Red Eagle has recorded it. In Asia, Cantopop singer Joey Yung borrowed the tune for a version named ''Tomorrow's Grace''.

References

1. Mark Rhoads maintains a brief review of the early melodies at his website, Amazing Grace: Some Early Tunes, which can be found at the url: http://www.markrhoads.com/amazingsite/index.htm (accessed April 10, 2007)
2. The John Newton Project has posted online the sermon notes that Newton wrote to go along with the hymn: "Amazing Grace: The Sermon Notes". Transcribed from Princeton University Library, John Newton Diary, CO199 © Marylynn Rouse (2000) website url: http://www.johnnewton.org/Group/Group.aspx?id=32665 (Accessed April 10, 2007)
3. Duvall, Deborah. ''Tahlequah and the Cherokee Nation''. Arcadia Publishing (November 14, 2000)
4. Catholic Book of Worship III. Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ottawa, Canada. (1986)
5. All Music Guide search (allmusic.com), accessed 21 August 2007 (this site is not linkable.


★ "Bury the chains: The British Struggle to Abolish Slavery", Hochschild, Adam, 2005

★ "Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song", Turner, Steve, 2002.

External links

★ Amazing Grace: The Story of John Newton

★ Amazing Grace and other Gospel Lyrics

★ Amazing Grace Original Lyrics

★ Amazing Grace myths at the Urban Legends Reference Pages

★ Amazing Grace (movie) The story behind the song.

★ Art of the States: Amazing Grace variations on the hymn by composer John Harbison
The following sites relate to the 2007 film 'Amazing Grace' about William Wilberforce and the campaign against the Slave Trade:

★ Grace'' official US website

★ Grace'' official UK website

Audio samples

★ Amazing Grace and other Hymns from 1886 hymnal, played for any browser exactly as written