Favorite Hymns & A New Version of an Old Mormon Standard

[KimberlyAnn]

My favorite Mormon hymn, hands down, is "If You Could Hie to Kolob". What's interesting is that I don't care anything about the lyrics, and never really did, other than that they're a bit freaky, but the tune borrowed by Phelps is haunting. I love it.

I found a new modern version of it on YouTube. I had never heard it before this morning and can't quite figure out what to think of it. Perhaps this contemporary version is not new, but it's new to me! Here is is. Beware exmos - this may cause flashbacks! http://youtube.com/watch?v=h91y3DmbYaE Also, if you're unfamiliar with the song, listen closely for some interesting Mormon doctrine about the plurality of Gods. ;)

Although I'm not sure exactly what I believe about God, or if God even exists at all, I still enjoy hymns and have learned a lot of new ones while attending a Methodist church with my husband. My current favorite song in our hymnal is "Be Thou My Vision". It's an old Irish hymn, and although I do like the lyrics of that song, the tune is what draws me to it. Here it is played by the Japanese finger-style guitarist Ryohei Shimoyama - music only. It's gorgeous. http://youtube.com/watch?v=cVPTPfjx5so

Personally, I found most of the hymns we sang in Sacrament meeting dreary and it seemed they were never played at the right tempo - but I know things may have been different in other wards. There was also a restriction on what instruments could be played in Sacrament meeting. I guess Mormon God doesn't like guitars or trumpets or saxophones or drums. Those are just a few of the instruments prohibited in our chapel. Seems arbitrary and petty to me. Still, we did sometimes enjoy very touching solos in Sacrament Meeting, and every so often, our choir could be fantastic. At any rate, I don't miss most of the hymns we sang at all, but I still play "If You Could Hie to Kolob" on the piano every now and then.

What is/was your favorite Mormon hymn? What is/was your least favorite? And do you or did you make up new funny lyrics to the hymns to make them more entertaining, like I used to do, lol? I really had fun distorting Primary songs as a kid! (Okay, I admit it - as an adult, too. ;)) Also, if you have the nerve to listen to the new version of the old Mormon standard, what did you think of it? I'm curious...

KA

[AmazingDisgrace]

It's funny that you would mention "If You Could Hie to Kolob," because it's always been my favorite, and we just sang it in sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was the first emotionally moving experience I've had in a church building since I lost my belief a few years ago. I thought about how I used to look forward to the day when I would actually be able to travel to the edge of the universe and "see the outside curtains, where nothing has a place." I felt a great sense of loss as I thought about how the best I can hope for now is that a few humans may get to see other planets in our own solar system during my lifetime. There is no end to matter, but my consciousness will be gone a few decades from now, at best.

As for the hymns I don't like, that would be anything with "sunshine" in the title. Unless you can get someone to play it in a minor key. Then it's awesome.

[gramps]

"...Oh there's sunshine, blessed sunshine, where (when?) the peaceful happy moments (happy moments roll) roll,

When Jesus shows his smiling face, there is sunshine in my soul..."

You mean like that one?

I used to like that one when I went to church a long time ago. Is it still in the hymn book? I liked singing the men's part (which I tried to capture above in the quoted part.)

I also liked "O Ye Mountains High." I've always wondered if that song has the same effect on some saints in the flatlands as it did on this former saint from , where else, Zion.

[KimberlyAnn]

Amazing Disgrace, I'm glad you got a bit of enjoyment out of Sacrament Meeting! It must suck to have to sit through church as an unbeliever - and you've done it for years? Ugh. I don't know how you do it.

Gramps, I liked "Sunshine in My Soul", too, but only when we sang it in Sacrament Meeting so I could hear the men's part; it made the song! Now that song's in my head...

KA

[Yoda]

"If You Could Hei to Kolob" is one of my favorite hymns as well...not so much for the words, but the music.

The music for the piece was "borrowed" from Ralph Vaughn Williams, one of my favorite composers.

The Catholic hymnal actually has a different arrangement of the same piece with different words.

Some of my favorite Primary pieces are:

"Love is Spoken Here"...I love the 2 part harmony

"A Child's Prayer"....another favorite of the kids with 2 part harmony

"I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus"

"Search, Ponder, and Pray"

"I Am A Child of God"

"Scripture Power"...This isn't in the Primary book. It is actually in the leaflet for last year's primary program. It's a great little upbeat piece. The kids sang it in Sacrament Meeting last week. It's really fun to play.

"When Someone Cares"....Not a hymn...but out of the book, "Songs of the Heart", which came out when I was in Young Women. I use it for prelude music almost every Sunday. I've played it for so long I can just go on auto-pilot and don't have to think about it. It's a beautiful piece.

Edited to add---I'm also a nerd when it comes to the Church musicals. I really enjoy most of the "Saturday's Warrior", "My Turn on Earth", and "Star Child" scores.

OK, shoot me! I played the role of Gloria in "My Turn on Earth" while I was at BYU. LOL

[AmazingDisgrace]

Amazing Disgrace, I'm glad you got a bit of enjoyment out of Sacrament Meeting! It must suck to have to sit through church as an unbeliever - and you've done it for years? Ugh. I don't know how you do it.

It's not so bad. Sacrament meeting, for me, basically consists of drawing my kids' favorite cartoon or videogame characters for them upon request. Nobody can see your eyes rolling when you're looking down at a piece of paper. :) And I've gotten pretty good at adopting the detached "anthropologist from Mars" mindset that I learned about on the NOM board.

[Runtu]

My grandmother's favorite hymn was "O My Father," and ever since I was a young boy, that song has always made me think of her and the unconditional love she had for her grandchildren. I may not agree with Eliza Snow's theology anymore, but the hymn still reminds me of someone I loved and who loved me.

[Blixa]

I actually like "Come, Come Ye Saints" especially its sad final verse alluding to all who died on the trek to Utah. I like the "pioneers" and wish they had been better served by their leadership.

And, for some unknown reason, I will still sing "How Firm a Foundation," and "The Spirit of God Like a Fire Is Burning." I guess because both are fun to sing loudly. The first features a line I misheard as a child as:

"What more can he say than to you he hath said:

"Yoo hoo!" unto Jesus..."

and the second one is damn hard to sing.

[mocnarf]

Amazing Disgrace, I'm glad you got a bit of enjoyment out of Sacrament Meeting! It must suck to have to sit through church as an unbeliever - and you've done it for years? Ugh. I don't know how you do it.

Gramps, I liked "Sunshine in My Soul", too, but only when we sang it in Sacrament Meeting so I could hear the men's part; it made the song! Now that song's in my head...

KA

Kim, Have you ever heard "Amazing Grace" set to the tune on the "House Of The Rising Sun" ? It is really great. I heard a the "Blind Boys of Alabama" have a great rendition of that song. I am into Karaoke and have about 1000 songs in modified MIDI format with Lyrics that I can play of my computer and when the computer is hook up to my stereo system it sounds geat and the lyric are displayed on the computer screen with a buncing ball (if you want that option). I liked BBA's version of Amazing Grace that I modified my MIDI file of the House of The Rising Sun to sync it to the lyrics of Amazing Grace.
For those of you who might be crooners, and like Karaoke, you might like to download the Free GO-SING karaoke player. Also, there are thousand of Karaoke (MIDI) songs out on the Internet that you can download for free. I downloaded for my wife the all the LDS Churches songs from the current song book in MIDI format with lyrics.
If you are interested in any MIDI/Karaoke songs and can't find them PM me and I'll see if I can point you in the right direction. To check out GOSING click the link that follows:

GoSing's Website -> http://www.gosing.com/

There are other Karaoke players but this one is free and simple to use.

[Some Schmo]

And do you or did you make up new funny lyrics to the hymns to make them more entertaining, like I used to do, lol?

Always happy to oblige this sort of request...

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

Oh, come, all ye faithful, Come and have more children!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye and have many kids.
Come and then raise them, it’s your job to make them;
Oh, come, and have more children; Oh, come have lots of children;
Don’t come if not for children, even if you’re bored!

Look at all my children, I have too many children
But I will be so blessed, yes, in the heavens up above
Run for your lives, cause I’ve been looking at your wives
Oh, come, and have more children; Oh, come have lots of children;
Don’t come if not for children, even if you’re bored!

Hi, kids, it’s me, I've wasted not one seed
Hello kids, hello kids, you can thank me
We don’t have enough, but who needs lots of stuff?
Oh, come, and have more children; Oh, come have lots of children;
Don’t come if not for children, even if you’re bored!

[William Schryver]

I haven’t dropped by in a while, but this thread caught my eye.

In my current calling as the ward organist, I get to pick the hymns each week. I like having that power, because there are (I must admit) several hymns that I really do not like. I concur with AmazingDisgrace on the “Sunshine” hymns. They are a favorite of our current Stake President, and whenever he asks me to play one of them for an early morning Stake Priesthood Mtg., I always tell him that I don’t play that one very well and then get him to let me choose an alternate. I also tend to dislike almost all the hymns with music by Evan Stephens, except for We Ever Pray for Thee.

As for my favorites, I would have to say that I am partial to several sacrament hymns, including There Is a Green Hill Far Away and Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King. Among the “1985” additions, I really like Lord, I Would Follow Thee and Where Can I Turn for Peace. Another few that come to mind are Sweet Is the Peace the Gospel Brings, O May My Soul Commune With Thee, and Sing We Now At Parting.

Incidentally, the opening hymn I selected for this week is If You Could Hie to Kolob. I also like it because it’s written in E minor. I tend to be partial to the minor keys myself, and I don’t like the hymns that were transposed to G from Ab and to D from Eb in the 1985 hymn book. There is a real difference in tonal color between G/Ab and D/Eb. Come, Come Ye Saints should be sung in Ab, not in G! I guess I just like keys with lots of flats. Don’t know why. Just do. My current favorite keys for composing are Ab minor and Eb minor. Maybe it’s because people with long fingers are more comfortable playing with lots of black keys in the mix. Anyway, I go on the church’s website and transpose the offending hymns to the keys I prefer, print them out and then tape them in my organist’s hymnbook over the newer versions. I don’t think anyone ever notices.

Anyway, good thread. My mother-in-law, who has not been a practicing Mormon for almost thirty years, still loves to come to Sacrament meeting when she’s here just to sing the hymns. She can also be brought to tears easily (as can I and my wife) by live performances of the Tabernacle Choir. Music is not ruined by doctrinal differences or historical controversies. That’s its beauty.

[Blixa]

I don’t like the hymns that were transposed to G from Ab and to D from Eb in the 1985 hymn book. There is a real difference in tonal color between G/Ab and D/Eb. Come, Come Ye Saints should be sung in Ab, not in G! .

They changed the key of "Come, Come Ye Saints?" Bad. Wrong.

[Lucretia MacEvil]

And do you or did you make up new funny lyrics to the hymns to make them more entertaining, like I used to do, lol?

Always happy to oblige this sort of request...

Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful

Oh, come, all ye faithful, Come and have more children!
Oh, come ye, oh, come ye and have many kids.
Come and then raise them, it’s your job to make them;
Oh, come, and have more children; Oh, come have lots of children;
Don’t come if not for children, even if you’re bored!

Look at all my children, I have too many children
But I will be so blessed, yes, in the heavens up above
Run for your lives, cause I’ve been looking at your wives
Oh, come, and have more children; Oh, come have lots of children;
Don’t come if not for children, even if you’re bored!

Hi, kids, it’s me, I've wasted not one seed
Hello kids, hello kids, you can thank me
We don’t have enough, but who needs lots of stuff?
Oh, come, and have more children; Oh, come have lots of children;
Don’t come if not for children, even if you’re bored!

Fabuloso!

[gramps]

Will wrote:

As for my favorites, I would have to say that I am partial to several sacrament hymns, including There Is a Green Hill Far Away....

That is always a killer for me, too. Always loved it. Still do.

What noone likes the primary song:

I looked out the window and what did I see,
Popcorn popping on the apricot tree....

That one comes back to me every Spring. My Japanese friends thought I was very strange when I would start singing that song in the middle of a cherry blossom rave party.

[William Schryver]

I don’t like the hymns that were transposed to G from Ab and to D from Eb in the 1985 hymn book. There is a real difference in tonal color between G/Ab and D/Eb. Come, Come Ye Saints should be sung in Ab, not in G! .

They changed the key of "Come, Come Ye Saints?" Bad. Wrong.

Not when I'm playing. And that's one I have long since memorized (in Ab of course) so I can easily sing along while I play. I also tend to craft my own custom harmony lines to sing as I'm playing. Sometimes I get a funny look from the chorister. Not because I'm off-key, but because she can tell I'm working my way through the alto, tenor, and bass parts during the course of a verse. I probably shouldn't sing while I'm playing the organ, because every once in a while I hit a wrong note because of it. But it isn't fair that the organist never gets to sing, so I sing along during the week when I'm practicing the hymns for the upcoming Sunday. And, as far as making mistakes is concerned, I've found that very few people are even aware of it unless it's really egregious. Liz can probably confirm that as well. Do you also play the organ Liz, or just the piano? I know most people who play the piano tend to shy away from the organ. That's too bad. I love the organ. It's a very soothing instrument. And, contrary to what many people think, it's NOT harder to play than the piano. It's just different. And, in a way, after a while it becomes easier to play hymns on the organ than on the piano.

Anyway, I'll cease and desist. It's just nice to come across a thread that I can get excited about. I'm bored to death with most of the subject matter on the message boards anymore.

[Blixa]

Anyway, I'll cease and desist. It's just nice to come across a thread that I can get excited about. I'm bored to death with most of the subject matter on the message boards anymore.

No need. Help keep this one going.

I'll be home in Utah soon and I'll have access to two pianos! The crappy practice one in my parents basement and my grandmother's much nicer, lovely one. Not only that I'll be able to go through all her 20's and 30's sheet music!!!! Can't wait to play "The Doll Dance" again. (You can hear a version here, such a fun piano part: EDITED BECAUSE LINK BELOW IS BETTER)

(I'm hoping she'll be able to play with me. She could still play a bit last October, despite increasing arthritis---I mean she's 92!----but she'll be just out of the hospital and rehab for a broken hip when I get there.)

[William Schryver]

Gramps:

Will wrote:

As for my favorites, I would have to say that I am partial to several sacrament hymns, including There Is a Green Hill Far Away....

That is always a killer for me, too. Always loved it. Still do.

There is something about the sheer simplicity of that hymn that makes it work. Plus, there is almost a "drone note" quality to it -- kind of like the sound of bagpipes. A combined Tabernacle/BYU men's choir did a version of it during the General Conference priesthood meeting a few years back. It was the most amazing thing I have heard in a long, long time. In fact, if you PM me an e-mail address, I will forward you an .mp3 version of it. It is really quite astounding, at least in my biased opinion.

My wife is shaking her head right now. She can't understand how I can be listening to Smashing Pumpkins one minute, and then listen to the MoTab next. I guess I have a strange brain when it comes to music ...

[Blixa]

Oh just found a better version of The Doll Dance for piano. My grandma is a genius with novelty ragtime. I used to beg her to play this for me all the time when I was a little girl. She'd vamp it up with all kind of flourishes and trills. It's a fun song to play.

http://members.aol.com/doremidi/novelty/dolldnce.mid

[silentkid]

When I attend church, which is rare, I still enjoy singing the hymns. I like to test how high I can sing and still stay on key...a little falsetto here and there. My brother sings as low as he possibly can. We make a great duet. I like Poor, Wayfaring Man of Grief, Abide With Me, Tis Eventide (the old version, not the newer one), and Kolob. I detest Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel, Called To Serve, The Iron Rod, Praise to the Man, and Do What Is Right.

[Blixa]

When I attend church, which is rare, I still enjoy singing the hymns. I like to test how high I can sing and still stay on key...a little falsetto here and there. My brother sings as low as he possibly can. We make a great duet. I like Poor, Wayfaring Man of Grief, Abide With Me, Tis Eventide (the old version, not the newer one), and Kolob. I detest Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel, Called To Serve, The Iron Rod, Praise to the Man, and Do What Is Right.

I ADORE "Abide With Me." I'll start crying in a minute now, because I'm singing it.

I once played "Poor Wayfaring Stranger" in church (sacrament meeting? primary?) in an arrangement for six hands on the piano (with two other girls who also took lessons with the ward organist like I did).

[gramps]

Gramps:

Will wrote:

As for my favorites, I would have to say that I am partial to several sacrament hymns, including There Is a Green Hill Far Away....

That is always a killer for me, too. Always loved it. Still do.

There is something about the sheer simplicity of that hymn that makes it work. Plus, there is almost a "drone note" quality to it -- kind of like the sound of bagpipes. A combined Tabernacle/BYU men's choir did a version of it during the General Conference priesthood meeting a few years back. It was the most amazing thing I have heard in a long, long time. In fact, if you PM me an e-mail address, I will forward you an .mp3 version of it. It is really quite astounding, at least in my biased opinion.

My wife is shaking her head right now. She can't understand how I can be listening to Smashing Pumpkins one minute, and then listen to the MoTab next. I guess I have a strange brain when it comes to music ...

Will, I just sent you my address. Thanking you in advance.

Peace. gramps