“Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed” sung to a traditional Irish tune
This classic hymn, written by Isaac Watts in 1707, has been printed in over 2000 hymnals with one of a couple tune arrangements. The recording above pairs it with a traditional Irish song that has been called the Banks of Moorlough Shore and Foggy Dew. The mournful quality of this tune fits the words well, though they need to be rearranged.
1 Alas! and did my Savior bleed, and did my Sov’reign die! Would he devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done he groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love beyond degree!
2 Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut his glories in, when Christ, the mighty Maker, died for man the creature’s sin.
Thus might I hide my blushing face while his dear cross appears; dissolve my heart in thankfulness, and melt mine eyes in tears.
3 But drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe; here, Lord, I give myself away, ’tis all that I can do. . . .
I have nothing to review today. That leaves me with no alternative to writing about stuff I’ve been thinking about – and that, as you know, can get weird.
Tonight’s subject, to take an example at random, is “broken rhyme.” You can find several examples of broken rhyme in the song, “Mountain Greenery,” by Rodgers and Hart, embedded above (the song was debuted on Broadway by the actor Sterling Holloway, who would live long enough to be the original voice of Winnie the Pooh in the Disney cartoons). A meme is going around Basefook where somebody asks to quote the greatest line from any song, ever. I haven’t responded to it yet, but when I do it’ll be:
We could get no keener re-
ception in a beanery
Bless our mountain greenery home!
That, my friends, is broken rhyme. At first I thought it was “enjambment,” and I prepared a long disquisition on that subject for this post, but then I found out enjambment is something else, so I cut that part. All in all, probably for the best.
Lorenz Hart was known for using broken rhyme in his songs. Cole Porter employs it in his song, “I Get a Kick Out of You,” where you have the lines (in the original, unexpurgated version):
Some get a kick from cocaine I'm sure that if I took even one sniff That would bore me terrif- Ically, too Yet, I get a kick out of you
I’ve always been fascinated by broken rhyme. Love those word tricks in verse. It’s one of the reasons contemporary popular music leaves me cold. Today’s lyrics are generally simplistic, intended to be yelled. That’s why I like the old songs. There’s a station in St. Cloud, Minnesota (Uptown 1010, Ring-a-Ding Radio) that I make a point of listening to, every time I drive north on I-94. All oldies, with an emphasis on Sinatra and the crooners. Songs with lyrics worth paying attention to.
I could move on to the subject of Contemporary Christian Worship Music, but I think you can guess my opinion on that.
“Come, Christians, join to sing” sung by a congregation at St. Olaf’s College for the graduate conducting recital of Michael Devine
This classic hymn was written by English Moravian minister Christian H. Bateman (1813-1889) and is sung to a traditional Spanish melody, arranged by American Benjamin Carr. Carr studied music under Charles Wesley and Samuel Arnold.
1 Come, Christians, join to sing Alleluia! Amen! loud praise to Christ our King; Alleluia! Amen! let all, with heart and voice, before his throne rejoice; praise is his gracious choice: Alleluia! Amen!
2 Come, lift your hearts on high, Alleluia! Amen! let praises fill the sky; Alleluia! Amen! he is our guide and friend, to us he’ll condescend; his love shall never end: Alleluia! Amen!
3 Praise yet our Christ again; Alleluia! Amen! life shall not end the strain; Alleluia! Amen! on heaven’s blissful shore, his goodness we’ll adore, singing forevermore, “Alleluia! Amen!”
“I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art,” performed by Zachary Harris
This hymn is attributed to John Calvin and his arrangement of the Genevan Psalter for his congregation. He promoted lively psalms and spiritual songs in worship and leaned on such musicians as Claude Goudimel and Louis Bourgeois to compose them. This tune was published in 1551, and from what I understand was sung much quicker than the beautiful performance above.
1 I greet thee, who my sure Redeemer art, my only trust and Savior of my heart, who pain didst undergo for my poor sake; I pray thee from our hearts all cares to take.
2 Thou art the King of mercy and of grace, reigning omnipotent in ev’ry place: so come, O King, and our whole being sway; shine on us with the light of thy pure day.
3 Thou art the Life, by which alone we live, and all our substance and our strength receive; O comfort us in death’s approaching hour, strong-hearted then to face it by thy pow’r.
4 Thou hast the true and perfect gentleness, no harshness hast thou and no bitterness: make us to taste the sweet grace found in thee and ever stay in thy sweet unity.
5 Our hope is in no other save in thee; our faith is built upon thy promise free; O grant to us such stronger hope and sure that we can boldly conquer and endure.
“Jerusalem,” the unofficial anthem of the United Kingdom
The glorious hymn sung in the video above is William Blake’s original poem and is consequently theologically off-base. When we’ve sung it in church, we used this lyric by British composer C. Hubert Parry (1848-1918) and adapted it even further.
1 When did those feet in ancient times walk upon Israel’s mountain green? And did the Christ of Heaven come down, was God in flesh both heard and seen? And did He die to prove His love, and did He rise again more powerful still? And was His rule on earth started there upon Golgotha’s tragic hill?
2 Bring me my bow of burning gold; bring me my arrows of desire; Bring me my spear, O clouds, unfold! Bring me my chariots of fire! I will not cease to spread His light. My faith a shield, His word my sword. ‘Til Christ my Lord is crowned King, and all the earth shall own him Lord!
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus” performed by The Brandenberger Family
Irish-Canadian Joseph Medlicott Scriven (1819-1886) wrote this very popular hymn that has a bluegrass feel to me, probably because I live in the South. The tune is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1868 by composer Charles Converse(1832-1918).
1 What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!
2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer! Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer!
3 Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge– take it to the Lord in prayer! Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms he’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.
Yesterday, the socials were torn up with complaints about the Wordle word of the day. Wordle renews at midnight, and some people rush to solve it first. I usually play it in the middle day, and yesterday I happened to see the angst from other players ahead of time.
The word was parer. It’s not Merrium-Websters or Oxford, but it is the American Heritage. This is enough to inspire fulminating effusions of grief over how hard the game is or the loss of a win streak. It’s not even a real word, they say.
I did guess this word, perhaps because it’s one in another word game I play but perhaps because the perceived difficulty of a Wordle level depends on your starting word. You could go vowel heavy (audio, ideas, adieu) or consonant heavy (smart, plumb, track). You could attempt more common letters (scope, trace, broke).
I like word light (or sight, might, fight) because of the common letters. If H is eliminated, then CH and SH are too. If I is out, then AI, OI, EI are too.
But with a word like parer, if you approach it as PA_ER, then you can see the potential for angst. Is it paper, paver, pager? When you have a word like this, it’s good to attempt a word with three possible letters, like grave, so if all three out, you can attempt a fourth option, like the P if the R hadn’t been the answer.
I’m sure, as they say in the podcasts, nobody cares. Let’s move on.
Manhood:For the Church | Episode 177: Brant Hansen on The Men We Need. Here’s an enjoyable podcast ep. on a manhood book that may be more grounded than some of those you’ve heard about. Hansen, an “Avid Indoorsman,” appears to keep his advice within the bounds of Scripture and argue for flip-flops as a sign of failed masculinity.
True Crime:“Nothing But the Night takes readers back to 1924, when two students at the University of Chicago, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, kidnapped a fourteen-year-old boy named Bobby Franks and callously killed him. When the crime came to trial, Leopold and Loeb were defended by the celebrity lawyer Clarence Darrow, whose passionate courtroom antics were read in newspapers and circulated like the latest radio drama.” (Get the book here)
Education: In the book Letters Along the Way, a young believer says he intends to go to Yale to help Christians gain academic respectability. The corresponding senior saint writes, “At the risk of sounding pedantic (though realizing I sometimes come across that way), I doubt very much that evangelicals are wise to pursue academic respectability. What we need is academic responsibility. There is a world of difference.”
Jazz: In the current issue of ByFaith (not yet online), there’s a conversation with jazz pianist William Edgar, who is also a professor at Westminster Theological Seminary. He says, “I used to be fairly pessimistic about the future of jazz, but then I listen to these guys like Jon Baptiste or the guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, and it’s the real thing. . . . it’s the theme of my book, ‘from deep misery to inextinguishable joy.’ You can’t take a shortcut to the joy, because it becomes happiness instead. You also can’t swell in the sin without becoming morbid. Jazz is that journey that goes from one place to the others.”
You can listen to Jon Baptiste with friends in this recording from 2020.
Photo: Fire Department, Columbus, Indiana. 1977. John Margolies Roadside America photograph archive (1972-2008), Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
“Newton’s practice was to write hymns to be sung following his sermons. When he preached on 1 Chronicles 17:16 –17 in January 1773, he introduced his congregation to the hymn ‘Faith’s Review and Expectation’ (which was only later retitled ‘Amazing Grace’).
Newton wrote, “If the LORD whom I serve, has been pleased to favor me with that mediocrity of talent, which may qualify me for usefulness to the weak and poor of his flock, … I have reason to be satisfied.”
This hymn might have slipped into obscure, at least for a while, had it not been taken up by American revivalists and abolition movement, specifically Harriet Beecher Stowe.
Three verses of Newton’s “Amazing Grace” performed by Andrea Bocelli and Alison Krauss
“My Soul’s Been Anchored,” performed by Moses Hogan Chorale & Singers during the Moses Hogan Reunion Concert, 2013
This folk song is rare among hymnals, and the arrangement above comes from Moses Hogan (1957-2003). Not something we would sing together as a congregation, but we could sing along with the choir and have it stick in our ears for the week.
Refrain: In the Lord, in the Lord, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord; In the Lord, in the Lord’ My soul’s been anchored in the Lord.
1 Before I’d stay in hell one day, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord; I’d sing and pray myself away, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord. [Refrain]
2 I’m born of God, I know I am, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, I’m purchased by the dying Lamb, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord. [Refrain]
3 Going to shout and pray and never stop, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord; Until I reach the mountain top, My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord, O Lord! My soul’s been anchored in the Lord. [Refrain]
“With Grateful Heart My Thanks I Bring” piano accompaniment by Andrew Remillard
This adaptation of Psalm 138 appears to have been written for a Presbyterian Psalter published in 1912. The tune is one of the two most commonly used for this hymn. Entitled “St. Petersburg,” it was written by influential Ukrainian composer Dimitri Stepanovitch Bortniansky (1751-1825).
1 With grateful heart my thanks I bring, before the great thy praise I sing: I worship in thy holy place and praise thee for thy truth and grace; for truth and grace together shine in thy most holy word divine.
2 I cried to thee and thou didst save, thy word of grace new courage gave; the kings of earth shall thank thee, Lord, for they have heard thy wondrous word; yea, they shall come with songs of praise, for great and glorious are thy ways.
3 O Lord, enthroned in glory bright, thou reignest in the heav’nly height; the proud in vain thy favor seek, but thou hast mercy for the meek; through trouble though my pathway be, thou wilt revive and strengthen me.
4 Thou wilt stretch forth thy mighty arm to save me when my foes alarm; the work thou hast for me begun shall by thy grace be fully done; Forever mercy dwells with thee; O Lord, my Maker, think on me.
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