This marvelous hymn from the Scottish minister Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) has a beautiful grandeur in this recording, but I’ve sung the song at a ripping pace, time and a half this pace, almost like a sea shanty. It’s stirring. I don’t know if the Free Church of Scotland would have approved of it, but I think it still keeps the spirit of worship.
1 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto me and rest;
lay down, O weary one, lay down
your head upon my breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was,
weary and worn and sad;
I found in him a resting place,
and he has made me glad.
2 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in him.
3 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
look unto me, your morn shall rise,
and all your days be bright.”
I looked to Jesus and I found
in him my Star, my Sun;
and in that light of life I’ll walk,
’til trav’ling days are done.
Here’s the Kingsfold tune on the organ with masterful harmony.
This was beautiful.
I have often thought that we sing “Fairest Lord Jesus” too slowly. In my head I hear it much faster—even rushing by half a beat. And then I think it should always be sung a cappella—by men only. But I’ve never found a recording that performs it the way I imagine.
I hear you. You have a good imagination.
Wow! I’ve never seen anyone play the organ before. All those keyboards and pedals! I like that rendition much more than the choral one,
My son sometimes sings this song around the house. (He must have picked it up on the Internet since I’ve never heard it in church.) And he does sing it as you described, like a sea shanty. But as he often sings songs to alternate tunes, I wasn’t sure if the tune he sang was actually the one that belonged to the words. Nice to discover that they were.
That’s great. Playing the organ can be marvelously complicated, and with all the stops it has, an organist can produce a wide variety of sounds.
There’s a rich history of singing multiple hymns to the same hymn tunes. If the rhythm matches the tune, you can run with it.