Best and worst hymns?

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They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Sing-around-the-campfire lyrics and rhythm. Makes me cringe.
 
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Best would be the one that reaches inside and actually brings out an emotion. For Me - “Were You there…” sung during Holy Week and Good Friday. Always touches something inside.

Worst - Kumbaya, but at least I haven’t heard it at Mass in 30years. Second, Amazing Grace although it is only the line “that saved a wretch like me…” that I really hate. I don’t think young children should be singing about how wretched they are. Like Limbaugh says, “words have precise meanings.”
 
Some hymns i like .
  1. Soul of My Saviour , 2. Thine be the glory . 3. How great Thou art . 4. Dear Lord and Father of mankind .
  2. Sweet Heart of Jesus .




 
joeybaggz said:
Second, Amazing Grace although it is only the line “that saved a wretch like me…
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“Amazing Grace” is disliked my many because of that line. In one arrangement, they replace “that saved a wretch like me” to “that saved and set me free.” When this song is appropriate to support the readings, I use the later.

I cannot really pick a favorite. I like some from the traditional to contemporary to the modern genres. I like an upbeat opening and closing. Lately, the readings and the homilies speak to me to sing, “Go Out To All The World.” It’s a good Closing/Sending Forth Song.

There are a couple that we only sing once a year because they are Solemnity specific, ones that many in my choirs including myself get stuck in our heads.

We look forward to this one every year for Ascension by Modlin and Feduccia:


And, the Pentecost Sequence with Gospel Acclamation by Kendzia:


The Sequence is still asked for by parishioners and my choirs refuse to sing if we don’t do it! LOL!
See what you think.
 
JackMcCoy said:
Jesus Christ Is Risen Today
Christ Be Our Light
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Oh I love these!

I also love Hail Holy Queen.

I do love “Amazing Grace”. I’ve sung that at the funerals of four family members (as requested), so that might be why. The meaning of “wretch” in that song is “an unfortunate or unhappy person”, not a pejorative.

“…how sweet the sound/that saved a wretch like me/I once was lost…”

The author is saying the grace of God turned his life around. It’s not negative at all. 🙂

(And I’m happy in a twisted way that it’s now in everyone’s head. [insert evil laugh])

@rondirect, when I’m not on my phone I’ll be checking those posts out!
 
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I associate How Great Thou Art with my granddad’s passing. It was sung at his funeral. Very beautiful rendition. Whenever I hear How Great Thou Art, I think of my granddad.
 
That’s me with Amazing Grace. I totally understand that.

HIs wife was a different story. My grandma requested Silver Bells. 🙂 And she got it, though she passed away in June.
 
hcruz4024h
Yikes… That’s gotta be awful. Some of the worst songs that I have ever heard at Mass include City of God, Let There Be Peace on Earth, and Go Make a Difference.
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“City of God” is one of my favorites, What don’t you like about it. I believe it perfectly reflects the New Testament and provides great hope!
 
Best: I have loved “Holy God, We Praise Thy Name” since before I can remember. I learned the words as soon as I was old enough to read, I think.

Worse: Anything my husband (whose grandmother was Presbyterian) calls “Presbyterian music.” By that, he means songs with octave leaps and other melody “features” that render the song impossible for a typical congregation to sing correctly at all, let alone sing well.

Worst: Songs with wrong-headed theology (or no theology at all). The better the melody, the worse the song.

I think the reason we tend to like the old songs is that the terrible music that was written at the same time as the old songs we know has all gone to the dustbin of music history, where it belongs. We currently have some songs that surely have not yet been relegated to their final and deserved destination of utter obscurity. (Or maybe the Presbyterians get them; I don’t know? That part is hearsay to me…)
 
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I’m not sure I’ve ever heard How Great Thou Art sung in a Catholic Church. My favorite rendition, however, is that of Elvis (if you’ve never listened to his Gospel album you really should!). Here’s a video of one of his last performances: he died two months later.
 
Holy God We Praise Thy Name is a catholic classic. I truly like that hymn.
 
Elvis loved that song. It was originally recorded in the 1960s, and he often sang it at concerts.
He gave a concert once (I heard it was a Notre Dame) and a girl from the audience screamed You are the King! He stopped singing, paused, looked at her and said emphatically, “No. Jesus Christ is the King.”

Now that I have Elvis on the brain, I’ve always thought it curious that he recorded a hymn to Mary and the Rosary–although he wasn’t Catholic. Has anyone ever heard this song before?

 
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AndrewAxland said:
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hcruz402:
What are some of the best and/or worst hymns/songs that you have ever heard at Mass?
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“It’s a small world after all”
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It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears, a world of hope and a world of fears…

I had the record. My poor parents.
 
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babochka said:
My poor parents.
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They are true saints if they didn’t smash it after the tenth playing. And I’m guessing that you went far beyond that. Perhaps you should apply for a job at Guantanamo! 🤣
 
Oh I’m glad I listened to these! I really like them. Thanks for sharing!!
 
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