Least favorite hymns

[tundramom]

PacoG;5069256:

I always end up asking the same question. Which “Here I am Lord”? (A) The one that goes “Here, I am, Lord, I’ve come to do your will…” or (B) the one that goes “I, the Lord of sea and sky…”?

There are two of them and it is darn confusing.

(A) and (B) are one in the same. Aren’t they? I’m a Cantor and I’m thinking option (B) is the verse and option (A) is the chorus…

in Christ
Steph

 

[Asperges_Me]

Oh yeah about “Gather Us In” I forgot to mention the following. Did you ever hear the organist announce “For Our Gathering Song, Number #### in the Gather Hymnal, Gather Us In”? Sounds really silly when you hear it. Just takes one word and kind of destroys it for me. Now I chuckle whenever I hear the word gather in any context.

 

[surfgirlusa_200]

Cecil84;5069277:

(A) and (B) are one in the same. Aren’t they? I’m a Cantor and I’m thinking option (B) is the verse and option (A) is the chorus…

in Christ
Steph

Nope. The chorus for version B (B) goes:

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you need me. I will hold your people in my heart.

 

[PacoG]

tundramom;5070561:

Nope. The chorus for version B (B) goes:

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go, Lord, if you need me. I will hold your people in my heart.

And the chorus for Here I am Lord (A) goes:

Here I am. Here I am. Here I am, Lord.

 

[OAKIE]

How can anyone have forgot to mention “Gather Us In”??? Like someone is out in the parking lot rounding up all the stray people. Doesn’t that one sound like “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?

It might be like Mark Twain’s verdict on Wagner: “It’s not as bad as it sounds”. Most of those OCP hymns remind me of high school and they might be OK for high school. At some point I added more appreciation to both my musical taste and my faith.

 

[benedictgal]

Actually, the chorus for Here I Am reminds of “Here we come, walking down the street…” the theme from the Monkees.

The other least favorites include:

Lord of the Dance
anything by the St. Louis Jesuits
anything by Bob Hurd
Amazing Grace
anything in the OCP arsenal called Spirit and Song
any Protesant Praise and Worship music that has infiltrated the Mass
Gather Us In
Song of the Body of Christ
I, Myself am the Bread of Life
They’ll Know We are Christians (sounds like Tusk from Fleetwood Mac)
Resucito (too much of a dirge for Easter)
We are Many Parts
We Remember (lack of proper Catholic theology)
How Great Thou Art (can’t get the image of Elvis belting this out)
Here I Am, Lord
I Have Loved You with an Everlasting Love
The Servant Song

 

[CarmeliteGirl25]

I absolutely despise the use of “Lord of the Dance” at Catholic Mass. They used this “song” on Easter Vigil during the end of Holy Communion. A friend thought it was because they were trying to keep people awake, which may be the case, but I thought it was inappropriate.

 

[Salonika]

My contribution

*Amazing Grace *
especially “that saved a wretch like me”
and any other hymn in which we put ourselves down too much

Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken by John Newton
especially the verse which includes “Blest inhabitants of Zion, Washed in their Redeemer’s Blood”
This comes from the nausea I feel at the sight of blood (and also of red paint).

 

[Cecil84]

I forget the name of the hymn, it might be “God Has Chosen Me” because it repeats that over and over again. I think the word “me” appears more than “God” which drives me up the wall.

 

[Sarabande]

Does anyone else have a hymn that they cannot stand? I do not like the following for one reason or another:

Amazing Grace - too protestant
How Great Thou Art - ditto
Lord of the Dance - like a bad hoe down
Sing a New Church - the melody is nice, the words are horrible
The heavens are telling the glory of God - i forget the title, it might be Canticle of Creation
Almost anything by Marty Haugen - too light and fluffy for Mass
Negro Spirituals - they seem ill fitted for a Mass full of middle to upper class white people.
Any hymn that focuses on us rather than God

When “Amazing Grace” is sung well and straight, it’s fine. I have to sing it when I cantor funerals all the time. It does bring people comfort for some reason and one of my grandmothers has already requested that I cantor for her funeral and I MUST sing “Amazing Grace”. Whenever my Filipino relatives party and do the karoke thing, they will choose “Amazing Grace” on the karoke machine and I have no choice but to sing it. It’s usually the first song they put on for me. And boy, the oom-pah-pahs on the music really make sound soooo cheesy! haha!

How Great Thou Art - It’s often sung by singer-wannabes and they often times make a train wreck out of the piece. I’m not fond of it, but I grew up with my mother singing it all the time when I was child and she had a nice voice, so I have fond memories of that.

Lord of the Dance - So bad. Thankfully, hasn’t been heard by my ears since I was in grade school. It’s just such a bad rendition of a lovely melody. The original “Simple Gifts” and how it is “rendered” is just sooooo much better.

Sing a New Church - The melody is also set to “God We Praise You”.

Negro Spirituals - I like spirituals. When I’m in an African-American parish or an African-American choir sings, it can be moving. But I will agree that when many white people try to sing spirituals, it’s just so wimpy and lacking. My Catholic high school had a Gospel Choir. It was mostly African American members, but there were a few white members who had “soul”. I joined for a little (I’m mixed race of white/spanish/pacific islander/asian - so I don’t consider myself any one race), but I definitely don’t have the right kind of “soul” in my voice to pull it off and I had the humility to admit it and not taint that kind of music with my voice. When I did the District/Regional choirs at my public high school, they always included about 3 or 4 spirituals. When I listen to the recordings now, the music was “correct” and sound nice, but it just was totally lacking.

 

[Sarabande]

   On a side note, has anyone noticed that "Here I am Lord" melody and the Brady Bunch theme are very similar?  Lord of the Dance and the Beverly Hillbillies theme are pretty close too.  ;)

My husband, friends and I noticed that back in college and it was a big joke. I’ve never liked it. Now, whenever I have to sing that hymn for funerals, I always have to catch myself from singing:

“Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night… All of them had hair of gold, like their mother. The youngest one in curls.”

I don’t like Prayer of St. Francis - mainly because it’s just boring musically-speaking. Simplicity can be beautiful and moving, but simplicity can also be dangerously boring and insipid if not done right.

There’s this horrible “Lamb of God” I heard at a local church for yesterday’s mass. I immediately thought of Kermit the Frog singing. It was in the same spirit of “Rainbow Connection”, which I love when Kermie sings it. But if it sounds better for Kermit singing it, there’s something wrong.

 

[totustuus2345]

I cant stand basically anything by Marty Haugen. I do however like his setting of Psalm 23

My pastor knew some seminarians who translated (or attempted at least) the “Glory and Praise” hymnal into Latin…

Gloria Lausque

It’d be kinda hard to fit in all the extra syllables though

(to the chorus of 'Here I am, Lord") Ecce Ego Domine, sumne ego, Domine?
haha just thought Id share…

 

[Justin1224]

Cecil84;5069277:

(A) and (B) are one in the same. Aren’t they? I’m a Cantor and I’m thinking option (B) is the verse and option (A) is the chorus…

in Christ
Steph

All I can think of in response to this inquiry about the two different hymns is that I know “Here I Am Lord, I come to do you will” is a psalm response to Psalm 40.

 

[sturdy]

How can anyone have forgot to mention “Gather Us In”??? Like someone is out in the parking lot rounding up all the stray people. Doesn’t that one sound like “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”?

I hadn’t thought about “Gather Us In” until you mentioned it, lol. I’m in the choir, and we sing it often. Not one of my faves.

 

[sturdy]

My contribution

*Amazing Grace *
especially “that saved a wretch like me”
and any other hymn in which we put ourselves down too much

Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken by John Newton
especially the verse which includes “Blest inhabitants of Zion, Washed in their Redeemer’s Blood”
This comes from the nausea I feel at the sight of blood (and also of red paint).

Re: Amazing Grace (which I happen to really like, I’m in the minority here) - our director has us change it to “that saved and set me free”

I don’t like “Lord of the Dance” at all. Another one on my list is “Join in the Dance”. At Easter we sang all eight verses due to the long line to receive Communion, lol.

 

[redrosetea]

I don’t know about anyone else, but in my parish hardly anyone sings. My Church can easily have 1,000+ people for Mass and it sounds if a dozen are singing. Maybe some of the hymns would sound better if peope would actually sing. Also, I do not mean offense if I criticize someone’s favorite hymn.

   On a side note, has anyone noticed that "Here I am Lord" melody and the Brady Bunch theme are very similar?  Lord of the Dance and the Beverly Hillbillies theme are pretty close too.  ;)

A mighty fortress is our God…I refuse to sing it, knowing what I do about the composer

 

[Wild_Boar]

*Amazing Grace *
especially “that saved a wretch like me”
and any other hymn in which we put ourselves down too much

He was a swearing sailor who used to kidnap Africans for the slave trade.
He said that he would see three wonders when he got to heaven. One was that he would see many people that he did not expect. Two was that he would miss those he expected to see but were not. And three, the greatest wonder of all, was that he would be there.

 

[RobbyS]

I don’t know about anyone else, but in my parish hardly anyone sings. My Church can easily have 1,000+ people for Mass and it sounds if a dozen are singing. Maybe some of the hymns would sound better if peope would actually sing. Also, I do not mean offense if I criticize someone’s favorite hymn.

   On a side note, has anyone noticed that "Here I am Lord" melody and the Brady Bunch theme are very similar?  Lord of the Dance and the Beverly Hillbillies theme are pretty close too.  ;)

The irony is that the Vat 2 fanatics are all into filling the whole time of mass with music, but most people find it hardly better than noise. Most music director love variety in sons, and don’t realize --or don’t care–that people won’t sing what they do not know. They performers at heart, not liturgists. People WILL do the responses, but my guy doesn’t build on this. And every year or so wse get a new Gloria/alleuia because I think he gets bored with it. The funny thing that most of the congregation was singing the old one, but now, after two years hardly anyone is singing along.

 

[PacoG]

I keep mentioning the other “Here I am, Lord.” I finally found the words.

Here I am Lord
I’ve come to do your will
make of me what pleases you
here I am, here I am Lord

You called my name
and beckoned me to come
before you now I stand
to listen to your word.

Here I am Lord
I’ve come to do your will
make of me what pleases you
here I am, here I am Lord

You spoke the words
of everlasting love
if I shall turn from you
to whom would I run

Here I am Lord
I’ve come to do your will
make of me what pleases you
here I am, here I am Lord

 

[Gardenman]

I intensely dislike “On Eagles Wings”…I liked it the first 500 times I heard it, but it’s been overused and needs to be retired permanently.

Give me the old tried and true traditional hymns anyday.

The hymns today (if you want to call them that ) have no staying power. They change too frequently and won’t be remembered 5 years from now.