What's the worst Christian hymn?

[Booko]

I don't know which hymn is the worst one, but I still remember, many decades later, the lady who always sat directly behind us and who, on those rare occasions when we sang "Rock of Ages," would always do the more horrible (and very loud!) downward slide possible on the fourth word:

"Rock of Ages, cle
e
e
e
e
e
e
e
eft for me!"

I'm still traumatized half a century later.

Bruce

Don't you mean upward slide?

At any rate, someday let me demonstrate the rendition I had to put up with for that tune, speaking of inability to find notes.

I am likewise still traumatized by it.

 

[Katzpur]

Do you think, honestly, that "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is kind of nuts?

I don't know if it's nuts or not, but when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings it, it makes shivers run up and down your arms.

Are you bothered by the martial imagery of "Onward, Christian Soldiers"?

I guess so, when I think about it, but I love the melody and the beat anyway. I first learned it when I attended Lutheran Bible School one summer as a child.

Do you think "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" is a strange hymn for people who believe in the divinity of Jesus?

I never knew until now that this wasn't an LDS hymn. In LDS Churches it is sung only by the children. I loved it as a child. I'm wondering, though, why you think it's a strange hymn for people who believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. I don't get it.

Come one, give. What's the hymn that drove you out of Sunday School and into the streets?

Other Christians probably won't be familiar with this one, since it's distinctively LDS, but "Love at Home" just about causes me to lose it. It is the most saccharine, syrupy piece of nonsense you've ever heard.

 

[Katzpur]

I cringe every time I hear "Amazing Grace"

I've heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing "Amazing Grace" but it's not in our hymnal. I'm thinking it's because of the phrase "a wretch like me." We Mormons aren't into thinking of ourselves as "wretches."

 

[Smoke]

I don't know if it's nuts or not, but when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings it, it makes shivers run up and down your arms.

When I believed in demons, I thought it very possible that the Battle Hymn of the Republic was demonically inspired. Stirring music, though.

I never knew until now that this wasn't an LDS hymn. In LDS Churches it is sung only by the children. I loved it as a child. I'm wondering, though, why you think it's a strange hymn for people who believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ. I don't get it.

I always thought it was strange -- though I liked the song as a child -- that people who believed in the divinity of Jesus would sing about what Jesus might do "if he were here." If he's God, he is "here," isn't he?

Other Christians probably won't be familiar with this one, since it's distinctively LDS, but "Love at Home" just about causes me to lose it. It is the most saccharine, syrupy piece of nonsense you've ever heard.

I don't know the hymn, but I hate that kind of thing. He's long dead now, so you'll probably never have the experience of hearing evangelist Lester Roloff weep about his sainted mother while singing "Precious Memories." Probably just as well.

Precious memories, how they linger
How they ever flood my soul
In the stillness of the midnight
Precious, sacred scenes unfold.

Precious father, loving mother
Fly across the lonely years
And old home scenes of my childhood
In fond memory appear.

In the stillness of the midnight
Echoes from the past I hear
Old-time singing, gladness bringing
From that lovely land somewhere.​

 

[Smoke]

I'm surprised that nobody seems as disgusted by "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood" as I always was. Is it just because you were all lucky enough not to attend churches where it was sung?

 

[Katzpur]

I always thought it was strange -- though I liked the song as a child -- that people who believed in the divinity of Jesus would sing about what Jesus might do "if he were here." If he's God, he is "here," isn't he?

Ah... I see where you're coming from. Well, from my perspective, no, He isn't. He's in Heaven like the Bible says.

I don't know the hymn, but I hate that kind of thing. He's long dead now, so you'll probably never have the experience of hearing evangelist Lester Roloff weep about his sainted mother while singing "Precious Memories." Probably just as well.

Oh, yuch! Yeah, much the same idea as "Love at Home."

 

[Scuba Pete]

The song "Just a closer walk with Thee" reminds me of a particularly arrogant person from my early years as a Christian. And no, I am not referring to me! (He wasn't THAT arrogant.)

 

[jonny]

I'm surprised that nobody seems as disgusted by "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood" as I always was. Is it just because you were all lucky enough not to attend churches where it was sung?

I don't know that one, but I LOVE "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (since we're talking about fountains...).

YouTube - Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
YouTube - "Come Thou Fount" Mormon Tabernacle Choir

It's on the BYU Channel constantly. I can't believe they took it out of the hymn book.

 

[Scuba Pete]

For those of you who hate Amazing Grace, do you also hate "O Sacred Head"? The music is by Back. You might remember that Paul Simon used the same tune in his "American Dream" hit.

O sacred Head, now wounded, with grief and shame weighed down,
Now scornfully surrounded with thorns, Thine only crown;
How pale thou art with anguish, with sore abuse and scorn.
How does that visage languish, which once was bright as morn!

What language shall I borrow to thank Thee, dearest friend,
For this Thy dying sorrow, Thy pity without end?
O make me Thine forever, and should I fainting be,
Lord, let me never, never outlive my love to Thee.

 

[Mike182]

i always die a little inside when ever i hear Jerusalem. it's so... i don't know what word i want to use to describe it... arrogant? i find it so patriotic it annoys the hell out of me.

seriously, i have to restrain myself from shouting "NO!" at the end of each line when ever i hear this song.

 

[Katzpur]

i always die a little inside when ever i hear Jerusalem. it's so... i don't know what word i want to use to describe it... arrogant? i find it so patriotic it annoys the hell out of me.

seriously, i have to restrain myself from shouting "NO!" at the end of each line when ever i hear this song.

Are we thinking of the same song -- the one also known as "The Holy City"? I have a hunch I'm thinking of something different entirely.

 

[CaptainXeroid]

What's the worst Christian hymn? The one that you just can't believe they put into the hymnal?

I'd have to look up the titles, but our revisionist hymnal has some traditional songs that were bastardized for political correctness and some newfangled songs that just don't 'sound' right.

Do you think, honestly, that "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" is kind of nuts?

Not at all! It is one of the most stirring patriotic songs of all time written from the perspective of troups preparing for battle! The line "Jesus died to make men holy, let us die to make men free!" is one of the few that sends shivers up my spine. That's not 'nuts' at all.

Are you bothered by the martial imagery of "Onward, Christian Soldiers"?

Not at all. What does bother me is the way the Klan commandeered this song to the point that many hymnals left it out.

Do you think "The Old Rugged Cross" is idolatrous?

Not in the slightest. I think you're mistaking 'cherish' for worship.

That "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder" is unscriptural?

It's not....please refer to Revelations 20:12.

Do you shake your head at Isaac Watts?

Not really. True, the words seem a bit politically incorrect today, but the point of the Lord's grace remains.

Do you think "Trust and Obey" conveys the wrong message?

Absolutely not! In fact, I can't think of a better message.:162:

Do you think "Tell Me the Stories of Jesus" is a strange hymn for people who believe in the divinity of Jesus?

Not at all. I think you're reading too much into the line in bold. Jesus's spirit is omnipresent, even if you can't see his physical body.

Are you repulsed by the imagery of "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood"? Or is it the repetition that gets to you?

Bothered....a bit, mainly because as a Disciple of Christ and not a Baptist, our hymnals are not replete with 'blood' songs.

Come one, give. What's the hymn that drove you out of Sunday School and into the streets?

Amazing Grace, mainly because it is to Christian hymns what Hotel California is to classic rock. WAAAAY over played. Lift Every Voice and Sing is a close runner up because it's tempo is SO slow, and the verses are very long.

 

[lunamoth]

Awwwe, I'm sad to see Amazing Grace getting such a bad rap here. I heard it played on bagpipes at a funeral once...very very powerful.

 

[Melissa G]

All of them lol.

melissa g

 

[SoyLeche]

It's on the BYU Channel constantly. I can't believe they took it out of the hymn book.

Nobody ever sang it when it was in the hymn book. It wasn't till Mack Wilberg made an arangement of it that the LDS world even knew that this song existed.

 

[BruceDLimber]

Don't you mean upward slide?

At any rate, someday let me demonstrate the rendition I had to put up with for that tune, speaking of inability to find notes.

I am likewise still traumatized by it.

I think she was anticipating the "for."

Anyway, it seems to cause a lot of that! :-(

Bruce

 

[BruceDLimber]

Booko, I might also mention one hymn the church of my youth definitely improved!:

You're doubtless famliar with the old 4/4 march tune used for "Love Divine, All Love Excelling."

My church listed that tune only as an alternate, and instead sang it in 3/4 to a lovely (and completely different) waltz tune:

12 3 12 and 3 12 3 1 2 3
Love di vi------ne, all love ex-ce-l-ling

A definite improvement, IMHO!

LATER EDITING ADDED TO SAY:

Clearly the system formatting won't allow things to remain as I put them! :-(

In alternate format, the new tune is
1 2 Love
3 di
1 2 vi - - -
and ne
3 all
1 2 love
3 ex
1 ce-
2 el-
3 ling

(each line being one note) which format still isn't great, but (I hope) at least gets the feel across. . .

Bruce

 

[Buttercup]

Awwwe, I'm sad to see Amazing Grace getting such a bad rap here. I heard it played on bagpipes at a funeral once...very very powerful.

I don't think it's the music that's being given a bad rap, it's the lyrics. The music is lovely. However, every time I've sung the tune I feel like a loser afterwards.

I've never liked our national anthem and cringe every time I hear the words..."And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air". Having a national song with the word "bombs" in it isn't very inspiring....to me at least.

 

[HB3]

When I was drafted in 1969 I remember two events from Basic Training that made me lose my religion for several years. One was being forced to go to a Church service our first Sunday and singing the militaristic hymns like Onward Christian Soldiers and Battle Hymn of the Republic. Then the preacher prayed something to effect of helping these soldiers learn to be better killers than the enemy. I'm sure he did not use those words but that was the impression I got from the prayer. I still refuse to sing hymns in church that have a battle theme.

As for Amazing Grace, I like the fact that it can be sung to the tune of so many other songs - such as Peaceful Easy Feeling, House of the Rising Sun, and even the Gilligan's Island theme.

 

[Booko]

I'm surprised that nobody seems as disgusted by "There Is a Fountain Filled With Blood" as I always was. Is it just because you were all lucky enough not to attend churches where it was sung?

Yes, it must be. I've never heard them, and I know a huge percentage of hymns in any hymnal I look at.