Today in Sacrament Meeting we sang "Come, Come Ye Saints." I really love that hymn. I love the historicity of it. I love the pioneer feeling it brings akin to that of patriotism. There is one thing that people do to this wonderful hymn that just bugs me to no end.
There have only been a handful of times that I have sung this hymn that it has been kept the same tempo throughout. More often than not, when it comes to the last verse, the tempo is slowed to a funeral march. "And should we die before our journey's through, happy day! All is well!" Oh give me a break, who are we trying to kid? "Happy day. All is well." If you believe it, sing it as if you do. If we really feel like death is not the end and it's a happy day when we return to our Father in Heaven, then shouldn't this verse be more peppy than the preceding verses? When we sing this as a dirge, we are singing a lie.
Today, when we sang this as our opening hymn, and it started out peppier than usual, I knew what our fate would be. Sure enough, last verse--dirge. The rebel in me emerged. I refused to sing. I know I'm an opinionated person, so please forgive me if I offend in this, but maybe, just maybe, there's someone out there who agrees and feels the way I do.
I love the MoTab version on You Tube I linked to. They do it right! Way to go MoTab!!!
6 comments:
Thank you for saying that. While I can identify—I suppose—with the idea of death being a solemn one, that's not the point being stressed in the song. I have a number of similar pet peeves like that as well, though, how we tend to fall into cultural ruts and learned habits which distract us from the point we're supposed to be getting from our activities.
(Noting his foot on the edge of a soapbox, he shiftily glances left and right, steps back down, and fades into the night.)
Oh my gosh, Julie, I'm glad you said something. I looked at Rob while we were singing it and rolled my eyes. We both hate it when they slow a good song down like that. One of my pet peeves too, you are not alone :)
...and don't get me started about getting to the depressing part of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day during the holidays and stopping there without singing the rest of them with the actual message of hope. Many years ago, the ward I was in actually staged a quiet little coup over that :) The chorister ended after "And in despair I bowed my head. 'There is no peace on Earth,' I said, for hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on Earth, goodwill to men.", and sat down. Meanwhile, the organist played on and the congregation pushed steadfastly forward to "God is not dead, nor doth He sleep" and on to the end :) The chorister was upset, but come on...
Drama...Drama...Drama!!! What the heck?! You and I see so eye-to-eye. Your first comment just cracked me up. My bottom line is that it's the Spirit that counts (to quote Pres. Howard W. Hunter), not all the frillies that we tend to add to everything we do. If those frillies bring us closer to the Spirit, then great, but if they're just there to be impressive, bag 'em all. Wow! Check me and my opinionatedness out. I'm probably offending the masses at this point. Yikes!
Amen Sister!! Or..amen Aunt!! heehee What an insightful blog. We had a ward choir performance on this hymn once and luckily our chorister felt the same way you do. We belted that verse out the happiest and loudest of all of them. On a tangent...on the 6th of July we sang the Star Spangled Banner as the closing song. I usually get choked up when it's sung, Dave had just left for Afghanistan, I'm feeling extra patriotic and proud to be an American and someone had the AUDACITY to yell "play ball" at the end! IN THE CHAPEL!! Whoever it was is very lucky I didn't see them...
Well, for me I really don't give a rats behind on how the song is sung, but it sure is entertaining reading everybody's thoughts:)And from now on when the hymns slow down I'm going to turn around and stare at you...just for dramatic effect:)
Post a Comment