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Amazing Grace: The Journey of an Unforgettable Hymn How does a hymn become so universal? Where does it gain its ability to be transformed into almost every style of music known to man? The hymn Amazing Grace is such a hymn. Its existence has been marked by evolutions upon evolution in its use, but has always remained the same in its meaning and effect. To trace the path of this hymns existence, one must begin in England.
From there it has blossomed and spread out from the English way of life and grew up in the United States. From early American times to the present the hymn has become something extraordinary. What it has become is one of the most universal traditions that may be sung among men and women everywhere in a vast array of styles. John Newton was the creator of this hymn. Its creation is a story all in itself.
John Newton began in the navy but he soon left the navy and began worn on another ship, most likely a slave ship. From there he gained his own slave-trading ship and he began his life as a slave-trader. Thanks to John Newton, historians know much about the being a slave-trader through the extensive journals and letters that all survived from his work on slave ships. What started this amazing hymn came as the wretch of a slave trader and sea captain was on his ship during an incredible storm. In the midst of the storm, John Newton was said to have exclaimed God have mercy on me (Moyer). That night he contemplated what he had yelled and had come to the realization that he did believe in God and this was a sign to him (Moyer).
John Newton had been living his life as a slave trader, a position he himself thought was immoral and wretched (Moyer). It was that night that the feelings for the hymn began to manifest themselves inside the mind of John Newton. Finally convinced that his current way of life was improper, John Newton decided to take a more religious way of living to help himself and others. The hymn was finally produced for one of his weekly prayer meetings around 1780. He had set up these weekly prayer meetings at The Parish of Olney in England where he worked and produced many other hymns as well.
That one single prayer meeting marks the starting point of a time-line filled with additions and alterations for the hymn Amazing Grace. So why has this hymn been taken into so many forms of music? In the 1960 s the song had really started to break out of its common form found in most churches. Now instead of a simple arrangement of notes, the song began to take on more moving notes (Moyer). In the 1970 s disc jockeys were requested to play the song, its popularity was growing all over. There are many reasons for this phenomenon.
One such reason lies in human beings and our attachment to fond memories. For some inexplicable reason this hymn is known to most everyone in North America. When hearing the hymn, people seem to feel like a very fond and warm memory is refreshed and this soothes the mind and soul, creating this universal closeness to the hymn (Moyer). The effect of the hymn is like roots reaching so far down (Moyer). There is a feeling that we all can share. Jean Ritchie says, It heals when asked about the common feeling this hymn provokes.
Device Williams, says, It just do something for me when he either listens to or sings the hymn. The source of the melody for this song is the only unknown fact. Some believe that is was an early American folk tune. Someone just came across the hymn one day and started singing Amazing Grace and noticed how nice it fit. Another idea to the origin of the melody may be from a ballad (Moyer). Another interesting idea as to the origin of the hymn may be directly or closely related to the hymns author.
It is possible to believe that the hymn received its melody from a slave song, which John Newton may have heard. One of these melodies might have stuck in his mind since he was a slave-trader and may be the melody of the song we still use today. It would be ironic if this were the case: an ex-slave trader turned to a good life writing a hymn about how he was saved from such a horrible way of living. Today, Amazing Grace can be found in the following styles of music: African-American, Gospel, Native American, Pop Rock, Alternative rock, Blues, country, and folk.
The hymn can easily be found in African-American and Gospel styles of singing. One lady was quoted saying this hymn was always sung by black people, it is like a theme song (Moyer). Usually when singing this song, the style of music is Black American. Often congregations will use a style of call and response when singing the hymn. One main singer will begin a verse and a large group of other singers will either come in with the next verse or sometimes repeat the verse he said. This is also one of the reasons why the hymn is considered to be raised.
In this style, the deacon or head singer will get up just as if he was in an African tribe and say he wants to sing a certain song in a certain meter. He begins and it is expected that the other people around join in at the appropriate times. This is very characteristic of Black-American singing, showing the influence that Africa has had on their singing and how this characteristic has managed to stay around until present day. Why the wide spread use of this hymn in African-American singing? Possibly the answer lies in the ability of black churches to turn the song into a type of song called a spiritual. This style of music is very moving and it activates the Holy Spirit (153 Title).
During such songs people often fall into a trance, or begin to convulse and act as if their body has been taken over by something or someone else. Another use of Amazing Grace has been its role as a work song. A work song is a song sung by a group of people doing a common task to help make the work and time pass by quicker. Amazing Grace sometimes is used in this style of singing. In the PBS special, Bill Moyer visits an African-American home and finds them all preparing a large meal outdoors, where there were about 6 people working on preparing the meat. What he found was a work song when they al began to sing Amazing Grace as they chopped up the meat in a rhythmic fashion, which was aided by the singing of the hymn.
Its entrance into the world of Pop Rock, Alternative Rock, and Blues marks the continued evolution of the Amazing Grace. In the rock version (Selection 1 on the CD) we hear the use of the guitar to play the notes as a vocalist singing the famous lyrics. The song in this style of singing continues and another guitar comes forth playing in a higher octave the notes that correspond to each word of the song. Amazing Grace in this style of music signifies the modern spirit that has accepted such an age-old piece. The pop version of this song (Selection 12) shows the use of a differ...
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