When I converted to LSD, Inc., I was converting from the Lutheran Church: the church of Luther and Bach! Music was such a HUGE part of my worship - I can thumb through the Lutheran Hymnal and have a hard time finding a hymn that I don't like. I figured that when I joined the LDS Church, it was a lateral move music-wise - after all, this is the church that has given us the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and BYU Choirs! The hymns for worship MUST be good!....right?
When I first converted, the first purchase for my Mormon bookshelf was my own copy of the song book. I figured it would be nice to be able to play through a hymn or two while I was getting ready to practice my horn. For the most part, I found the LDS hymn book to be a mixed bag of nuts. Sometimes I'd find a hymn that I absolutely loved, and other times I'd find a complete dud.
My personal best (in no particular order)
- Redeemer of Israel (usually got me feeling patriotic and zealous!) - The Spirit of God - If You Could Hie to Kolob (I admit, I think this has more to do with my love for Vaughn Williams than any inspiration from the actual words) - High on the Mountain Top - God Be With You Til We Meet Again - Praise God, From Whom All Blessings Flow
My personal worst (also in no particular order) - Oh My Father -Sweet is the Peace the Gospel Brings - Now Let us Rejoice - Joseph Smith's First Prayer - Adam-ondi-Ahman - Testimony - Choose the Right - Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning
A general rule of thumb for me was that if it was written before 1850, I probably wouldn't like it. If it was written about going to church, hanging out at Sunday school, etc, it would probably make my HATE list.
How about you? What were some of your most loved/hated hymns of Zion?
Even the ones that were stolen from other churches. I especially hate how 'Scotland The Brave' was raped & disgustingly transformed into 'Praise To The Man'.
I hated Mo-Tab, even as a TBM. It probably has a lot to my mission. For two years that was the only thing I had that came close to "entertainment." I'm pretty sure that turned me off Mo-Tab for life!
I really liked Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, although its been removed from the current LDS Song Book.
I'm a never-Mo, and yet I know "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow". Does anyone know if that is one that the LDS church borrowed from others, or is it a coincidental instance of the same title?
Oh "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow" was definitely borrowed from others. It is in the Church of England songbook from the 1800's. Definitely brought in by some British convert.
I've never read the Mormon text for the hymn - I wonder if they kept the original text, or if they Mormafied it? (putting in verses about restoring the gospel, having prophets, building malls, going to Sunday school, etc)
Agreed - I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE " There is Sunshine in My Soul," I have hated that song since I was kid - don't know why, I just hate it!!! It is incredibly annoying and just all around awful. Horrible, horrible song!!!!
The first couple of verses of "Praise God. . ." are from the C of E songbook, don't know about the rest. No longer have access to one, but I am willing to bet they added/changed verses.
I went on a spanish-speaking mission. In the spanish hymnbook there was a song, "Hoy sembramos la semilla." I hated that hymn so much. It was like listening to fingernails on the chalkboard every time I heard it sung. Any spanish speakers know if this is also a hymn in english, and if so, what it's called? Sooo terrible.
*Edit*
Ok I just found it ... it's called "we are sowing" in english. So terrible
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/2013 01:13AM by psychobabble.
Funnily, Redeemer of Israel - in its original form, "O Thou In Whose Presence" - appears in both our (Methodist) hymnals, the 1966 one and the 1989 one, and with a new arrangement that was done in 1965 by Austin C. Lovelace. But we've never used it in any church I've been in.
"Now, sisters, list to what I say: With trials this world is rife, You can't expect to miss them all, Help husband get a wife! "Now, this advice I freely give, If exalted you would be, Remember that your husband must Be blessed with more than thee. "Then, O, let us say, God bless the wife that strives And aids her husband all she can T' obtain a dozen wives."
Reference: 1856 Reformation Song. Used as a Hymn in an edition of Songs of Zion. Utah Historical Quarterly, 1928, p. 58.
The Christmas Songs in the book (sometimes the only thing Christmas about the church meeting on or closest to actual Christmas).
Because I Have Been Given Much (but now I'm not sure I like it as much as I did then.....could be taken as a guilt trip).
Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, Beautiful Savior, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, There is a Green Hill Far Away......so many of the ones I liked were the ones I later found out were imported from other churches' hymn books, some of them altered and some of them left pretty much intact. -------- Worst:
Shall the Youth of Zion Falter?
Praise to the Man
Oh How Lovely Was the Morning
I Love to See the Temple
Come, Come Ye Saints
There were lots and lots of ones I HATED in the primary song book. Most of the ones that were added since I was a child I do NOT like. When I was a kid they were more traditional and not so cult-y. The newer ones like Follow the Prophet and I Belong to the COJCOLDS are zombie chants.
Every time I think of that song, I remember Sister Bromeley heaving her chest up and down and warbling out the words. It's not originally an LD$ tune, but it's still bad.
"All Creatures of Our God and King" has always been my favorite. I remember the first time I heard it sung in a Christian church. I was a teenager and questioning Mormonism. Hearing that song sung so beautifully in a different church made me realize my church didn't have a monopoly on "feeling the Spirit".
I was not a fan of "Welcome Welcome Sabbath Morning". I never felt welcome in my homeward, and it was NOT a chance to "rest from every care" with multiple callings!
Also on the "worst list": "Follow The Prophet", not just because of its cultish message, but how negative that song is all together. The music actually scared me as a little kid!
I still find myself singing this when Im alone, but with different words:
William Shatner, are you really there, and do you hear and answer every Klingon prayer? Some say that Kolob is far away, But you fly the Enterprise there every day
Agree with a few posters - Praise to the Man is bad but the WORST must be Joseph Smith's First Prayer a.k.a. Oh, how lovely was the morning! - and not because of the melody but because of what it teaches.
What horrible lies we were all taught as young people through song.
"Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing", it has a similar tune as "Go Tell Aunt Rhody." When I was a child, I used to sing the "Go Tell Aunt Rhody" lyrics whenever they played this song in sacrament meeting until my older sister would punch me in the rib.
I also love "All Creatures of Our God and King." When we were active, my husband used to sing the chorus exactly like like Mr. Bean. I would die laughing and people around us would shake their heads in disapproval. Needless to say, we weren't the most reverent bunch but we had a good time.
Worst Song:
"Ye Simple Souls Who Stray." Even as a TBM, I thought this song was condescending and judgmental.