Search This Blog

Friday 19 August 2011

Amazing Grace

"Amazing Grace" was written by Anglican clergyman and former slave-ship captain John Newton (1725-1807). It was based on an old Scottish air and was included in a collection of hymns, Olney Hymns, by Newton and William Cowper. The work was then titled "1 Chronicles 17:16–17, Faith's Review and Expectation."

Newton and Cowper both lived in the village of Olney and were great friends. Cowper helped Newton with his religious services and they also run a weekly prayer meeting, for which they were in the habit of writing a new hymn to sing, some of which were included in Olney Hymns. The lyrics to "Amazing Grace" were written in late 1772 and probably used in a prayer meeting for the first time on January 1, 1773.


The words date back to when Newton was press ganged. He tried to escape, was whipped and kept in irons. Held prisoner in Madeira, he was so wretched that even the slaves kept scraps of food back to keep him alive. Finally he escaped, and nearly drowned at sea but, while lashed to the helm, he exclaimed, "Lord, have mercy upon us.”

Later in his cabin, Newton thought about what he had said and he came to the conclusion that God had spoken to him through the storm and that His amazing grace had begun to work for him. He dated his conversion to Christianity to March 21, 1747, a day he ever after observed, and in this hymn Newton reflected on how the grace of God was able to save even a ‘wretch’ like him.


Newton's lyrics have become a favorite for Christians of all denominations, largely because the hymn vividly and briefly sums up the Christian doctrine of grace.

John Newton wrote many other well-known hymns including "Glorious Things Of Thee Are Spoken" and "How Sweet The Name Of Jesus Sounds."

The now familiar and traditional melody of the hymn was not composed by Newton, and the words were sung to a number of tunes before the now inseparable melody was chanced upon

The melody is believed to be Scottish or Irish in origin; it is pentatonic and suggests a bagpipe tune; the hymn is frequently performed on bagpipes and has become associated with that instrument. 

In 1969 the folk singer Judy Collins was at a social gathering and they wanted to end it with a song. Everybody knew at least part of "Amazing Grace" and she led the singing. Her record producer, Mark Abramson, asked her to record it and she thought it would be a wonderful response to the war in Vietnam. She wrote in her 1998 autobiography, Singing Lessons, “The war was still raging There was nothing to do, I thought but to pray and sing hymns to life. Nothing left but to sing ‘Amazing Grace’."


Aretha Franklin's version of "Amazing Grace" won the 1972 Grammy award for Best Soul Gospel Performance.

In 1972 The Pipes And Drums And The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon Guard released a bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace". The BBC Radio 2 DJ, Keith Fordyce played it regularly on his Late Night Extra show and soon it was taken up by other programs and other stations. It topped the charts within three weeks and stayed at the top for 5 weeks

Before 1972 when The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards hit UK #1, "Amazing Grace" was rarely sung in United Kingdom churches. The hymn was, however, very popular in America. 

Source 1000 UK #1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh

No comments:

Post a Comment