Hymns/songs that bug you?

[Anonymous]

I have mentioned before that there are some hymns and songs I don’t particularly like – Praise to the Man, for instance. I have given this some thought lately, focusing on what I don’t like about them or why I don’t like them. In the case of Praise to the Man, I think it’s idolatry – I go to worship God and/or the Savior, not any man, and since I believe God is no respecter of persons I don’t believe in that kind of praise for Joseph Smith (and note that I do believe Joseph was a prophet). A song I really dislike is I Heard Him Come. In this instance it is not doctrine – I see no scriptural or other evidence that “rivers crawl(ed) to find him” or that “mountains move(d) just to let him through.” (And note again, I do believe in the Savior.)

So today the sacrament hymn was In Humility Our Savior. One line jumped out at me, and frankly ruined the sacrament experience for me. That line: “Then, when we have proven worthy of thy sacrifice divine….” Aren’t we all worthy of that sacrifice? Wasn’t it for all of us, regardless of our circumstances? Isn’t that why we believe everyone will be resurrected and almost all will receive some degree of glory? Isn’t this what grace is all about in the church? (Deep breath.) Sorry about the rant.

So, if you had the power to not have a hymn/song sung ever again in the church,what would it be and why? I have a few others, of course, but I’d like to hear the opinion of others. Or, if you think I’m all worked up about nothing, say so and tell me why.

[Anonymous]

“In Humility Our Savior” reflects one of the classic atonement theories of Christianity. I don’t like that line either – but I REALLY like that our hymns reflect every possible atonement theory and not just one or two. I like that there are hymns that will appeal to everyone who wants to believe in a Savior / Redeemer / Shepherd / King / etc., even if some of them don’t work for me. (We covered that in a Sunday School lesson this year, and I think the very next hymn or the previous one has a line that is exactly opposite of the one you quoted.)

“Away in a Manger” bugs me. “Little Lord Jesus no crying he makes.” Stupid.

Generally, energetic songs sung slowly drive me nuts.

I actually don’t mind “Praise to the Man”, since I accept it as a eulogy – and since I define “praise” differently than many people do. I agree, however, that it can be (and too often is) taken to an unhealthy extreme and turned into an expression of worship.

[Anonymous]

I realize I shouldn’t be so negative – there are hymns I really do like as well, many of them “sacrament hymns.” I mentioned a few weeks ago I really like I Stand All Amazed – LDS grace at its best. I also really like Jesus Once of Humble Birth – a succinct description of the doctrine of Christ.

[Anonymous]

It’s not being too negative to dislike some of the hymns. There are some that I would rather not sing, as well – but I can’t think of them off-hand. I’ll try to remember to look at some point.

[Anonymous]

So purely on the teachings or based off pure annoyance factor?

[Anonymous]

nibbler wrote:

So purely on the teachings or based off pure annoyance factor?

There are some where I don’t like the melody or just the tune itself – they’re fair game. In that category I put Love At Home (although I don’t mind the words) and Joseph Smith’s First Prayer (again, I don’t mind the words so much – but I’d rather sing things more God or Christ centered).

I don’t get why the patriotics are in there any more either – maybe the next iteration will eliminate them. I don’t see Battle Hymn of the Republic as patriotic and it’s actually one of my favorites. In fact, I like many of the classics that we took from other Christians – Onward Christian Soldiers, A Mighty Fortess, and How Great Thou Art to name a few.

I also tend to not like the more restoration or pioneer themed hymns.

[Anonymous]

I’ve always disliked Sunshine in My Soul. Super cheesy, and I’ve always been aggravated by overt attempts to make me happy. Did YouThink To Pray also grates on me.

A few of my favorites are Be Still My Soul and I Need Thee. I may be getting the exact titles wrong but I trust you know which ones I mean.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Anonymous]

I’m very passionate about my detest for any sunshine song!!! It makes me want to shudder. Lol even as a Tbm my husband would always smirk when one was announced for the hymn bc he knew I hated it:)

[Anonymous]

I like “Sunshine in My Soul” – simply because it talks about sending a shining Ray. :clap:

I always assume the lack of the uppercase “R” is just a typo.

Actually, I’m not very fond of that song – except for the fact that there is a counter-harmony that includes the men’s parts. That is rare enough that I like it.

[Anonymous]

I wish that before we sang “I Believe in Christ” (too long and repetitive) or “Because I Have Been Given Much (overused and not four-part) twice in any year, we would sing most of these once:

Come, Rejoice; Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise; Come, O Thou King of Kings; Come, Ye Children of the Lord; All Creatures of Our God and King; On This Day of Joy and Gladness; Rejoice, the Lord is King; Glory to God on High; All Glory, Laud and Honor; Sing Praise to Him; Praise to the Lord, the Almighty; Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice; God of our Fathers, Known of Old; Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah; From All That Dwell Below the Skies; For the Beauty of the Earth; Cast Thy Burden Upon the Lord; Come, We that Love the Lord; How Gentle God’s Commands; Be Still, My Soul; Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee; Gently Raise the Sacred Strain; Sweet is the Work; Jehovah, Lord of Heaven and Earth.

They want “familiar” hymns sung, but we are actually familiar with a quickly-decreasing number of them. “Redeemer of Israel” and “How Firm a Foundation” are great hymns, but they get overused, too.

But I get that, in the end, the hymns are personal. I don’t like “Israel, Israel, God is Calling,” but it was the first one I could play. I love remembering sitting at the piano in the wooden white church that our little branch co-rented with the Seventh-day Adventists in town and offering up the only hymn I knew.

May I share the words of a favorite? I wish we sang it more:

Father in Heaven (Hymn #133)

Father in Heaven, in thy love abounding, Hear these thy children thru the world resounding,

Loud in thy praises, Thanks for peace abiding, Ever abiding.

Filled be our hearts with peace beyond comparing, Peace in thy world, and joy to hearts despairing.

Firm is our trust in thee for peace enduring, Ever enduring.

God of our Fathers, strengthen every nation, In thy great peace where only is salvation.

So may the world its future spread before thee, Thus to adore thee.

[Anonymous]

My number one most despised hymn is ‘I Stand All Amazed.’ Can’t stand it. I don’t like the melody (it brings out the inner wannabe opera singer in everyone) and I really don’t like the words. I don’t think the proper way to show our appreciation for the Atonement is to sing about how much we don’t deserve it. (And I feel like if there’s one thing the Lord can’t stand, it’s groveling. 😆 ) So of course that would be one of the songs the Primary is learning for the program this year. Between that and “a man’s place is to preside,” it’s going to be a tough program to sit through.

My second least favorite is ‘Love At Home,’ especially because it’s usually trotted out on Mother’s Day. No, there is NOT joy in every sound. I don’t need to be placed on a pedestal, thank you very much. My home is messy and loud and sometimes we fight and there is no place I’d rather be.

I tend to dislike most of the Sacrament hymns, except for 169 and 172 which are at least redeemed by a nice melody. I also find my hackles raised by what I call the “Hooray For Utah” songs – I’d love to see them expunged from a future edition of the hymnal (which is long past due if you ask me) and a lot of the Victorian stuff. Anything excessively long and sung at a dirge-like pace – ‘O My Father,’ ‘I Believe In Christ,’ ‘A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief,’ etc. My favorites are the really old hymns – the ones in the 60s, 70s, and 80s of the hymnal. I think my all time favorite is #72 ‘Sing Praise To Him.’ I particularly enjoyed hearing it sung by The World’s Most Earnest Aaronic Priesthood Choir in October’s General Conference.

I noticed something about the patriotic hymns, too. The very last song in the book is ‘God Save The King.’ When the current hymnal was published in 1985, the monarch of England was a queen – still is. Was there an English-speaking country that had a male monarch in 1985? I just wonder why it would say ‘king’ instead of ‘queen.’ Obviously there were plenty of other countries with a king in 1985 but I assume they would have a different version of the hymnal.

[Anonymous]

😆 Joni you seem to dislike the ones I like and like the ones I dislike (except for Love at Home, we both despise that one) – go figure! I do agree that any song sung like a funeral dirge isn’t going to cut it for me – and in my ward most of them seem to come out that way (we have little musical talent at this point).

As to God Save The King, my understanding is that it is included because it is a national anthem of the British Empire. When I was in New Zealand (which does now have its own national anthem), we used the same hymn book – I think all of the English speaking world does. On their national holidays it was traditional to sing that song, substituting queen for king. The explanation was that you just use the proper pronoun depending on the monarch’s gender. Both New Zealand’s own national anthem and this song are considered national anthems. I presume (or maybe just hope) that this will be removed from the next hymnal along with the US patriotic songs in the next edition as a sign of the church being a diverse international organization. Perhaps a supplement of national songs could be published for each country in which it is appropriate to sing those types of songs – or perhaps they could just leave it alone all together.

[Anonymous]

I would have guessed that “God Save the King” was only included in the hymnbook because people were supposed to equate “king” with Jesus.

As for the other American patriotic hymns… I figured they were included because they have token mentions of god littered about.

Joni wrote:

(And I feel like if there’s one thing the Lord can’t stand, it’s groveling. 😆 )

Ha. Reminded me of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ

[Anonymous]

nibbler wrote:

Joni wrote:

(And I feel like if there’s one thing the Lord can’t stand, it’s groveling. 😆 )

Ha. Reminded me of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ” class=”bbcode_url”>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ42IMu7HIQ

“It’s like those miserable sacrament hymns, they’re so depressing…”

And while I’m kvetching, why do we sing a different chorus to ‘Joy To The World’ than the rest of Christianity? And why were the words changed in ‘How Great Thou Art’ if you are going to tell us in a footnote what they used to be? I don’t see a doctrinal reason for the change in either case.

[Anonymous]

I had to read this thread simply because of the title. Cracked me up! 😆

I don’t think anyone has mentioned 2 of my least favs (and there are many),

Put Your Should to the Wheel

Do What is Right

Quote:

Angels above us are silent notes taking

Of ev’ry action; then do what is right!

Major guilt trip! This scared me for a long time growing up. I felt like I always had someone looking over my shoulder.

[Author]

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