Amazing Grace meets the animals

I am generally a fan of ‘singing one hymn to the tune of another’. Mainly because I find changing the tune occasionally stops me going into autopilot and often brings a new freshness to the words.

One great example of this is singing “We have a gospel to proclaim” to the tune of Jerusalem. One less successful reworking involves the unfortunate combination of “Guide me, O thou great redeemer” and the tune of “Oh my darling Clementine”.

This weekend I was introduced to singing “Amazing Grace” to the tune of “House of the rising sun” (famously covered by the animals). I was rather impressed with the result and I thoroughly recommend it for anyone who uses hymns in their personal devotional time. The cords are:

Am C D F
Am C E E
Am C D F
Am E Am

If playing on the guitar I suggest the folowing:

Am...... C....... D....... F....... E ......
e:------ e:--0--- e:--3--- e:--1--- e:--0---
b:--1--- b:--1--- b:--2--- b:--1--- b:--0---
g:--2--- g:--0--- g:--3--- g:--2--- g:--1---
d:--2--- d:--2--- d:--0--- d:--3--- d:--2---
a:--0--- a:--3--- a:------ a:------ a:--2---
e:------ e:------ e:------ e:------ e:--0---

I was also reminded that there are some additional verses. I espeshaly like the referance to the promis of God in what I think is the original 4th verse:

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.