Overrated hymns

There are a few things in our Mormon culture that annoy me--like the perception that it's OK to watch a movie as long as it's not rated R, or that the Book of Mormon is the only worthwhile book of scripture, or that prayers on a rainy day must always say "the moisture we are receiving." Not to mention saying a blessing on refreshments.

But one of the ones that annoys me the most is that we can't sing a hymn if we don't know it. People don't want to sing new hymns. But that's ridiculous. Every hymn you know was new to you at some point. There are 341 hymns in our current edition of the hymnbook. And yet we get stuck hearing the same tired hymns over and over again, while there are numerous hymns that we never, ever hear. The hymnbook itself says that we should seek to find a balance between familiar and lesser-known hymns. But when was the last time you sang "Truth Eternal" (4), "Awake and Arise" (8), "Come Rejoice" (9), or "Come Sing to the Lord" (10)? That's four in just the first ten hymns!

So here are some hymns that I think are highly overrated or oversung. That does not mean that these hymns are bad--it just means we need a little more variety.

"Come Thou Fount." This one bugs me more than all the others, because this is a song that really bores me because it is oversung, despite the fact that IT IS NOT IN THE HYMNBOOK! It was in the 1948 edition (the previous one), but it was taken out for the 1985 (current) version. I have heard various speculation about why it was taken out. The one that seems most likely to me is copyright issues, but I have also heard speculation that it wasn't sung enough, that it was sung too much, or that its lyrics could potentially be misunderstood. Whatever the reason, we surely don't miss it, because versions of this song are a dime a dozen. It seems like three-fourths of special musical numbers are this song. I like to collect hymn recordings, and when I look at CDs with hymns on them, it is unbelievable how many of them have "Come Thou Fount." My mom even has a Christmas CD with this song. It is not a Christmas song! I once considered joining my ward choir, but when I found out they were singing this song, I decided not to. There are 341 hymns IN the hymnbook, dozens of which we never sing, and yet you're going for one that is NOT in the hymnbook and is overdone? It's not that I think it's a bad song. I just don't find it particularly spectacular, especially not spectacular enough to merit the status of default musical number. Once on my mission, I heard some missionaries sing "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" (335) to the tune of "Come Thou Fount." Why would you do that? I think "Brightly Beams" has a far more interesting tune than "Come Thou Fount." If it were still in the hymnbook, I can't decide if it would be worse or better--on the one hand, we'd have more access to it, but on the other hand, it wouldn't be as special. And for the record, it is "Come Thou Fount," not "Come Thou Font."

"If You Could Hie to Kolob" (284). Many years ago, I overheard someone at the store having a conversation and saying that you can be a good Mormon without having "If You Could Hie to Kolob" as your favorite hymn. If I can overhear such a conversation at the local Shopko and remember and agree with it, you know there's a problem. I do think it's a pretty tune, but it's just overdone. We don't sing it often in sacrament meeting because it has deeper doctrine, doctrines that can be more controversial to people of other faiths. (Most of my readership is either Mormon or just plain non-believers, so I can talk about it.) I don't know if Mormons think it's special because we don't sing it often, or because it has those profound doctrines, or because it's kind of taboo, but they sure do like it. It was sung in my ward conference today. Like I said, I like the tune, and there's nothing wrong with strong doctrines. But it's just overrated. One mix CD I saw on my mission was called "Founts of Kolob"--just different versions of those two hymns. Fortunately, I never heard that one. The idea is bad enough.

"Praise to the Man" (27). People are hesitant to sing "If You Could Hie to Kolob," yet no one bats an eye at singing "Mingling with Gods." This song also makes it seem as though we worship Joseph Smith. We don't, of course, but it makes us seem like we do. I get so bored singing this song, despite the fact that it's an upbeat tempo. And that's another thing--it drives me completely crazy when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings this song, because they sing it really slow. I do not think the tune is meant to be slow! If you put the words to a different tune, slow would be OK. But not this one! I've become so bored with this song that when we sing it in priesthood meetings, I will sing the lyrics to "Hail to the Brightness of Zion's Glad Morning" (42) instead.

"We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet" (19). This song is OK for situations where there are no hymn books or where there are limited pianists, since it's a song everyone knows. In the last area of my mission, we sang this every. single. week. in priesthood meetings because that was the only song the Aaronic priesthood could play. That's excessive. At that point, a cappella (or finding another pianist) would have been better. What bothers me most is that people think of prophets and they automatically think of this song. It's in the "Restoration" section of the hymnbook, but it would fit better in the "Praise and Thanksgiving" section. Only the first line has anything to do with prophets. The rest is just a hymn of gratitude. If you don't believe me, just think about it. You probably have the words memorized, since we sing it so much.

"Ye Elders of Israel" (319). I really used to like this song. But since it's sung at least once a month in priesthood meetings, I have become so bored by it. There are lots of other priesthood songs--why do we only sing this one?

"Joy to the World" (201). This is the first hymn in the Christmas section, and I think it is the one that is sung the most. But I think it is placed at the beginning of the Christmas section not because it is the best but because it is a good transition between the Easter hymns (197-200) and the rest of the Christmas hymns (202-214). The tune is rather uninteresting. But even more than that, the lyrics aren't very Christmassy. In fact, it has hardly anything to do with Christmas, unless you think of Christmas as just being about Jesus, in which case I might suggest you think about him year round. As a matter of fact, the 1948 edition of the hymnbook actually says, "Joy to the world, the Lord will come." The fact that you can change the lyric to say that proves that it's not very Christmassy. Now, I still count it as a Christmas song (due to tradition), but it's not the best. "Once in Royal David's City" (205) is a Christmas song that is more Christmassy and more beautiful, yet we rarely sing it.

"I Know that My Redeemer Lives" (136) and "I Am a Child of God" (301). I feel blasphemous mentioning these, because there's nothing wrong with them and they're simple yet profound. I can't say anything bad about them, except that I get sooo bored singing them. Overrated? I would say no; Oversung? I would say yes.

So what should we sing instead? Some of my favorite lesser-known hymns are "Awake and Arise" (8), "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" (46), "Great God Attend While Zion Sings" (88), "Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me" (104), and "Thy Spirit, Lord, Has Stirred Our Souls" (157). (By the way, I did not consult a hymnbook in making this post--all the numbers were provided from memory.)

Now, there are rumors about a new hymnbook. I don't know when this new hymnbook will come out (whether it will be months or years), but I want to make some predictions about what I think will happen. Then when the new one comes out, I can say I guessed correctly, and I will have the documentation to prove it.

• "The Morning Breaks" will maintain its place as hymn number 1.
• Many of the mountain/Utah hymns will be removed. If "The Wintry Day, Descending to Its Close" (37) manages to stay in, the lyric that says, "Where roamed at will the fearless Indian band/the templed city of the Saints now stands" will certainly be modified or removed. 
• "Faith in Every Footstep" and "Behold the Wounds in Jesus' Hands" will be added.
• "Come Thou Fount" will probably be restored, which could be either good or bad.
• The sections of songs for men and songs for women will be cut down or eliminated. I definitely think that the songs that are neither for men or for women but are simply choral arrangements for men's or women's choirs will be adapted to be regular hymns. Specifically, "Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy" (335) will no longer be a men's hymn.
• The patriotic songs may have additional countries (like Canada or New Zealand), but more likely will be cut down or eliminated. I can't think of any specifically American lyrics in "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" (339), so I can see it staying.
• I think the total number of hymns will decrease.

And when they revise the Children's Songbook (from 1989), here's what I think will change.

• There will be fewer season and fun songs. A few years ago, the nursery manual was revised so that there are no longer lessons like "I can be thankful for fish," so I think some of those more trivial songs will leave. They will keep the classics like "Popcorn Popping" or "Give, Said the Little Stream." I suspect that "Give, Said the Little Stream" will finally give in to popularity and say, "The grass grows greener still." (The lyric is, and always has been, "the fields grow greener still," despite what people actually sing.)
• "Scripture Power," "I Know that My Savior Loves Me," and "If the Savior Stood beside Me" will be added. 
• The tune of "Latter-day Prophets" will be lengthened to accommodate more prophets. As it stands, there's only room for one or two more prophets. 
• Some songs will be less childish and more doctrinal. 
• The layout of the book will feature photographs instead of illustrations. 

And when they do make the new hymnbook, I can only hope they have the  Tabernacle Choir sing the audio recordings, instead of that dismal "choir" they currently use.