Song for Day 24 of a 4 Year Funeral - "Amazing Grace" by John Newton

Hymn writer John Newton.

Day 24 - "Amazing Grace" by John Newton, sung by Susan Aglukark

       John Newton (1725-1807) was a slave ship captain who wrote the lyrics to Amazing Grace in "common meter" (i.e. 4 iambs then three, alternating).  The melody came from those suffering below decks.

       As with all African and most black spirituals, "Amazing Grace" was built on a 5-note "pentatonic" scale rather than the European octaval one.  As such, it can be played using only the black keys on a piano.

      If you have never seen it before, please take a few minutes to watch this fascinating video about the song's provenance:

      Yesterday we mentioned a word that, like honor, amounts to political platinum.  You can take the candidate with unlimited funds, unanimous party support and a pandering press.  Give me the one with 1/10th the grace of an Obama and I'll win.  Every.  Single.  Time.

Singer and songwriter Susan Aglukark

      There is nothing more graceless than bigotry.  Obviously, slavery was the most dramatic manifestation of racism, but attacks on minority cultures survive into 2017.  Had these not been opposed we might not have had WWII Navajo and, in Canada, Cree code-talkers who could speak openly on radio or walkie talkie without Japanese intelligence being able to understand.  Meanwhile, the isolationalist Japanese could not be sure that some of its minority Ainu speakers hadn't fled to North America (where, ironically, they were being interned).

      As with any form of exclusivity and prejudice, monoculturalism always comes with a price.  By contrast, among countless other benefits, multiculturalism provides our government and businesses with interpreters needed to conduct operations overseas.  Indeed, Susan Aglukark served in that capacity in her nation's capital before pursuing a musical career that peaked with the Canadian chart-topping single "O Siem" in 1995, a song that leaves little doubt about Aglukark's view of racism.  Isn’t it discomforting to live in a time when such a simple call for unity should be considered “political”?

             (You may wish to turn your speakers up to fully appreciate this bold tune.)

       When four Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers were killed in the 2014 Moncton, New Brunswick shootings, Susan honored them by singing "Amazing Grace" in Inuktitut.

      (The video is a stunning display of the Aurora Borealis.  When asked why anyone would live in such a hostile environment one resident retorted:  "I could never live where the skies don't dance.")


Lyrics:

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost but now I'm found.
Was blind but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.
When we've been there ten thousand years
Bright shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Then when we first begun.
Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found.
Was blind, but now I see!

 Links: 

Songs for a 4 Year Funeral