philosophicRAVES perfect (per.fikt) adj. 1) complete in all respects; flawless 2) excellent, as in skill or quality 3) completely accurate – Webster
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rave OPINIONamazing graceNo song stirs emotion in me, like Amazing Grace and the events of 11 September, 2001 have only served to underscore that. Many, if not all people have songs that have special meaning to them... favorite songs, "our song", songs that remind us of times and people past, but Amazing Grace digs deeper. To tell the truth, until I looked the lyrics up, I only knew the first verse... that's true for most people I think. We hear the unmistakable melody and four brief lines and thats all that's necessary. It simply connects to your soul and stops you in place no matter what you are doing. I can "name that tune" in two notes. I'll bet you can too. Amazing Grace has obvious religious undertones, but its not that aspect that gives it power. And its not the lyrics; as I mentioned, I didn't even know most of them. And in fact, there are many, many versions of the song, some with many verses and slight differences here and there. Is it the melody? Perhaps. In truth, I don't know what it is, but it has power. Or perhaps its power is derived from the situations that we attach it too. Tragedies, triumphs, defeats, births, deaths, battles... in almost any situation of intense emotion, Amazing Grace is appropriate. It conjures up images of patriotism, strength, loss, resolve... and it has the ability to morph to whichever situation it is applied. The National Anthem is another such song but it gets played so often at events of no consequence that its impact gets diminished. And America the Beautiful... often times seems almost hypocritical. America the Beautiful tells of America's natural beauty and it's citizen's brotherhood and yet in normal circumstances when there is no national crisis, we so often don't protect that beauty nor demonstrate that brotherhood. But Amazing Grace... sings of heartfelt emotion... that song gets to me. I suspect in the coming days and weeks we'll be hearing it more than usual. – dave © Copyright iriguchi 2001 What follows is one of the more common versions of lyrics. Amazing Grace Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, T'was Grace that taught... Through many dangers, toils and snares... The Lord has promised good to me... When we've been here a thousand years... Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, |
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