Slide Show: 10 hymns with not so sacred musical roots

Hymn #397: An Upper Room

Image 10 of 11
The tune for this hymn is called "O Waly Waly" and is also commonly known as "The Water is Wide." Jürgen Klos traces the first verse of this song to another one called: "I'm Often Drunk And Seldom Sober" (c. 1780). We'll never look at this hymn the same again.


(Visited 1,628 times, 1 visits today)

8 Comments

  1. Travis Losey

    “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” (#423) is set to the tune “God save Francis the Emperor” by Haydn, which has been the tune for the German and Austrian national anthems (including the “co-national anthem” of Nazi Germany).

    1. Coincidence?

      Once upon a November 11th Sabbath, this was the closing song at the university church.
      All us history majors in the back row were wondering if the organist who made the selection was aware…

  2. Dan

    That early Advent favorite, “How Sweet Are the Tidings” (#442), is set to “Bonnie Eliose, the Belle of the Mohawk Vale.” Eloise proved popular with both Yankees and Rebs during the Civil War!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *