Thursday, May 26, 2011
Amazing Grace in the House of the Rising Sun
I always knew you could do Amazing Grace to the tune of the House of the Rising Sun. Combining the message of the two songs, however, really makes secular humanism seem shallow and silly, in my humble opinion.
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..and the original of the tune of the U.S. national anthem was
(quoting from _Straight Dope_, a website)
"To Anacreon in Heaven," an English drinking song written by John Stafford Smith with words by Ralph Tomlinson, Esq. According to tradition it was first "sung at the Crown Anchor Tavern in the Strand, circa 1780." ... Anacreon (563-478 B.C.) was a Greek poet known for his songs of wine and women.
Music and lyrical content are often identified only by association.
We’re all syncretist nowadays.
But there are some pretty critical similarities between the message of the two songs, if you notice the parallel between the word "wretch" in Amazing Grace and "sin and misery" in the House of the Rising Sun. We CAN and DO make wrong choices that wreck our lives. Whether or not there is amazing grace should be the only controversial issue.
http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2009/09/denying-cat-wonderful-chesterton-quote.html
"Greensleves" works, too.
To dismiss a view held by so many intelligent and educated people as "shallow and silly" does not sound like a humble opinion!
What I said was that it seems shallow and silly. And what I had in mind was not nonbelief in the existence of God, but rather a kind of misguided optimism about human nature that sometimes goes with secularism.
Victor,
... a kind of misguided optimism about human nature that sometimes goes with secularism.
The vices I infer from "House of the Rising Sun", drinking, gambling, prostitution possibly, are interesting in that none of them entail an act of willful harm against another person, but were considered acts of intrinsic evil nonetheless. The first two are no longer considered wrong by most of society and this seems to be due to a shift to consequentialist ethics; drinking/gambling is wrong only if it harms your job/relationships/health. The same sort of consequentialism seems to be at work in making prostitution legal in some areas of societies. Is it consequentialism (which I think is secular humanism's primary ethical approach) that you see as seeming silly and shallow?
Alcohol, gambling, and prostitution all do harm. Whether that harm is best controlled by makes those particular activities illegal, or whether it is best controlled by not having legal restrictions is a further and separate issue. In the case of alcohol, Christianity historically has opposed the abuse, and not simply the use of alcohol.
Also Stairway to Heaven, Gilligan's Island - even the Mickey Mouse are all interchangeable. They all were written with what is called "Common Meter" in poetry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_meter
Dangerous? No, just very inappropriate, musically speaking. Amazing Grace is a Paean--a song of praise and joy. House of the Rising Sun is a classic lament. If this isn't obvious to you, try singing them the other way around and, hopefully, you will see what I mean. Singing House of the Rising Sun to the melody of Amazing Grace makes it sound joyful and uplifting. I don't think there is anyone who would interpret those lyrics as joyful. It's not just about chord progression though it does have to do with minor and major keys. Look up the word 'Prosody'. The music was carefully written for the subject matter and to think that a paean and a lament are interchangeable is to disrespect the songwriters.
OMG so much drama over a song really people!?! I happen to love Amazing Grace want to the tune of House of the rising sun. When you take the words away the tune is just that,a tune. Putting other words to that tune has nothing to do with the original words. Grow up people and see the song as it was intended "Beautiful lyrics set to a beautiful tune!!
It is a fitting compilation to some who identify as being brought out of misery by saving grace. A testimony and a summary of a life appreciated for it's uplifting. You can argue about music, and appropriate pairings of lyrics and tunes, but in the end it's personal.
Rising Sun is an old folk/drinking song, which has been interpreted many ways in the past, often with different melodies. Amazing Grace originally had no music, and had been paired with various melodies, until it was set to a tune called "New Britain", and the pairing became popular, eventually becoming the standard arrangement. Such is real music; ever evolving.
I heard a couple of my friends singing Amazing Grace to the tune of The House of the Rising Sun, so I googled it and got here. I normally wouldn't comment on an article so old, but the claim that it makes Secular Humanism seem shallow and silly got my attention. Why would singing Amazing Grace to the tune of The House of the Rising Sun make secular humanism seem shallow or silly? Neither song has any thing to do with secular humanism. Are secular humanist singing groups going around on tours singing Amazing Grace to the tune of The House of the Rising Sun? No, I have only heard Christian singing groups singing Amazing Grace to the tune of The House of the Rising Sun. Groups such as my to friends I mentioned earlier in this comment. I think it is shallow and silly that Christians like Amazing Grace sung to the tune of The House of the Rising Sun. Have they not listened to the words of the House of the Rising Sun?
*Everything* "makes Secular Humanism seem shallow and silly" because Secular Humanism *is* shallow and silly.
So a donut with sprinkles on it makes Secular Humanism seem shallow and silly? Really?
Yes, even that.
Your problem, Mr Madewell, is that you're attempting to use logic (*) to dispute the proposition that "Secular Humanism *is* shallow and silly"; but secular humanism logically entails that it is impossible to make logical arguments (**)
(*) specifically, a reductio ad absurdum argument
(**) and it is for this reason that we *know* that "Secular Humanism *is* shallow and silly", and that "*everything* makes Secular Humanism seem shallow and silly"
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