Hi, just to avoid deletion, I am the "Guest" of a couple of postings back. Not sure why the name didn't get in before but as long as I'm here again, I might make clear that my words "the last stanza.. is NOT by Newton" is of course a reference to the "when we've been there ten thousand years" stanza.
If you really want to learn more about the history of this wonderful song and the life it has taken on through the many who have sung & recorded it, you might read "The Story of America's Most Beloved Song- Amazing Grace" by Steve Turner. It is around 360 pages in length and contains a ten page discography going back to 1926. You could also watch the Bill Moyers PBS documentary. I think it's just called "Amazing Grace".   A perhaps surprising source but actually rich in the history and the ongoing life of the song. Watching it, I first learned about the shape note singing tradition in the south and also enjoyed the personal interviews and performance clips by Jessye Norman, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Jean Ritchie, Marion Williams, and The Boys Choir of Harlem.
May you know the sweetness of God's amazing grace (it just gets sweeter & sweeter) and may I meet you "there" (hopefully before ten thousand years but who's going to be in a hurry?)