There was one song at our wedding that flopped - this one. My folkie friends knew the Pete Seeger rendition of the song, and my Catholic choir friends knew a 1975 version by Ed Gutfreund in the Glory and Praise hymnal from Oregon Catholic Press/NALR. So, what came out was 250 people split between two tunes, and nobody came to agreement. Here's the Gutfreund tune, which is only subtly different from the Lowry tune at Cyberhymnal, but different enough to be problematic.
Gutfreund uses three verses, with "no storm can shake..." as a chorus for all three. Here are the beginnings of the three verses:- My life flows on in endless song...
- Through all the tumult and the strife...
- What though the tempest...
Gutfreund uses "love is lord of Heaven and Earth..." which seems to be standard in modern hymnals, although I'd bet big bucks that Lowry wrote "Christ is Lord."
The current (2004) edition of Choral Praise Comprehensive from Oregon Catholic Press attributes the song to Robert Lowry and says it's a Quaker hymn, which we've established is not true. Choral Praise also uses "No storm can shake...Love is Lord..." as a chorus for all verses. Here are the verses from Choral Praise:- My life flows on in endless song...
- Through all the tumult and the strife...
- What though the tempest...
- When tyrants tremble... (the Doris Plenn verse)
- The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart....
The other major Catholic publisher is GIA (Gregorian Institute of America). Their Gather Comprehensive Hymnal (2004) mentions Christ by name in the chorus and appears to be closer to the Lowry version (except that Lowry does not have a chorus):
How Can I Keep From Singing? (GIA)
(Text: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899)
- My life flows on in endless song
Above earth's lamentation.
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
CHORUS:
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I'm clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
How can I keep from singing?
- Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing;
It sounds and echoes in my soul;
How can I keep from singing?
CHORUS
- What, though my joys and comfort die,
The Lord, my savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night it giveth.
CHORUS
- The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
A fountain ever springing:
All things are mine since I am his—
How can I keep from singing?
CHORUS
I think the hymnals have trouble with this tune, since we folkies tend to sing it in rather free meter. Choir directors can't handle free meter, but the publishers have to have something we folkies can recognize, so they do some interesting things with notation on this song.
The Collected Reprints from Sing Out! has the Doris Plenn verse, composed during the 1950's about her friends imprisoned during the McCarthy era.
When tyrants tremble, sick with fear
And hear their death knells ringing;
When friends rejoice both far and near,
How can I keep from singing?
In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging.
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?
The Catholic hymnals leave out this Lowry half-verse: I lift mine eyes; the cloud grows thin;
I see the blue above it;
And day by day this pathway smoothes
Since first I learned to love it.
Note that if you take the Lowry verses from Cyberhymnal and split them, and use "No storm can shake..." as a chorus, you come up with five verses. Add Plenn's "tyrants" verse, and split off "prison cells" and you've got seven. I don't think any other non-parody verses have been posted in the other threads (see crosslinks above). I wonder where are those other three verses that She Who Must Be Obeyed counted.
-Joe Offer-
P.S. I forgot to mention that there's a very nice choral arrangement and recording on this page (click). Masato found the link and posted in in another thread.