"Don't say anything stupid now, Don."

Hey, c'mon, man! That's a helluva burden to lay on a guy!

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One of the first books of folk songs I ever bought back in 1952 was Best Loved American Folk Songs (Folk Song U. S. A.), by John and Alan Lomax, copyright 1947, third edition. One of the songs in it was "Amazing Grace." It wasn't until some years later that I actually heard the song sung. I can't remember by who, but it was before Judy Collins' recorded it sometime in the early 1970s. Her rendition of it seem to be the first domino to be tipped over, because you suddenly started hearing it everywhere. A Scottish pipe band recorded it, then another, and another. It began being played during ceremonies following the death of national leaders, major personalities, police officers killed in the line of duty. . . .

In 1990, Bill Moyers did a PBS special on "Amazing Grace" (CLICKY; available on DVD), and that's where I heard about John Newton and how the song came about.

"Amazing Grace," usually played by a pipe band, has become a standard piece of ceremonial music commemorating almost any event in which sadness or grief may be a component.

Someone dies, a pipe band plays "Amazing Grace."

The kid next door's pet hamster dies, and as he's burying it in a shoebox out in the back yard, a pipe band marches in and plays "Amazing Grace."

You get a hangnail. "Amazing Grace."

You spill your beer. Lookout! Here they come again. . . .

Don Firth