September 2021 Archives
Beth, a university student, discusses the hymns she sang as a student at a Church of England primary school. A couple are familiar from my years at an Episcopal-affiliated school -- "Kumbaya My Lord," "He's got the Whole World in his Hands," "Lord of the Dance," "Give Me Oil in My Lamp," the latter of which we would have sung in Vacation Bible School. "Morning has Broken" was a pop hit for Cat Stevens; it was in the 1975 Baptist Hymnal, but our church never sang it. "All Things Bright and Beautiful" is a song I only learned as an adult. These are completely unfamiliar to me: "When I Needed a Neighbour," "From the Tiny Ant," "Who Put the Colours in the Rainbow," "Cauliflowers are Fluffy," "One More Step Along the World I Go," "Autumn Days." Here is the first stanza of "Autumn Days":
Autumn days when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell.
Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled.
All these things I love so well.
I think someone got stuck for a rhyme.
