O Jesus I Have Promised
Like most of my generation, we were made to sing hymns during school assemblies. Never bothered me or affected my spiritual development (unless it's the reason I am an atheist), didn't and don't see a problem with it, Christianity is (or was then) the dominant religion of this country, can't criticise them for trying to indocrinate the young and impressionable.

And some of the hymns were fun to sing. We especially enjoyed belting out O Come All Ye Faithful and Onward Christian Soldiers, for some reason.

O Jesus I Have Promised was not one of the fun ones. A dull, plodding, dreary number. Until! One day the teachers announced that they were going to try it, but to a completely different tune! This one was fast and zippy, jaunty and uplifting!

But it only happened once. Next time, and every time after that, when the teacher turned the massive hymn flipchart page over (though we did not know then the term 'flipchart) and the verses of O Jesus appeared a thrill of excitement would thrum through us.

A thrill quickly extinguished by Mrs Wilmott's arthritic fingers as she began to hammer out not the new fun version but the old dull version of the hymn on ye olde skool piano.

I can still hear both versions in my head (not at the same time of course).

Maybe if they had persisted with the fun version of O Jesus I might now be a Christian.

Scary thought.

Dktr S
(Dr Skagra glorious glargzhem, Sat 15 Jun 2013, 18:58, 7 replies)

The only version I know goes like this,
with the lines alternating with piano notes -

Oh Jesus I have promised
*bom bom bom*
To serve thee to the end
*bom bom bom bom bom*
Be thou forever near me
*bom bom bom*
My master and my friend
*bom bom bom bom bom*

That would be from the early 70s and was considered modern back then.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Sun 16 Jun 2013, 6:18, closed)

ThouTube hath the Answer
This is the traditional version:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=svgHDdzP5xY

Yawn! Even more dreary than I remembered!

But THIS is the modern version!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNz-33V1V8A

Rock and Roll!!!
(Dr Skagra glorious glargzhem, Sun 16 Jun 2013, 16:42, closed)

An organist writes
The "modern one" is Hatherop Castle ("modern" as in 1950s, I think). Can't remember the name of the traditional tune you've put there but yes, it is a dirge. The more usual traditional tune is Wolvercote (though it's too slow in that link) which in my ever-so-'umble opinion trumps both.

But you can also sing it to the theme from the Muppet Show.
(ChaRleyTroniC is invincible with his chips and cheese, Sun 16 Jun 2013, 19:39, closed)

You really can
Good Lord. I'm getting funny looks in the office though.
( The Light in Chains don't touch the Pope's boner, Mon 17 Jun 2013, 11:40, closed)

Bit late to the hymn party but...
I assumed the dirgy one the OP was talking about was this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKP7jcw1708
That's what we always had to sing at school anyway.
( thecrapgatsby isn't listening LALALALALALA, Tue 18 Jun 2013, 9:41, closed)

Thornbury is awesome!
Won't hear a word against it. Superb tune.

Complete bastard to play though. And that brass band is taking it at half the speed it should be.
(ChaRleyTroniC is invincible with his chips and cheese, Tue 18 Jun 2013, 21:41, closed)

hahahahaha
hahaa
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Thu 20 Jun 2013, 13:24, closed)