For the next section of my class, we were asked to write a movie review. The movie is all about the song “Amazing Grace” and the unbelievable impact it has had everywhere for so long. Very quickly, it is apparent that this song is shared among several cultures. As far as groups, within the first ten minutes we see African-American, Southern, a family from Scotland, and a folk singer.

The music sounds fairly consistent across the various cultures and groups. Some add character to the song, and some stick to what we would consider the original version.

This song is performed in a range of locations just as diverse as the people who sing it. We see that it is performed at family gatherings, as a spiritual in churches, and for recordings. There was also a part where people were coming out to register to vote, and the song seems to have given them strength and courage to try to register to vote.

The music culture seems to have changed over time in that this song was written originally as a hymn based on John Newton’s own personal life. He was a slave trader and came back to the church and wrote hymns. He had a wretched life, but later found grace. It has grown beyond the church though. It can be used at family gatherings as well, through thick, thin, happy and sad. It was even sung at the end of Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday concert. This was a rock concert, but a soloist sang Amazing Grace and many people even sang along with her. The melody has changed a bit over time. The more recent versions have more sliding and moving notes. There has also been shape-note versions.

This particular assignment was emotionally challenging to me. Just a few weeks ago, I went to my grandfather’s funeral. His wife’s name was Grace. At her funeral eight years ago, we sang Amazing Grace. We also sang it at my grandfather’s grave site (her’s as well). That memory is still pretty raw for me, and every week I am reminded of his passing. I saw the title of the movie and knew I would be fighting tears the whole way through. It is nice to see this song that is sung from a place of happiness and spirituality rather than a place of mourning. There is this one boy who is interviewed, and his mom cried when she heard Amazing Grace. When he asked why she was crying, she replied that she was just so happy and remembered things from long ago. It’s so interesting how a song can make me cry, and a stranger cry, for completely different reasons.

That’s all for this post friends, see you in the next post! May you have grace in your life.