That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ'd!
Thro' many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be,
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.
The Blind Boys of Alabama, also billed as The Five Blind Boys of Alabama, and Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, is an American gospel group. The group was founded in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama, and has featured a changing roster of musicians over its history, the majority of whom are or were vision impaired.
The Blind Boys found mainstream success following their appearance in the 1983 Obie Award-winning musical The Gospel at Colonus. Since then, the group has toured internationally and has performed and recorded with such artists as Prince, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Bonnie Raitt, Ben Harper, Bon Iver, and Amadou & Mariam. The group's cover of the Tom Waits song "Way Down in the Hole" was used as the theme song for the first season of the HBO series The Wire.
The Blind Boys have won five Grammy Awards in addition to being presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009. They were endowed with a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1994, they were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2003, and they were inducted into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in 2010. The group was also invited to the White House during the Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama administrations.
Group member Ricky McKinnie said in a 2011 interview with the magazine Mother Jones: "Our disability doesn't have to be a handicap. It's not about what you can't do. It's about what you do. And what we do is sing good gospel music."
That was 6 years ago. This still takes me to that place, only now I can smile a little bit...
The power of music and a little faith!!
sounds like an Animals rip-off, House Of The Rising Sun, have they sued?
c.
Amazing Grace to the tune of a song about a whore house? Is this irony?
Do some research before you post.
House of the Rising Sun may be the name of the whore house within the song, but the subject of the song is repentence and forgiveness.
Same themes, brilliant mashup.
BTW, go see the Blind Boys live. You will be deeply moved, even if you remain an agnostic like me.
I don't get the purpose or merit in doing this. Perhaps someone can enlighten me.
As an aside, I found the history of this hymn and its author quite an interesting read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazing_Grace
"Purpose or merit"? It's hard to say; maybe it seemed like an interesting or engaging idea to them. I'm not sure why the concept of mingling two songs together is such a bizarre concept to some people; it's been a pretty common practice for a long time. By the way, the song "House of the Rising Sun" was not written by Bob Dylan or Eric Burdon; it's about 100 years old.
I cannot stand this song. No matter who re-creates it, the song always sounds slow, pendulous, and boring. Why not sing it focused on the uplifting that goes on behind the happiness? But, no, alas, it's always going to sound like 90-year old people in church.
Sure, now put on your rick astley mix tape and go play in traffic.
Please REMOVE this from the play list
Enigmatic whining/spamming. Give it a rest.
Which the Animals stole from a traditional folk song.
Covering a song is not "stealing". Both songs referenced here are traditional folk songs.
Please go check out the link and tell me what I'm missing?
The link is very pretty, but doesn't *move*me like this does.
..dirge?..
Hell no!
Is there something I'm not hearing?