Great Hymn Arrangement

A great idea from an odd place. Sufjan Stevens did this hymn for his Hark! Christmas EP. The tune is the traditional tune of Nettleton (87 87 if it means anything to you). and even if you don't have a banjo, an acoustic guitar will do just fine.

Don't be tempted to lose the old hymns! The words are so beautifully crafted to illuminate the truths of God's Word and the Christian life. New arrangements like this can breathe new life into these old hymns and resurrect them for a new generation.

Words:

COME THOU FOUNT OF EVERY BLESSING,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Sorrowing I shall be in spirit,
Till released from flesh and sin,
Yet from what I do inherit,
Here Thy praises I’ll begin;
Here I raise my Ebenezer;
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wandering from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood;
How His kindness yet pursues me
Mortal tongue can never tell,
Clothed in flesh, till death shall loose me
I cannot proclaim it well.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

O that day when freed from sinning,
I shall see Thy lovely face;
Clothed then in blood washed linen
How I’ll sing Thy sovereign grace;
Come, my Lord, no longer tarry,
Take my ransomed soul away;
Send thine angels now to carry
Me to realms of endless day.

Robert Robinson (1735 - 1790) and John Wyeth (1770 - 1858)

Praise! Also has alternative lyrics for 3 of the verses.