Who said worship music can’t be fun? (Hint: It wasn’t Louis Armstrong.)
By special request by Phoebe: When the Saints Go Marching In, by Louis Armstrong. The music captures what will certainly be a joyous occasion.
P.S.–Does anybody know that band? I couldn’t find their name on YouTube.
Your favorite Hymns continues with When the Saints Go Marching In, by Evensong. It seems strange not to have Louis Armstrong singing this, but I think you’ll like this simple rendition, too.
If you have a favorite hymn you’d like to add to the list, just leave a reply/comment anywhere on this uncrowded blog.
Our friend Whiterabbit mentioned this in passing, the other day (or was it yesterday?), and then I couldn’t get the tune out of my mind.
When the Saints Go Marching In, most famously performed by Louis Armstrong, is, in fact, a hymn: and here are the lyrics to prove it. I’d like to credit this singer, but I don’t know who she is.
When the Saints Go Marching In became well-known as a New Orleans funeral march. This is video from an actual funeral, with music provided by a very small band.
I think it appropriate for a Christian to have a good, loud sendoff. Yes, your loved ones are sorry that you’re leaving them behind. But as Christians it befits us to rejoice in our loved one’s entry into the Kingdom of Heaven, to occupy one of the many mansions that Jesus Christ has set aside for him in His Father’s house. That’s not sad! We’re sad to lose this person, but it isn’t for forever.
For we, too, each of us, have a dwelling in Heaven with our name on the mailbox.
I hope none of you get mad at me for posting this as a Sunday morning hymn. We’ve all heard it in a secular context so many times–from high school football halftime shows to New Year’s Eve at the Elks Club–that we forget it’s a hymn.
But it is. We are commanded to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. Well, this fills the bill.
As for my selection–well, I went right to Louis Armstrong. The hymn is a classic and so was he.