![]() ![]() Out of this reflection, he had an epiphany: “So these words just started flowing one night-my chains are gone, I’ve been set free, my God, my savior, has ransomed me-” Tomlin breaks off here and describes the word ransom “-I was thinking about how you pay a ransom for a slave-” he continues reciting the lyrics: (For further history see Hawn, 2018, n.p.) While pondering the proposal, Tomlin read about the history of John Newton and reflected on the depth of the lyrics in their context of slavery. His friend mentioned that the producers of the film were wondering if Tomlin would be willing to “do something” with the hymn of the same name.Īfter briefly recounting Wilberforce’s work toward abolishing the slave trade in Europe, Tomlin explains the life of “Wilberforce’s mentor,” John Newton (1725-1807), who wrote the hymn “Amazing Grace” (1779) after his conversion and abandonment of his career as a slave trader. Amidst muffled yells and laughter from his off-screen daughters, Tomlin offers a disclaimer: “I never set out to take the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’ and add something to it-anybody would be crazy to do that! It’s only the greatest song ever written.” Instead, Tomlin recounts a plane ride whereon he had a chance encounter with a friend who told him about some acquaintances who were making a movie about William Wilberforce called Amazing Grace (2007). Festooned with a baseball cap featuring the state flag of Colorado, a black T-shirt, and jeans, the native Texan Tomlin exhibits the reflective warmth associated with his public persona.Īfter singing a portion of his enormously popular version of “Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone” at half tempo, Tomlin welcomes the viewers to this “behind the song” story of how he came to write the piece. ![]() ![]() Behind him, landscaped boulders mark the elevation lines, while scattered pines and hardwoods reveal a commanding view of the late afternoon countryside. 1972) sits in a patio chair, an acoustic guitar in hand. The born-again Jimmy Carter was the first recent President to embrace Amazing Grace, singing it with everyone from Willie Nelson to Senate Majority leader Robert Byrd.In a Facebook Live video posted on July 13, 2017, worship leader Chris Tomlin (b. Today Amazing Grace is beloved by Presidents and citizens alike and remains a go-to hymn at American funerals, because of its striking melodies and ever-popular narrative of personal redemption. At that time he wrote the autobiographical Amazing Grace, along with 280 other hymns. He was ordained an Anglican priest in 1764 and became an important voice in the English abolitionist movement. After he rode out a storm at sea in 1748, he found his faith. John Newton was born in London in 1725, the son of a Puritan mother and a stern ship commander father who took him to sea when he was 11 (“I am persuaded that he loved me but he seemed not willing that I should know it,” he later wrote).īy 1745, Newton was enlisted in the slave trade, running captured slaves from Africa to, ironically, Charleston, S.C. Yet, as there is so often when race is the topic, the back story behind the hymn that is suddenly everywhere is not so simple.Īmazing Grace was written by an Englishman who in the early part of his life was an outspoken atheist, libertine, and slave trader. When President Obama turned to the soaring lyrics of Amazing Grace to comfort the grieving families in Charleston, South Carolina this week, he was turning to a song that is almost as much of a staple of the U.S.
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