Sitting in church this morning, I scanned the bulletin and noticed a few of the songs that we would be singing. One of them was “And Can It Be” by Charles Wesley. Little did I remember just how much I love this song.
Here’s my issue with older hymns: Most of the time I can’t really remember how they go based on the title alone. It’s not uncommon for the title of a hymn to come from the first line of the first verse. With modern worship songs, however, the title tends to be centered around the chorus (which is much easier to bring to mind being that it’s sung so repetitiously).
You know what I’d like to call “And Can It Be”? I’d like to call it “My Chains Fell Off.” I tell ya, that line gets me pumped EVERY. TIME. From there on out, the momentum builds and my heart is filled with the thrill of knowing the Lord for all eternity.
Additionally, it’s hard to deny the mastery of these lyrics. The whole song is just chock full o’ meaning. (Harder to come by in music these days.)
I scrounged around for a decent YouTube video and this was the best that I could do. The pros: 1) It’s not too distracting and echoey. 2) It’s got the lyrics. The cons: The guy is singing it too slow, so it loses some of it’s excitement.
Enjoy!
Now THAT is a great title! Love the song, too.
My vote is for the 23rd Psalm set to music. No clue from the title, but I love it so.
Beautiful! Do not recognize this hymn. I too love old hymns!