The Many Interpretations of Amazing Grace

This song has travelled across the world and taken deep root in America. Written in England in the 1770s, John Newton wrote this piece as a reformed slave trader turned priest who found grace in the middle of the ocean during a storm. The hymn migrated over to the US when the British began to move here after the revolution.

The first group we are introduced to that sings this song is a family in the rural south. They gather together at family reunions and carry on a family tradition by singing together on the front porch of their house. The member interviewed spoke of how the song was something they all had in common and brought back happy memories to all of them. This exactly how most people seem to feel about the song.

The next form of Amazing Grace we hear in the film is a sacred harp version. The leader of this shape note singing group speaks of how this is their oldest tradition. He says that in the days of this songs first landing in the US, the rural towns were very small and did not have many people, so when they would get together and sing they bonded in a way and this created a sense of community despite all of the participants living far apart.

Next we meet the group that I connected most with: the Wiregrass Singers. This is a group, and mainly one leader, that live in the town I am from and sing a gospel preaching style of Amazing Grace. The preacher or leader stands and paces around the chapel and sings in a very bluesy voice and the rest of the congregation join in in a sort of call and response rendition. The whole church sings along and really make it their own with melismas and freestyle responses which adds an aspect of individuality and ownership to a song that is so widely spread and sung.

Johnny Cash gave his piece about this song and said that it is so personal to him because his family all sang it after his brother tragically passed away. Prisoners in Texas said that this song was a motivation because "the only way out is up" and that remembering God's grace was all they had. The last group interviewed was the Harlem Boys Choir that were all talented boys that dedicated themselves to this choir and got to share this song with the world as they went on a world tour.

In all of these stories, there is a common thread of emotion. Every group feels a sense of community, familiarity, and belonging when they sing this song, whatever version it may be. I think that a song so widely performed for such a long time is kind of like a step back into the past for a lot of people and brings up some type of memory. Amazing Grace is also like a calm in the storm in that this is a song about how God's grace can save us from any situation. This element is special to me because I love when people can put aside the world around them to think about the same thing, whatever it may be, and especially when it is something as beautiful as the Grace of God.