#887: This Is My Song
Jan. 12th, 2019 09:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lutheranhymnsIs this still the hymns section?
Not really. It's set apart from the hymns in the same way the psalms are, but this is labeled "National Songs" as a top-level header (the size of "Hymns," not just "Easter.")
So why is it here?
Not clear. Carryover from older editions, maybe? For those times when you want to celebrate a civic holiday but be antidisestablishmentarian about it? (Yes, that's just an excuse to throw in that word.)
Is the melody famous?
Yeah, it's from "Finlandia," which is about "Finland is great even though those Russians try to keep it down."
Is the song about Finland?
No, it's just "my country is great but all the other countries are great too, let's not get too nationalistic about this now."
About those blue skies...
Yeah. So several years ago I went to this math camp over the summer, and on the Sunday close to July 4th the nearby church sang this hymn (which was the first time I'd learned it). It goes "My country's skies are bluer than the oceans...but...skies are everywhere as blue as mine." Well, it was an extremely gray day. And I was just like "well, I'm sorry for those other countries."
So that's what I think of whenever I hear this song.
This is the last category in the book! Tomorrow we loop back to Advent. I know I have very little to say about some of these but it's an excuse to get to the fun ones, so I'll stick with it (for now), with the caveat that many of the entries will continue to be very brief.
Not really. It's set apart from the hymns in the same way the psalms are, but this is labeled "National Songs" as a top-level header (the size of "Hymns," not just "Easter.")
So why is it here?
Not clear. Carryover from older editions, maybe? For those times when you want to celebrate a civic holiday but be antidisestablishmentarian about it? (Yes, that's just an excuse to throw in that word.)
Is the melody famous?
Yeah, it's from "Finlandia," which is about "Finland is great even though those Russians try to keep it down."
Is the song about Finland?
No, it's just "my country is great but all the other countries are great too, let's not get too nationalistic about this now."
About those blue skies...
Yeah. So several years ago I went to this math camp over the summer, and on the Sunday close to July 4th the nearby church sang this hymn (which was the first time I'd learned it). It goes "My country's skies are bluer than the oceans...but...skies are everywhere as blue as mine." Well, it was an extremely gray day. And I was just like "well, I'm sorry for those other countries."
So that's what I think of whenever I hear this song.
This is the last category in the book! Tomorrow we loop back to Advent. I know I have very little to say about some of these but it's an excuse to get to the fun ones, so I'll stick with it (for now), with the caveat that many of the entries will continue to be very brief.
