UU Hymn Videos

Our hymn is #95. We are honored to have Joan Stoffregen, Heritage choir member, sing this for us, along with music director Les Tacy. The lyrics are on the video, so please feel free to sing along!

This tune is named for Steve Biko, the South African activist who started the Black Consciousness movement. He died from injuries while in the custody of the police.

As Kimberley Debus, author of the blog FarFringe.com states, “A song like this is incredibly radical, suggesting that what’s in front of us isn’t everything, and there’s always more for us to do, explore, resist, and open ourselves to.”

Thanks go to Stephanie Tacy, who did the video and audio editing for this hymn.

Enjoy the YouTube video: There Is More Love Somewhere

Les Tacy, Music Director of Heritage UU Church, performs hymn #305, a celebration of all people.

According to Wikipedia, De Colores “…is associated with the United Farm Workers union, as one of the most commonly heard songs sung during rallies. The song is also associated with Mexican folklore, but it is not known for certain when and where the song originated. It is believed to have been in circulation throughout the Americas since the 16th century, with melodies being brought over from Spain during the colonial era.”

Thanks go to Steph Tacy for creating the video of this performance.

Enjoy the YouTube video De Colores.

Our hymn is #1035, performed by guest musician Michael Tacy, Music Director for The Gathering at Northern Hills.

This hymn has a connection with apartheid in South Africa. Kimberley Debus, author of the blog “Notes from the Far Fringe”, writes:

“There is much we can learn about the United States, past and present, from examining South African apartheid: from the creep of discriminatory legislation to the ways in which resistance to those laws bend the moral arc of the universe toward justice. And as we see over and over again, music makes a difference. We have talked about it here a lot – the enslaved Africans in America, the civil rights movement, Estonia’s singing revolution, and more. Music spreads, music informs, music reaches deep in and grabs hold of our spirits, music shifts our energy and can change our minds.”

Enjoy the YouTube video: Freedom is Coming

Open your hymnals to this wonderful hymn, #323. It reminds us to draw the circle ever wider, because – as Susan Frederick Gray has reminded us, “no one is outside the circle of love.”

As Kimberley Debus, author of the Blog Notes from the Far Fringe, farfringe.com, states: “This hymn is incredibly aspirational. Seemingly unattainable, in fact. Can there ever be this much love? And yet, the vision described by Fred Kahn is precisely what we need today.”

Debus also points out: “A side note about the tune, written by the delightful Tom Benjamin: do you ever wonder why a tune has a particular – and sometimes unusual name? I suppose there are any number of reasons, often tied to the original lyrics, although some tunes get a name to honor a person or a place. Such is the case with this one, called Yaddo. I learned from Tom that he once spent a summer at an artist’s retreat at Yaddo, this incredible place with a gorgeous mansion and lovely gardens, and it was there where he wrote this tune.”

We love this hymn at Heritage. It is exactly what we need to remember today as we show up for the side of good, the side of inclusion, the side of love.

A special thanks to Stephanie Tacy, who is the audio and video editor for all musical pieces performed by Les Tacy.

Enjoy the YouTube video: Break Not the Circle

Hymn #266, “Now the Green Blade Riseth”, has a tune from a medieval French carol, with the harmony by Marcel Dupre,1886 – 1971. The lyrics are written by John MacLeod Campbell Crum, 1872 – 1958.

As Kimberley Debus, author of the blog “Notes from the Far Fringe”, states: “This lyric, by John MacLeod Campbell Crum, an early 20th century Anglican priest, is not for the faint of heart. In fact, it gets right to the heart. And, in true UU fashion – even though he wasn’t a UU – it does that great thing of connecting the Christian Easter story to nature’s resurrection.”

This song is performed by Les Tacy, Music Director of Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church.

Enjoy the YouTube video, Now the Green Blade Riseth.

Hymn #404, “What Gift Can We Bring” is by Methodist composer Jane Marshall. It is intended to be a hymn of pure gratitude, as her lyrics show. There is even an additional verse, which is omitted from our hymnal, that reinforces this idea:

Give thanks for tomorrow, full of surprises,
for knowing whatever tomorrow may bring,
we’re given God’s word that always, forever,
we rest in God’s keeping and live in God’s love.

Gratitude. This is set to a lovely tune, also by Jane Marshall.

This hymn is played and sung for us by Les Tacy, Music Director of Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church.

Enjoy the YouTube video, What Gift Can We Bring?

Our Hymn is #1003, Where Do We Come From,” performed by Les Tacy, Music Director at Heritage UU Church, and Michael Tacy, Music Director at The Gathering at Northern Hills.

On the UUA’s Song Information page, it states:

The lyrics of this song come from the French title of a famous oil painting by Paul Gauguin created in Tahiti in 1897 and 1898. It is currently housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA. The three groups of women, read from the right to left, represent the three questions posed in the title of the painting. The women with the child represent the beginning of life “Where Do We Come From?” The middle group, represent the daily existence of adulthood “What Are We?” The old woman facing death is asking, “Where Are We Going?”

During the week of March 21, enjoy the YouTube video: Where Do We Come From?

Our hymn is “Sing and Rejoice,” #395. The origin of this song is unknown. Now that spring is here, and we have more daylight to enjoy, singing and rejoicing seems like a really good idea! Enjoy singing along. The sheet music is included on the slide, and you can pick when you want to come in since it is sung in a round.

Join Les Tacy, Music Director of Heritage Universalist Unitarian Church, as he sings this hymn. Visit the YouTube video for Sing and Rejoice.