Your favourite morning assembly hymn! (or other non-denominational school song)

[electrogirl]

Lord of The Dance was brilliant, we were allowed to jig around on the last choruse which was always fun.

Did anyone else sing:

Autumn days when the grass is green
*something* inside a chestnut shell
Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All these things I know so well

And I musn't forget
No I musn't forget
To say a great big thankyou, I musn't forget.

 

[kins]

The day thou gavest lord is ended

I well up!

 

[souljacker]

My favourite went:

Stand Up! Clap Hands!
Shout "Thankyou Lord!"
Thankyou for the world I'm in.

Complete with actions, i.e. standing up, clapping hands, shouting "thankyou lord". My best mate thought he had to shout "Vacuum Cleaner" but he was a very strange boy.

Of the ones in the poll, definitely 'Cross over the road'.

 

[kyser_soze]

Sang that regularly as we lived in Southend and supported the lifeboats

Us to - we used to get the RNLB in assembley about twice a year when we had to sing that.

My favourite was 'So I mustn't forget' (or 'Autumn Jewels' - was never clear on the title:

Autumn days when the grass is jewelled
And the silk inside a chestnut shell
Jet planes meeting in the air to be refuelled
All these things I love so well

(Chorus)
So I mustn't forget
No I mustn't forget
To say a great big thank you
I mustn't forget

Clouds that look like familiar faces
And winter's moon with frosted rings
Smell of bacon as I fasten up my laces
And the song the milkman sings.

Whipped-up spray that is rainbow-scattered
And a swallow curving in the sky
Shoes go comfy though they're worn out and they're battered
And the taste of apple pie.

Scent of gardens when the rain's been falling
And a minnow darting down a stream
Picked-up engine that's been stuttering and stalling
And a win for my home team

I like it cos it's not remotely religious, yet feels it.

Too many hymns that I love to list!

 

[Bonfirelight]

Is 'if you're happy and you know it' a hymn? we used to sing that.

And there was another one about one in a taxi and one in a car. might have been a carol. what's the difference anyway? is it just the christmas theme?

 

[kyser_soze]

It's a hymn for 5 year olds, yeah...

And there was another one about one in a taxi and one in a car. might have been a carol. what's the difference anyway? is it just the christmas theme?

'We three kings of Orient are
One in a taxi,
One in a car
One on a scooter
Beeping his hooter
Smoking a large cigar'

Xmas carols are the best tho:

While shepherds washed their socks/cock by night
All seated in a square
The angel of the lord came down
And they shat their underwear

God Bless Ye Jerry Mentalmen

e2a - given that 'All things...' is the favourite, I'm surprised none of our more 'earnest' posters haven't arrived to point out how it was brainwashing you into accepting the world as it is:

The rich man in his castle,
The poor man at his gate,
He made them, high or lowly,
And ordered their estate.

Used as a great 6th Form sociology example when studying Marxism and religion.

 

[spanglechick]

i was a fiercely atheist six year old ("but are all these people really stupid, mummy?") - but i love singing in assembly.

We didn't have any with archaic anguage (no thees and thous), but no really happy clappy ones either. The hymn book was called "morning has broken" - i think it may have had a chicken on it...

the most child-orientated one had the line "and if I was, a fuzzy-wuzzy bear, i'd thank you lord for my fuzzy-wuzzy hair" - you had to do actions. I didn't like actions. They were childish.

I took my singing achingly seriously. Funky if it was funky - pure and wistful if it was serious.

My favorite, and I was amazed to see it on the list, was "when a knight won his spurs"

When a knight won his spurs in the stories of old
He was gentle and brave he was gallant and bold
With a shield on his arm and a lance in his hand
For God and for valour he rode through the land

No charger have I and no sword by my side
Yet still to adventure and battle I ride
Though back into storyland giants have fled
And the knights are no more and the dragons are dead

So let faith be my shield and let hope be my steed
Against the dragons of anger the ogres of greed
And let me set free with the sword of my youth
From the castle of darkness the power of the truth

It took a certain skill to get the syllables right in the last lines - you had to concentrate. A good song for sorting those whe were serious about their singing (and, i now discover, completely secular (depending on interpretation) - hurrah!)

 

[Cloo]

My favourite was 'So I mustn't forget' (or 'Autumn Jewels' - was never clear on the title:

We used to sing 'Chestnuts waiting in the air to be refuelled'

Come to think of it, has anyone ever seen jet planes in the air being refuelled...? I haven't.

 

[Mrs Magpie]

Not sure of it's proper title but I always looked forward to a ship wreck somewhere so that we could sing 'For Those in Peril on the Sea'. It was and still is my favourite.

Eternal Father Strong To Save.....I want it at my funeral....

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/e/t/eternalf.htm

 

[subversplat]

We used to sing 'Chestnuts waiting in the air to be refuelled'

Come to think of it, has anyone ever seen jet planes in the air being refuelled...? I haven't.

Air Force One can be refueled in the air!

 

[zenie]

My favourite was 'Milk bottle tops and paper bags'

Did anyone else sing it?

It was all about recycling

 

[*Miss Daisy*]

I liked "Morning has broken" gave us a chance to play up and sing at the top of our voices,,

I am totally not into hymns, but do startle myself when i break into "M has B" song whilst making some toast,,

 

[tim]

Number one in our school was
Lord of the Dance
I would vote for it given the chance.
A great one to sing,
really enjoyed the line
"its hard to dance with the devilonyourback"

I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he

By Sidney Carter

As was "When I needed a neighbour.

The tune is from a Shaker hymn "Simple Gifts" by Elder Joseph

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,
Till by turning, turning we come round right.

I heard the latter being sung in by someone in a side room at a Quaker Meeting House two weeks ago. I was drinking tea in the room next-door at the time.

 

[DJ Squelch]

My favourite was 'Milk bottle tops and paper bags'

Did anyone else sing it?

It was all about recycling

Oooh yeah, we used to sing that one. How did the rest of it go?

 

[Poot]

Another vote for "I am the Lord of the Damp Settee".

We used to sing one that went "Who put the colours in the rainbow? Who put the salt into the sea?" Anyone remember it?

 

[Looby]

Another vote for "I am the Lord of the Damp Settee".

We used to sing one that went "Who put the colours in the rainbow? Who put the salt into the sea?" Anyone remember it?

Who put the colours in the rainbow?
Who put the salt into the sea?
Who put the cold into the snowflake?
Who made you and me?
Who put the hump upon the camel?
Who put the neck on the giraffe?
Who put the tail upon the monkey?
Who made hyenas laugh?
Who made whales and snails and quails?
Who made hogs and dogs and frogs?
Who made bats and rats and cats?
Who made all of these?

Who put the gold into the sunshine?
Who put the sparkle in the stars'?
Who put the silver in the moonlight?
Who made Earth and Mars?
Who put the scent into the roses?
Who taught the honey bee to dance?
Who put the tree inside the acorn?
It surely can't be chance!
Who made seas and leaves and trees?
Who made snow and winds that blow?
Who made streams and rivers flow?
God made all of these!

 

[tim]

Strangely we never actually sung our School song. We knew it existed but it seemed to be reguarded as some dirty secret. However, I just found a copy on the school's St Cakeish website. Perhaps they feel it suits the Public School image the school now seems keen to adopt, its actually an ex-Grammar School that went "independent" in the late 70's.

Words by H.R. Dawe and music by Alec Rowley

Hamptonians all a chorus raise
To praise our ancient School
Which Hammond founded back in days
Of Haughty Tudor rule,
For like the Thames , close on whose side
She stood in days bygone,
With sure and never ceasing tide
Our School goes proudly on.

Chorus

Then let us join our School to praise
The bond that none shall sever,
Let all her sons this chorus raise;
"Hampton, the School forever!"

A Goodly heritage is ours
Of ceaseless effort, made
By sturdy men, whose active hours
The School’s traditions laid,
From out the past examples come
That stir us and that guide,
For some were men of worth and some
For love of England died.

Chorus

Then let us join our School to praise
The bond that none shall sever,
Let all her sons this chorus raise;
"Hampton, the School forever”

At School we join the living chain
That grows, but never dies;
In after years we still remain
Close bound in friendship’s ties.
May we who bear Old Hampton’s name
In work or play endeavour
To guard and keep undimmed her fame,
That she may stand forever.

Chorus

Then let us join our School to praise
The bond that none shall sever,
Let all her sons this chorus raise;
"Hampton, the School forever”



Wonderfully absurd stuff.

 

[han]

We used to have a song called 'Jesus Put This Song Into My Heart'.

We changed the words to 'Jesus sucked the cum out of my arse'....

My personal favourite was Morning Has Broken....

 

[lemontop]

I really liked singing in assembly, another vote for Lord of the Dance but remember liking the 'We Plough the fields and scatter' song for harvest festival. The only time I ever hear these sort of hymns these days is at full on church style weddings where verses of songs seem to appear that were never in the school hymn books. The purple headed mountain bit of All things bright and beautiful caused a titter amongst the congregation at the last one. It's good to be juvenile

 

[sheothebudworths]

Number one in our school was
Lord of the Dance
I would vote for it given the chance.
A great one to sing,
really enjoyed the line
"its hard to dance with the devilonyourback"

I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.

Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he

I'd go for that too, although you missed out the rest - including the most important bit (in bold) that all the kids would put LOTS OF EXTRA EMPHASIS ON whenever we sung it....<titters>... ( ).......

I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame;
The holy people
Said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me on high,
And they left me there
On a Cross to die.
They buried my body
And they thought I'd gone,
But I am the Dance,
And I still go on.
They cut me down
And I leapt up high;
I am the life
That'll never, never die;
I'll live in you
If you'll live in me—
I am the Lord
Of the Dance, said he.

We also used to have really fucking dreary assemblies once a week where we'd have to listen to a radio broadcast of a dramatised biblical story. I really recall finding it genuinely hard to stay awake during those.....<nods off at the memory>....

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

My personal favourite was Morning Has Broken....

That ties with All Things Bright and Beautiful as most annoying

Good for putting you to sleep though

 

[Structaural]

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

Used to love that.

I used to like 'He's got the whole world in his hands' too.

Replace hands for pants and then one of the verses is 'he's got the wind and the rain in his pants'. Tee hee hee.

Yes, I was going to say Little Boxes. Hippy 70s teachers I reckon

 

[Biffo]

I Vow To Thee My Country. Don't like the words now but really liked the tune as a young teen. All that angst with some minor key harmonies thrown in.

 

[Dissident Junk]

A Defence of 'Who wouyld truee Valouyr Seethe'

To be a pilgrim is shite. Badly flowing overly pious crap.

How is 'Who would true valour see?' pious crap?

I mean, I know it was written by John Bunyan, but it doesn't mention Jesus or God once in the lyrics. I've always really like the hymn precisely because it doesn't talk about 'sweet baby Jesus' or 'God is like a raindrop'.

I think it is quite a secular hymn in some ways. A pilgrim doesn't have to be a religious pilgrim, it can be a life pilgrim, someone determined to weather the storms of life, ready to fight any 'Lyon' in his way, bashing away the 'hobgoblyns' and 'fouwl fyends' on his path, disregarding what other people think of him, no matter if they tell him 'dismal storys', to believe in what he thinks is right.

For a really pious song, you need 'Blessed are the pure in heart' or 'There is a Green Hill far away' . Now that is soppy, miserable and whiny.

And I don't see how it is nationalistic either. It doesn't mention 'England' or 'Albion', or anything to do with countries, or nations. It is about the power of the individual.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

How is 'Who would true valour see?' pious crap?

I mean, I know it was written by John Bunyan, but it doesn't mention Jesus or God once in the lyrics. I've always really like the hymn precisely because it doesn't talk about 'sweet baby Jesus' or 'God is like a raindrop'.

I think it is quite a secular hymn in some ways. A pilgrim doesn't have to be a religious pilgrim, it can be a life pilgrim, someone determined to weather the storms of life, ready to fight any 'Lyon' in his way, bashing away the 'hobgoblyns' and 'fouwl fyends' on his path, disregarding what other people think of him, no matter if they tell him 'dismal storys', to believe in what he thinks is right.

For a really pious song, you need 'Blessed are the pure in heart' or 'There is a Green Hill far away' . Now that is soppy, miserable and whiny.

And I don't see how it is nationalistic either. It doesn't mention 'England' or 'Albion', or anything to do with countries, or nations. It is about the power of the individual.

To be a Pilgrim's a great hymn. Who gives a fuck what the words are. I'm sure I had no idea what I was singing about when I sung it

 

[moon]

I went to a totally hippy progressive primary school, (Jude Law was in my class ))

Anyway we were all forced to sing the following song in assembly.

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we'll learn to read and write

The child is black, the child is white
The whole world looks upon a sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night

A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see Jah light
To see Jah light

And now at last it's plain to see
They'll have again a liberty
A liberty (yeah)

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we'll learn to read and write

The child is black, the child is white
The whole world looks upon a sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night

A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see Jah light
To see Jah light

And now the child must understand
This is the law of all the land
All the land

And now the child must understand
This is the law of all the land
All the land

 

[kyser_soze]

I remember singing that in a CofE infants' school when I was about 5 or 6 so I don't think it was limited to progressive hippy establishments!

 

[Roadkill]

I went to a totally hippy progressive primary school, (Jude Law was in my class ))

Anyway we were all forced to sing the following song in assembly.

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we'll learn to read and write

The child is black, the child is white
The whole world looks upon a sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night

A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see Jah light
To see Jah light

And now at last it's plain to see
They'll have again a liberty
A liberty (yeah)

The ink is black, the page is white
Together we'll learn to read and write

The child is black, the child is white
The whole world looks upon a sight
A beautiful sight

The world is black, the world is white
It turns by day and then by night

A child is black, a child is white
Together they grow to see Jah light
To see Jah light

And now the child must understand
This is the law of all the land
All the land

And now the child must understand
This is the law of all the land
All the land

I don't think that's very hippy! To me, it speaks more of serried rows of Victorian schoolchildren in knickerbockers sitting on hard wooden benches parroting whatever the teacher wrote on the blackboard and casting wary eyes at the cane hanging on the wall.

I went to a C of E Primary school (my dad used to do assembly on Tuesdays ) and IIRC most of the teachers thought it was terribly old-fashioned and dull. Which tbh it was.

 

[spanglechick]

I remember singing that in a CofE infants' school when I was about 5 or 6 so I don't think it was limited to progressive hippy establishments!

me too - but it didn't have the word "Jah" - "to see the light" i think it was.

 

[Wintermute]

Other than the usual favourites already mentioned, I recall a fondness for one about shining your little candle in a corner, or something. But the bestest tune was, without doubt, the Battle Hymn Of The Republic, aka John Brown’s Bo­dy. Lyrics varied but the ones I'm most familiar with featured the immortal lines:

"There are wise men filled with bum love
There are shepherds in disguise"