Wow, this is a banger that I haven’t ever heard of.
Written by Lesbia Scott (text) and set to GRAND ISLAND by John Henry Hopkins of “We Three Kings” fame, it is a song for All Saints. There is useful background here.
It was originally meant to be a children’s song and it is said not to be hugely popular in England, but is well known in Scotland and especially in the Episcopalian church in America. Its so called irreverance was found somewhat disconcerting, which is as good reason as any to like it.
I made two backings:
Stodgy:
Lighter but too slow:
1 I sing a song of the saints of God,
Patient and brave and true,
Who toiled and fought and lived and died
For the Lord they loved and knew;
And one was an actor, and one was a cook,
And one was a writer of many a book;
They were all of them saints of God; and look!
God willing, I’ll be one too.2 They loved their Lord and they walked his way,
His courage made them strong,
They followed right, for Jesus’ sake,
For the whole of their lives long;
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
And one was attacked by a furious beast:
And there’s not any reason, no, not the least,
Why I shouldn’t be one too.3 They lived not only in ages past;
Millions of them live still.
The world is full of joyous saints
Who delight to do God’s will;
You meet them in school, in the street, or at sea,
In church, at the beach, in the shops, and at tea!
For the saints every one, began like me,
And I want to be one too.
There is so much adaptation going on there I should post what looks like the American version. I think the one above is adapted for the Irish Catholics in Australia and so expunged the Queen.
1 I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping, to be one too.2 They loved their Lord so dear, so dear,
and His love made them strong,
and they followed the right for Jesus’ sake,
the whole of their good lives long.
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest,
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast;
and there’s not any reason, no, not the least,
why I shouldn’t be one too.3 They lived not only in ages past;
there are hundreds of thousands still.
The world is bright with the joyous saints
who love to do Jesus’ will.
You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store,
in church, by the sea, in the house next door,
they are saints of God whether rich or poor,
and I mean to be one too.
Why did he remove doctors from the list of saints, it’s not that unlikely.
There are parody versions:
And one was a soldier, and one was a beast,
And one was slain by a fierce wild priest . . .
… which may be antipapist of course.
The tune is disturbingly reminiscent of “Old King Cole”.
These clips of assemblies singing this song straight are charming… and disconcerting.
This is more suitable for a children’s song: