This is getting weird, Mary, but my copy of Spirit in Song Vol 1 published in 1979 has written by Les Garrett and copyright Scripture in Song. My version is the one published in New Zealand – could it be other countries did not recognise his claim. This YouTube clip shows him singing the song he “wrote”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBvhi5s1ZA

I give up!

Thanks again Mary.

The information on hymnary.org and on a Methodist site (http://www.gbod.org/lead-your-church/history-of-hymns/resource/history-of-hymns-this-is-the-day) are similar- probably with the same source. They say that Les published it in “his collection Scripture in Song (1967)”. (The Methodist site has turned the inland town of Matamata into an island, which got me wondering about the veracity of their information!)

But the volume 1 Scripture in Song which I have, with This is The Day at number 40, was published in 1979 – and it says “composer unknown” and “copyright unknown”. I’m guessing that you’ve got the same one, since the numbers match.

Yes, it is possible that Les did publish a book with the same name 12 years earlier. When he was just 24. And I’d love to see a copy, or find another reference to it. (Either it wasn’t published in New Zealand, or he didn’t do the legal-deposit thing.)

But notice that David and Dale Garrett (who compiled the 1979 book) released a 45 with the same title in 1968. ( http://natlib.govt.nz/records/22071341?search%5Bpath%5D=items&search%5Btext%5D=%22scripture+in+song%22 )

It seems really unlikely that they would release under the same title so soon, unless there was a connection.

But if there is – when why would they publish it as “composer unknown” and “copyright unknown” in 1979?

Something just doesn’t add up here. So I’d take the copyright claims with a pinch of salt, at very least.

(Phew – I didn’t set out to write an essay! Amazing how one thing leads to another when researching this stuff.)

Thanks Yola and Mary – I’m getting lazy as it is all on hymnary:
http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/PsH/241

They mention the song being in Scripture in Song Book One and I even have a copy of that – No40 This is the Day by Les Garrett.

Hymnary suggests he adapted a Fijian melody and paraphrased Ps 118 for verse one and the other verses are traditional.

Geoff

At home we used it a bit at Easter – because the words are so simple, it’s easy to get translations in various different languages from cultural groups in the congregation.

v2: This is the day when he rose again …
v3: This is the day when the Spirit came

We added:
This is the day when he lives with us …