Way back in January 2016, I was working to create a modernized arrangement of the Public Domain hymn, "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing" by Charles Wesley. I'd hope to preserve the original melody and lyrics, and maybe just add a bridge or something. I ended up adding a sort of bridge for each stanza. Unfortunately, while I was really happy with my additions, they never really paired well with the feel of the original hymn. So I shelved the idea, revisiting it from time to time over the years in further failed attempts to shoehorn together two incompatible ideas.
On June 30, 2020, however, I gave up trying to make fit what never would, and instead restructured the whole song around my additions. I heavily edited the original hymn lyric and melody while still trying to preserve the essence of what it said. After all, to wish that one had a thousand tongues to sing God's praise all the louder is a beautiful sentiment! So that, as well as the general message of the hymn's stanzas, remain the core of what is now essentially a brand new song.
As I intend to share the song with my local church, I needed to whip up a demo of it. Last night I spent about an hour tracking acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and bass guitar. After my son Aidan finished watching a movie with his friends, I asked him to come upstairs and lay down a drum track. Then this morning, I was able to get my wife Amy in front of a microphone to track the lead vocals, with me laying down some harmonies immediately thereafter.
I've licensed the song under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. And as part of my commitment to reducing barriers to adoption for music truly written for the church (rather than for a paycheck), I've posted the sheet music for the song to my GitHub repository.
UPDATE(2024/12/31): It's been almost exactly four years since I first posted about this song. And for four years I've had some nagging complaints about the melody, key, timing, and lyrics. So here in the final moments of 2024 I've tried to address those concerns. I've renamed the song to just "For a Thousand Tongues" (trying to further distance it from the original hymn in order to avoid confusion), and pulled down the original demo recording for the same reason. The aforementioned sheet music has been updated, too.
Here are the (slightly) updated lyrics:
"For a Thousand Tongues" All-gracious Master, glorious God, Give me the words to proclaim. Spread through the whole earth — here and abroad — The honor of Your holy name. Father, You give me the choice, But Your grace compels me to lift up my voice. If I was mute, I'd still make joyful noise to the King. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing! Jesus, your name calms the deepest of fears. You bid every sorrow to cease. Your mercy is music in this sinner's ears— Your love is the source of my peace. Savior, You knew all along That you'd trade perfection for all I'd do wrong. Lord, may my life make a beautiful song to the King. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing! Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise! Sing of the glories of my King; the triumph of His grace! Jesus you've broken the power of sin. Your blood sets the prisoners free. Dying you saved us, then rising again Accomplished supreme victory! Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemer's praise! Sing of the glories of our King; the triumph of His grace! Your church in heaven and earth below, this sacrifice we bring! Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. Spirit of God, fill this place. Write on our hearts songs of mercy and grace. Oh, God, we're desperate to give every praise to the King. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing! Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing! Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing!
