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Was out of town for a couple days to go to a funeral, my very close friend lost his dad. He was 85 and had had a good life, it's still sad, though.

I'm not very religious, but when they sing Amazing Grace, it always kind of breaks me up, it's a hauntingly beautiful melody. I thought it must be Baptist in origin, but my twin brother, who was also there, thinks it's Scottish. I believe I have heard it on bagpipes. Do any of you musical types know it's history? My neice thinks it's so beautiful, she's insisting it be sung at her wedding, which may raise a few eyebrows...

Took me awhile to catch up on all the posts, that Harry Potter thread had some humerous aspects.

Do any of you musical types know it's history?

Amazing Grace was written by a (former) captain of a slave ship. Some say the melody was one he heard the slaves humming as they crossed. For more info: The Story of John Newton.

As for me, I have two favorite "stories" about Amazing Grace:

One is mine and really isn't that funny anymore: When I first saw Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan in the theater, I laughed when Scottie started playing Amazing Grace on the bagpipes at a Vulcan funeral...

The other is my wife's: She grew up singing and playing the piano in church. Her parents did a lot of visitation to the sick and elderly. Once, when she was an early teenager, they were visiting a woman who was like 104 years old. Mrs. Stormhands sang Amazing Grace. The woman said up and said "Oh my, that takes me back a hundred years..." which of course, for her, it did.