With the new hymnbook coming, a look at where it's been and where it's going
With the new hymnbook coming, a look at where it's been and where it's going
There's a noticeable trend in the last couple of editions, and it's a good one.
My family and I were at my parents’ house a few weeks ago, and my 15-year-old started poking through old things. Boxes of photos and negatives, old books… there were lots of treasures for a young man raised in the digital age. One thing he found was a pocket hymnbook that had belonged to my great-grandmother, with her name embossed on the front cover.
The current 1985 edition of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hymnbook came out when I was two years old, and last I checked, that was a while ago. My great-grandmother’s copy, found in my parents’ house, was published in the 1960s, but is the 1950 edition.
There are, of course, differences between the different versions of the hymnbook. 92 new hymns were added to the 1985 edition, compared to the 1950 version. Others were removed, or changed, for any number of reasons—doctrinal, linguistic, cultural, or otherwise. This can be anything, from insensitive racial references to using words whose meanings have simply changed over time. As an example, I like this callout from Douglas Campbell’s analysis, Changes in LDS Hymns: Implications and Opportunities:
In 1948, 187:3, we sang a sacrament song with the words "Oh happy hour! communion sweet." In 1948, for members of the predominantly Utah-concentrated church (a virtually dry state), a "happy hour" was an hour that was happy. In 1985, for non-members of the nationally dispersed church, "happy hour" was associated with something quite different. The verse became in 1985, 176:3, "Oh blessed hour! communion sweet."
When we look at hymns that were taken out because they are outdated or no longer a good fit for the hymnbook, it’s easy to just say, “Haha, look at these goofy old hymns!” But there’s more going on here. Looking at how the hymnbook has changed shines a light on how the Church itself is evolving. And with the new hymnbook coming—and the first few hymns already released—we can see a bit of a trend that I expect will continue.
I see a shift toward hymns that praise God and focus on the core of the gospel. To be specific, there are three categories of hymns that aren’t core to the gospel, that I see less of in the 1985 hymnbook than in the 1950 edition: hymns about people, hymns about Utah, and generally hymns about other, not entirely Christ-centric things.
Here are a few hymns from each category that didn’t make it into our current 1985 edition.1
Hymns about people
We go to church to worship God, not people—this isn’t a controversial thing to say. Elder Bruce R. McConkie described it this way:
The Church directs the holding of weekly sacrament meetings in all its organized units. These are the most solemn and sacred meetings in the Church. Their purpose is to enable the saints to renew their covenants by partaking of the sacrament; to receive instruction in the doctrines of the kingdom; to worship the Almighty in song, prayer, and sermon.2
But there’s also no doubt that we have songs in our current hymnbook that laud people. We don’t worship Joseph Smith, of course, but someone might think we do from seeing a hymn called “Praise to the Man” in our hymnbook.
There were two hymns removed from the 1950 edition that had text specifically about Joseph and Hyrum, and their martyrdom. Here they are:
Hymn #137: Oh Give Me Back My Prophet Dear (first verse)
Oh give me back my Prophet dear
And Patriarch, Oh give them back
The Saints of latter-days to cheer,
And lead them in the gospel track!
But Oh they’re gone from my embrace,
From earthly scenes their spirits fled.
Two of the best of Adam’s race
Now lie entombed among the dead.
Hymn #198: When First the Glorious Light of Truth (fourth verse)
Our Patriarch and Prophet, too,
Were massacred; they bled
To seal their testimony and
Were numbered with the dead.
Ah, tell me, are they sleeping?
Methinks I hear them say:
“Death’s icy chains are bursting!
’Tis the resurrection day!
’Tis the resurrection day!
Death’s icy chains are bursting!
’Tis the resurrection day!”
Beyond those, this is another interesting hymn removed from the 1950 edition—it is specifically about the twelve apostles. If it’s at least a tiny bit weird to sing praises to a prophet, it’s twelve times weirder to sing a hymn about apostles:
Hymn #211: Ye Chosen Twelve, To You are Given (first two verses)
Ye chosen Twelve, to you are given
The keys of this last ministry,
To every nation under heaven,
To every nation under heaven,
From land to land, from sea to sea.First to the Gentile sound the news
Throughout Columbia’s happy land,
And then, before it reach the Jews,
And then, before it reach the Jews,
Prepare on Europe’s shores to stand.
What could this mean in the new hymnbook?
I think we’ll have fewer hymns about people in the upcoming new hymnbook. But we do have entries in our current hymnbook about people, that are also beloved hymns—I’m talking about “Praise to the Man,” “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer,” and even “We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet.” It’s hard to think that any of these all-stars would be removed from the new hymnbook.
But there are others along the same lines, too, like “Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice,” “We Ever Pray for Thee (our prophet dear),” “God Bless Our Prophet Dear,” and “Now We’ll Sing with One Accord (for a prophet of the Lord).” This doesn’t diminish the key role that prophets, and especially Joseph Smith, play in the restored Church. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see fewer of these people-centric hymns survive into the new hymnbook.
Hymns about Utah
Church history is important. And while the early days of this dispensation saw a lot of Latter-day Saint action in Utah, that’s not everyone’s history—most Latter-day Saints around the world don’t have pioneer ancestors, or a strong connection to Brigham Young declaring, “this is the right place.” The Church’s Global Histories, instead, make a strong effort to tell relatable Church histories for other parts of the world, including in over a hundred different countries.
In an increasingly global Church, it can be a disconnect to sing hymns in sacrament meeting about Utah or its geography. There are hymns about Utah in the current hymnbook, but they don’t mention the state by name. In the 1950 edition, there were absolutely hymns that specifically mentioned and praised Utah. These were removed before 1985:
Hymn #72: There Is a Land Whose Sunny Vales (first verse and chorus)
There is a land whose sunny vales
Are fair as dreams of paradise,
Where white-robed virtue e’er prevails,
And honest manhood has no price;
Where mountains capped with virgin snow,
Pure as the babe on mother’s breast,
The land I sing of would you know?
’Tis Utah, star of all the west;
The land I sing of, would you know?
’Tis star of all the west.Utah, Utah, beautiful, beautiful land,
Fair are thy valleys, thy mountains tall and grand,
Ever my praise shall be, Utah, for thine and thee,
Land of the brave and free; Utah the star of the west.
Hymn #140: Land of the Mountains High (first verse)
Land of the mountains high,
Utah, we love thee!
Land of the sunny sky,
Utah, we love thee!
Far in the glorious west,
Throned on the mountains’ crest,
In robes of statehood dressed,
Utah, we love thee!
But even without mentioning Utah by name, there are hymns that clearly allude to Utah. “In Our Lovely Deseret” is an easy one—the U.S. state of Utah was originally proposed to be named Deseret.
But there are even more that invoke the mountain imagery of Utah. I spent my youth years in Florida, where the highest point in the state is 345 feet above sea level—that’s about 1/8 the height of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building. There are no mountains in Florida. There are no hills. The entire state is flat. Singing about mountains just doesn’t make sense.
What could this mean in the new hymnbook?
There are a few candidates for removal from our current hymnbook, that are clearly about Utah; including “In Our Lovely Deseret,” as already mentioned, but also “Our Mountain Home So Dear,” “O Ye Mountains High,” or “For the Strength of the Hills.” Most popular of the bunch—for sure a top-10 most-sung hymn, in my experience—is “High on the Mountain Top,” which was originally titled simply “Deseret.” You’d have to think that one will stay.
With the Children’s Songbook going away and children’s songs being included in the next hymnbook, there are others that could be affected. Even “Once There Was a Snowman” tilts toward areas that get snow, like Utah. My cousin has reported that where she lives in Arizona, which is even very close to Utah, in order to make this song relevant they have adapted it to be “Once There Was a Cactus.”
Hymns about other, not totally Christ-centric things
This is a broad umbrella, but I’m using this category for things that feel more tactical and day-to-day than, say, praising God. We’ll start with this gem, from the 1950 hymnbook:
Hymn #111: M. I. A., We Hail Thee
The MIA is the Mutual Improvement Association, and is the predecessor to our current Young Women and Young Men youth programs (that naming change was made in 1974). This song praises the youth programs themselves, even using worship-type language: “hail,” “praise,” etc.
As much as we appreciate the Church’s organization and programs, it feels out of place to sing about them in sacrament meeting. And maybe this song wasn’t used much in Sunday meetings; it’s possible that it was used more often in MIA gatherings. And given that in 1985 the MIA hadn’t technically existed in over a decade, it was a good candidate to remove from that hymnbook.
Here’s the first verse and the chorus:
M. I. A., we hail thee! Loud thy praise we sing;
For thy loving guidance We our homage bring;
Founded by a prophet On the rock of truth,
May thy light and glory Diadem our youth.Ever, ever onward,
God shall light thy way, light thy way,
Glorious is thy promise,
Beloved M. I. A., M. I. A.
Hymn #298: The Lord Imparted From Above
This hymn is explicitly about the Word of Wisdom. I’m including this as another “pragmatic” hymn, because it’s about a commandment that is itself highly practical. It feels a bit out of place, to me, next to hymns praising God and extolling the virtues of Christ’s atonement. Here are the first two verses:
The Lord imparted from above
The “Word of Wisdom” for our blessing,
But shall it unto many prove
A gift that is not worth possessing?Have we not been divinely taught
To heed its voice, and highly prize it?
Then who shall once indulge the thought,
It can be better to despise it?
If the text of this song has a familiar feeling, note that it was written by Eliza R. Snow. President Snow penned several of the hymns in our current hymnbook, including “In Our Lovely Deseret” again—which includes a verse about the Word of Wisdom. Remember this?
That the children may live long
And be beautiful and strong,
Tea and coffee and tobacco they despise;
Drink no liquor and they eat
But a very little meat;
They are seeking to be great and good and wise.
What could this mean in the new hymnbook?
I don’t know of any current hymns that are about Church programs; the closest might be “Come Away to the Sunday School” and “We Meet Again in Sabbath School,” which seem to allude to a time before the 3-hour block when Sunday School was its own separate meeting.
Do we have hymns about commandments, like the Word of Wisdom? Well, we definitely have hymns about things we’re commanded to do, like “Did You Think to Pray” or “In Fasting We Approach Thee,” but they tend to feel more Christ-adjacent and fit in well.
But there are a number of other types of hymns that I could see not making the cut as the new version is released:
Patriotic songs. I don’t believe these belong in the hymnbook. From the Church website, about the new version: “…national anthems will not be included in the printed hymnbooks. However, sacred music of local interest may be made available to members by language through digital channels…” Which to me means that we will probably still have patriotic songs available online. Ah well.
War hymns. Undoubtedly some of these will stay, but my hope is that there will be fewer of them—war imagery does not always feel compatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ. There’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” of course, but also:
And even “Hope of Israel,” in which the words “watch and pray” are described as a “warcry.”
Wiggle songs. Don’t forget that the new hymnbook will be a combined book, that also includes songs for Primary. Are we to understand that “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” will be in the hymnbook? Or will this sort of song get cut?
Hymns that just don’t get sung often, some of which seem weird. Each person might feel differently about what would belong on this list, but I’d suggest “Sons of Michael, He Approaches,” “Oh Say, What is Truth?,” and “Know This, That Every Soul is Free” (I actually love this last one, but it also just doesn’t seem to fit). What else goes here? What doesn’t fit for you?
So, what?
How has the Church evolved since 1985? What will the changes in the full 2026 release of the new hymnbook reflect about what we believe, and how we worship in the Church?
In General Conference, Jesus Christ is getting mentioned 3x more often in the 2020s than in the 1980s.3 Things like tithing and the Word of Wisdom are being talked about less from that same pulpit. At the same time, we’ve seen a shift from regimented home and visiting teaching toward the higher/holier ministering; similarly, the newer For The Strength of Youth booklet has eschewed its specific modesty rules in favor of gospel-driven principles.
The changes are subtle, and slow. But there’s a shift. It’s a movement toward more focus on a relationship with divinity, and less insistence on checklists, procedures, and culturally-decided rules. A trend toward trusting personal revelation, toward a gospel and a faith that lives within each of us—and is, of course, Church-supported.
I’ve seen this in my own life, as well; not as something worth boasting about, but as a faith evolution and a movement forward. I wouldn’t tell anyone that going to church doesn’t matter or that they shouldn’t read their scriptures, but I’ve come to contextualize those things as pieces of the puzzle contributing to their inevitable completed picture, which is a personal relationship with God.
We’ve seen only a few of the new hymns come out so far, so it’s impossible to draw any conclusions about what will be new and different when the new hymnbook is fully released. But I expect it will reflect what we’ve been seeing in the Church for years—a movement toward being more and more Christ-centered, and less focused on the scaffolding around that. At least that’s my hope.
And I fully expect someone to find our 1985 hymnbook one day, and have a good laugh about some of the seemingly-goofy hymns we sing.
This is not a comprehensive list of changes that occurred between the 1950 and 1985 editions. There are much more complete and detailed analyses that you can turn to, such as the Dialogue article previously referenced, or if you really want to go for it, Michael Hicks’s book Mormonism and Music: A History (Music in American Life).
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd ed. [1966], 661. Emphasis added.
Data from the LDS General Conference Corpus.
Every week my husband and I "vote" if a hymn we sing will stay or go. I have a record of our votes, but I can't remember what we decided on for the prize to the best guesser.