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Amaryllis

(9,523 posts)
Mon Aug 5, 2019, 08:12 PM Aug 2019

How Obama decided to sing 'Amazing Grace' + Joan Baez sings "My President Sang Amazing Grace"

Found this today and it is so relevant. I had never heard this story and thought you all would love it. He is so tuned in to reading a group and knowing just what will comfort people. Below the story is a video of Joan Baez singing "The President Sang Amazing Grace" for those of you who may not have seen it. Get your hankies out first.

“…when he first raised the idea (of singing Amazing Grace) with first lady Michelle Obama and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett, it was met with skepticism.
“Why on earth would that fit in?” the first lady said in reaction to the idea, according to Jarrett, who was with the Obamas as they departed the White House aboard Marine One on their way to the funeral in South Carolina.

snip

The president went on to explain his thinking to Jarrett and the first lady, who had yet to read the president’s prepared eulogy, during the helicopter ride.
“I think if I sing, the church will sing with me,” Obama said, according to Jarrett, who recalled the story during a question answer session at the Aspen Institute’s Ideas Festival.

But even then, President Obama hadn’t made his mind up whether he would in fact sing. “I don’t know whether I’m going to do it, but I just wanted to warn you two that I might sing,” Jarett recalled him saying. “We’ll see how it feels at the time.”

But as soon as the president took to podium to begin the eulogy, Jarrett said, it was clear the mood was right. “From the first time he started to speak, the church was clearly with him,” Jarrett said. “He knew they were with him.”
Before the president began to sing, Jarrett observed that the president paused for a moment. And she later asked him, “Were you thinking about whether or not you were going to sing?”

“Oh no, I knew I was going to sing, I was just trying to figure out what key to sing in,” the president said in response to Jarrett.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story-president-obama-singing-amazing-grace-charleston-funeral/story?id=32264346&fbclid=IwAR2JJfaXyivj87te-2p21XqrN83AAdVeXPVItB7AUDo-hNlJlHJHOBBJ0SA

&fbclid=IwAR0dwnHlS5zrRkq2MjoZXr17fxhSA9YQB0wndjW8JLt6ALwTxkiJ8qXQ62c

“I was driving when I heard ‘The President Sang Amazing Grace,’” Joan Baez told The Atlantic, “and I had to pull over to make sure I heard whose song it was because I knew I had to sing it.” The 77-year-old folk legend included the song in her final album, Whistle Down The Wind, released in early March. Originally written and performed by Zoe Mulford following the 2015 mass shooting in a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Baez’s rendition of “The President Sang Amazing Grace” has been animated in a powerful new video. Read more: ex/556574/joan-baez-amazing-grace/

"The President Sang Amazing Grace" is performed by Joan Baez, written by Zoe Mulford, and animated in this video by Jeff Scher. It is part of The Atlantic Selects, an online showcase of short documentaries from independent creators, curated by The Atlantic.




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How Obama decided to sing 'Amazing Grace' + Joan Baez sings "My President Sang Amazing Grace" (Original Post) Amaryllis Aug 2019 OP
I love this song Gothmog Aug 2019 #1
Thanks for posting. I am sitting here with tears. What an amazing song! tulipsandroses Aug 2019 #2
He had the gift of making it universal rather than denominational. Values that apply to Amaryllis Aug 2019 #3
I love Zoe Mulford's version. madaboutharry Aug 2019 #4
This is beautiful and so meaningful. snacker Aug 2019 #5
Obama Sings 'Amazing Grace' During Pinckney Eulogy TomCADem Aug 2019 #6

tulipsandroses

(5,092 posts)
2. Thanks for posting. I am sitting here with tears. What an amazing song!
Mon Aug 5, 2019, 08:24 PM
Aug 2019

So sad how much we have lost. In lives, in decency, in love. What a stark difference when a president comforted us by singing Amazing Grace. Even those of us, like myself that are non religious were comforted in that moment.

Amaryllis

(9,523 posts)
3. He had the gift of making it universal rather than denominational. Values that apply to
Mon Aug 5, 2019, 08:27 PM
Aug 2019

any one - kindness, decency, respect.

TomCADem

(17,378 posts)
6. Obama Sings 'Amazing Grace' During Pinckney Eulogy
Mon Aug 5, 2019, 10:56 PM
Aug 2019

Its times like this that remind you what we had when President Obama was our President:

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