Popular Tune for Children of the Heav'nly Father
  • avscvltaavscvlta
    Posts: 86
    My dad loves the lyrics to Children of the Heav'nly Father. But he finds the typical tune a bit lacking. He would really like something more upbeat and catchy, like a famous tune from oldie rock or pop. Any ideas?


  • Liam
    Posts: 5,116
    It's a Long Meter (8.8.8.8.) text, for which there is an abundance of choice for other hymn tunes, for example: https://hymnary.org/search?qu=meter:8.8.8.8 in:tunes&sort=totalInstances&order=desc

    You wouldn't be able to publish anything that is still under copyright, which in the USA means anything from 1930 and later.

    PS: See correction below
  • Chrism
    Posts: 873
    Hymnary says the translation was prepared for a 1925 hymnal... (link in OP)
  • CHGiffenCHGiffen
    Posts: 5,199
    It's NOT Long Meter (88.88 iambic), as the accents are not on the even numbered syllables (ie. it's not iambic). It's 88.88 trochaic.
    Thanked by 1Roborgelmeister
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,116
    Thank you for the correction!
    Thanked by 2CHGiffen Chrism
  • avscvltaavscvlta
    Posts: 86
    Yes exactly! It's the trochees that are throwing me off. Can't find anything myself. I tried AI, but it seemed pretty bad at finding trochaic tetrameter. I suppose it's pretty rare.
  • Liam
    Posts: 5,116
    I used to have an eagle eye for trochaic vs iambic, but I took too casual a glance at the settings in Hymnary and saw L.M. and a pickup (that's actually a double pickup in triple time...) and assumed wrongly too quickly. I do wish metrical indexes indicated trochaic separately from iambic, know of course that some texts can finesse with the right tune.
    Thanked by 1CHGiffen
  • GerardH
    Posts: 481
    'Christ be with me' is the same meter; not upbeat, but DEIDRE or GARTAN? No idea where you'd start to look for anything from early rock or pop.
    Thanked by 1Liam
  • avscvltaavscvlta
    Posts: 86
    Thank you all for looking... especially since this is just a project for my dad that will have absolutely no use in liturgy (I assure you!). But he definitely doesn't want a hymn. He wants a tune he already knows from oldies radio!
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