The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Hymns - 1985 Hymnal

1985 Hymnal

In 1985, the church issued a new hymn book titled Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Numerous translations have been made for use around the world; these are substantially the same as the English version, with slight differences in national anthems, etc. The English edition contains 341 hymns.

Some new hymns were placed in this book, which had not been published by the worldwide church up until this time, such as "Called to Serve" and "How Great Thou Art," as well as familiar songs that have been used in the Primary such as "I Am a Child of God," "Teach Me To Walk In The Light," and "Families Can Be Together Forever."

Others were left out of the book. The church did not give particular reasons for leaving out any particular hymn, just saying that the spirit was followed in the selection and there were too many hymns to be included into one book. For example, some of the hymns were about Utah and its mountains, which, while meaningful to church members living there, would not be as appealing to a worldwide church. Others such as "Oh Give Me Back My Prophet Dear" and "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" were missed by some members.

Of the ninety hymns included in the 1835 edition, twenty-six still survive in some form in the current 1985 LDS hymnal. However, only five of the original hymns are probably still sung to their original tunes. These are:

In particular two of the most popular and iconic Mormon hymns, "Come, Come Ye Saints" and "Praise to the Man," are set to quite different tunes than the originals. Revivals of the old tunes in recordings of traditional Mormon hymns have generated interest and appreciation, as in the "Return to Nauvoo" collection by the FiddleSticks group and the "Parley P Pratt" collection by Roger Hoffman.