Learning the 144 Secular Hymns

♪♪♪ SING ALONG ♪♪♪ as a piano plays the chords and melody (from the SOLO Edition of the Secular Hymnal). Singing along to a simple, chorded melody like this is an ideal way to develop your harmonizing skills!

Lyrics:

Happy be devoted teachers, giving us a future bright
Happy be our health care workers, caringi for us day and night
Happy be our good employers, making opportunities
Happy be to all our workers, sharing their best energies

Happy be our struggling artists, drawing out our beauty
Happy those who work for peace, voicing our humanity
Happy those who care for children, giving us our destiny
Happy those who pay their taxes, funding our society

Happy be police and fire, saving us when things go wrong
Happy be the buyers, sellers, helping keep our engine strong
Happy those who work in science, guiding us as we progress
Happy be to all our people, all deserving happiness

 

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Here's the same hymn in 4-part harmony (from the SATB Edition of the Secular Hymnal). If you and your choir prefer to print out your own score of this hymn, click here to access a beautiful PDF file.

To research the history of this hymn tune: http://www.hymnary.org/hymnal/SH2014

 

Out of respect for our diverse society, please work to keep our public school and community choirs "secular" (comfortable and welcoming to both religious and nonreligious singers). For more information, please visit the secular choirs webpage.

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(Page last updated: January 16, 2016 )