History Main / AmazingFreakingGrace

* In the ''[[GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse Global Guardians]]'' story "Two Towers", Dogfight is singing this hymn to himself as the World Trade Center collapses around him during his HeroicSacrifice that saved six first responders from sharing his fate.

* The 1978 remake (the one before the re-remake and the even more recent ''re''-re-remake) of ''InvasionOfTheBodySnatchers'' uses Amazing Grace (the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards version, which shot them to stardom) when [[spoiler:Matthew runs towards a ship, seeing it as a means of escape. The music here represents hope that he will get away. However, as he approaches, he sees that the ship is being loaded with pods-and the music stops as someone changes records.]]

* An alien rendition is performed during Zed's funeral in ''Film/MenInBlackIII''.

* Parodied in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "TouchOfSatan"; after a torch-bearing mob sings the song for a ''second'' time, Tom Servo sings, "This song is in/the public domain/that's why we used it twice!" Then it gets sung ''a third time''.

Fun fact: Amazing Grace, like many hymns, was not married with the tune it's sung to now until sometime in the mid-19th century.[[note]]The tune is called "New Britain"[[/note]] Any example of it being sung to the same melody [[HollywoodHistory before then]] is an (admittedly understandable) case of artistic license. On rarer occasions, the final verse ("When we've been there ten thousand years…") may be heard in a setting before it was actually added in the late 1800s. To hear what it would have sounded like in its old tune, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgSt5vnN3h4 check out this link]] of Sacred Harp singers (who also sing a lot of other old-timey hymns in a much more lively and bombastic fashion than what you might picture as typical dull church music).

Another fun fact: It uses the CommonMeter, which is, naturally, very common. As such the same lyrics can be sung to the tune of ''TheBeverlyHillbillies'', ''GilligansIsland'', "Camp Town Races," or "House of the Rising Sun," along with many other songs. The song is also written completely on the pentatonic scale, which means you can impress your friends by playing it on a piano using only the black keys.

* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock}}'', the Rosebud Splicer model sometimes sings the song to herself.

* The GameOver screen in ''{{Wild 9}}'' has a bagpipe rendition of Amazing Grace playing over it. Followed shortly by the laughter of the little green men.

[[RuleOfThree And another fun fact:]] The song is occasionally shown as being sung by American slaves prior to the Civil War, it being far more recognizable than any true "slave songs." Appropriately, it was [[http://www.snopes.com/religion/amazing.asp written by a slave trader]] after he [[HeelFaceTurn gave up the business]] and became a [[TheAtoner minister]], which is the reason for the line "That saved a wretch like me."

* The anime adaptation of ''Manga/{{Steam Detectives}}'' uses [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_5MUpFQZQ4 this]] in some intervals during the story, usually to great dramatic effects.

* The Nixon-parody film ''Hail'' (AKA ''Hail To The Chief'') has Judy Collins' version of the song playing as the (fictional) President's army of paramilitary thugs storm a colony of hippie protesters. The song cuts off when a Jesus-lookalike [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic is shot dead]].

* Reese sings an [[HollywoodToneDeaf out-of-tune]] version of it in one ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' episode. As quoted below, he doesn't know the right lyrics.

* ''RescueMe'': Amazing Grace is played on bagpipes for several funerals, Tommy [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it during his father's funeral.

--> '''Tommy:''' I've heard that song a million times. If they could play ''In A Gadda Da Vidda'', then I'd be impressed.

* ''MemphisBelle'': Bomber crews sing "Amazing Grace" as they drive out to their planes on jeeps. It segues into a military march arrangement, and a montage of the ground crews preparing the bombers for takeoff. And to make sure they were making full use of the trope, they sing "Danny Boy" as their plane is going down in a DarkReprise of a big band jazz version of "Danny Boy" at the hangar dance, sung by none other than Harry Connick Jr.
* Played during Tommy Callahan Jr's funeral in ''TommyBoy'', on bagpipes. Tommy III (Creator/ChrisFarley) walks off into the distance after the funeral while the song plays.
* The revised cut of ''HighlanderIITheQuickening'' inserts a bagpipe version of Amazing Grace [[spoiler:during Ramirez's final moments. [[ActorAllusion Considering he IS played by Sean Connery]]...]]

* An alien rendition is performed during Zed's funeral in ''[[Film/MenInBlack Men in Black 3]]''.

* It's a favourite (theme)song of [[DevilAndHerLoveSong Kawai Maria]], and later the whole class rehearses it for the choir performance.

* Sung at a memorial service for three murdered teenagers on ''LawAndOrderCriminalIntent''.
* A truly unfortunate example from ''{{Sliders}}'': washed-up R&B singer Rembrandt Brown is practicing for his "big comeback" (scat-singing the anthem at a Giants game), when his car intercepts a runaway wormhole and crashes on a parallel Earth. The initially self-absorbed character learns a lesson in patriotism when he's caught up in the war between the occupying USSR and the [[LaResistance American underground]] -- and at the end of the show, over the bodies of slain rebels, delivers a sober, heartfelt rendition of... Amazing Grace. (WordOfGod says that he would have performed the anthem in a less crucial scene that had to be cut for time.)

* Ted sings it in episode 8 of ''VideoGame/{{Ambition}}''.

* Played with in ''JudgingAmy'', where Amy and her partner go to the funeral of a colleague that no one really liked. When they get there, they find that the funeral is attended by only three relatives, who are all in deep grief. To cover the inevitable silence, Amy's partner starts singing "Amazing Grace", which deeply touches the relatives.

Another fun fact: It uses the CommonMeter, which is, naturally, very common. As such the same lyrics can be sung to the tune of ''TheBeverlyHillbillies'', ''GilligansIsland'', "Camp Town Races," or "House of the Rising Sun," along with many other songs.

Compare SmallReferencePools. Not to be confused with ''Series/TheAmazingRace''.

* Played during Tommy Callahan Jr's funeral in ''TommyBoy'', on bagpipes. Tommy III (ChrisFarley) walks off into the distance after the funeral while the song plays.

And since it's [[PublicDomainSoundtrack not under copyright]], and everyone knows it, it's damn near the ''only'' song you're ever going to hear at a funeral on TV or film. (It's this or Danny Boy, people.) On a [[EverythingsLouderWithBagpipes bagpipe]] ("One of the three songs that sound good on the bagpipes," it's been called.)[[note]]The other two are 'Danny Boy' and 'Scotland the Brave'.[[/note]] No ifs, ands, or buts. Or in any other situation that requires a hymn, for that matter. Even though almost ''every other'' hymn in is the public domain, too.

* The fourth opening theme of ''Anime/EurekaSeven'' 'sakura' includes an operatic version of Amazing Grace. The truncated openings of the English broadcast omitted it.
** You can still hear Amazing Grace in the background of the main Japanese vocals, and it's next to impossible to miss.

** You have to admit, though, that she does have a ''very'' good voice.

* Famously used during [[TheSpock Spock's]] funeral at the end of ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan''... which seemed a little odd for a Vulcan. And yes, it featured Scotty playing the pipes.
** It's not odd: it's just Scotty [[TearJerker saying his goodbyes]] [[ToAbsentFriends to an old friend]].
* Of course it is used in the William Wilberforce biopic movie ''Film/AmazingGrace''. Since the original tune of the song is unknown, this is perhaps more an example of artistic license than a mistake.
** The original tune could have been any number of Common Metre tunes in use in England in those days - but at the time, the Church of England (of which John Newton was an ordained priest) did not allow the singing of hymns during the service - they sang the psalms and the parts of the mass only - so there was no real reason to write a tune for it or attach it to a melody.
** And, since no one knows the origin of the tune "New Britain" (the first ''recorded'' example is from the 1800s) it might have come from that time.
* Exception: "Abide With Me" (itself a popular funeral hymn) is also used in the soundtrack for ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' during the scene where they [[spoiler: find Jim's dead parents]], mostly because using "Amazing Grace" would make whoever chose the soundtrack sound like a colossal bastard. It's sung by a female soloist. No bagpipes in sight.

* ''MemphisBelle'': Bomber crews sing "Amazing Grace" as they drive out to their planes on jeeps. It segues into a military march arrangement, and a montage of the ground crews preparing the bombers for takeoff.
** And to make sure they were making full use of the trope, they sing "Danny Boy" (as their plane is going down I believe, but at least once earlier in the film too).
*** Yep, a big band jazz version of "Danny Boy" at the hangar dance, sung by none other than Harry Connick Jr.

* This is practically a Duggar Family theme song.
* Parodied in the ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' episode "TouchOfSatan"; after a torch-bearing mob sings the song for a ''second'' time, Tom Servo sings, "This song is in/the public domain/that's why we used it twice!"
** Crow also points a flaw in its use. "You can't use 'Amazing Grace' in a devil movie!"
** Then it gets sung ''a third time''.

* Another Exemption: The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "Gridlock" uses "The Old Rugged Cross" and "Abide With Me" as the inspirational religious songs.
* Used in the obscure ''Series/TheTwilightZone''-style horror series ''Series/NightVisions'', in one of the episodes made into the MadeForTVMovie ''Shadow Realm'', wherein an entire town with a pathological fear of music for fear of a man-eating monster known as The Beast, which can only be awakened by music, is convinced by the newcomer outsider that this monster is a superstition, and the entire town sings it. [[spoiler: The Beast, apparently a giant ghost head, comes and presumably eats them all in the funniest bit of tragic irony you ever saw. The female lead's last words were "Why did I ever listen to you?!"]]

* In the ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode "The Double Death of the Dearly Departed", guess what they sing at the wake?
** ''Swing Low, Sweet Chariot''! Oh, and there might have been another. Maybe.
** And then there's an interesting aversion when they're loading [[spoiler: Vincent]]'s casket into the hearse and they begin singing his favorite song. The song? Lime in the Coconut.

* A truly unfortunate example from ''{{Sliders}}'': washed-up R&B singer Rembrandt Brown is practicing for his "big comeback" (scat-singing the anthem at a Giants game), when his car intercepts a runaway wormhole and crashes on a parallel Earth. The initially self-absorbed character learns a lesson in patriotism when he's caught up in the war between the occupying USSR and the [[LaResistance American underground]] -- and at the end of the show, over the bodies of slain rebels, delivers a sober, heartfelt rendition of... Amazing Freaking Grace. (WordOfGod says that he would have performed the anthem in a less crucial scene that had to be cut for time.)

* On ''TheMentalist'', it's to be assumed Amazing Grace was played at [[spoiler:Bosco]]'s funeral, judging by the way they sing it afterward. Bagpipes are mentioned.

* Sung on ''Series/TheAmazingRace'' Season 15 finale. By an Elvis impersonator. In a wedding chapel. In [[VivaLasVegas Las Vegas]]. Seriously. [[SeasonalRot It was about par for the course for Season 15.]]

* Performed during a proposal on ''TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody''. Remind me again what redemption has to do with a marriage proposal?
** The groom requested it because the bride's name was Grace.
* Diane calms a crowd of angry mourners of one of Coach's friends in a second-season episode of ''{{Cheers}}'', "Coach Buries a Grudge" with a song. I'll give you three guesses.
* It gets sung by Maria at Alex's funeral in ''{{Roswell}}'', although the writers did at least realise it had been done to death and use some of the less well-known verses.

[[folder:Music]]
* Béla Fleck and the Flecktones bass god Victor Wooten plays this entirely in harmonics for his solo spot in most shows, to pretty amazing effect.
** Chris Squire was doing that twenty-five years ago.
* Dropkick Murphys often play a version of this at their concerts, adding in rhythm guitar and bagpipe riffs. Moshing ensues.
* Flatfoot 56 plays this at every show. At one show there was a brawl and the band walked off stage and ended the show. They came back out a few minutes later to play Amazing Grace, saying that they had never ended a show without playing that song first, and that they didn't want that show to be the first time.
* The end of Grace Jones's "Williams' Blood."
* Pat Metheny's "Estupenda Graca" from the 1981 ''Offramp'' album is a remix of Amazing Grace, but with Nana Vasconcelos on vocals and berimbau!
* Ani [=DiFranco=] had a studio version on her cd "Dilate" (1996) and has a kickass live version on "Living in Clip" (1997)
* Music/{{U2}} used this as an intro to "Where the Streets Have No Name" during their [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebHOVTCUDso 360° tour]]. Being there to sing along to it with close to 100,000 other people was a surreal experience.
* Craig Morgan name-drops it in both "That's What I Love About Sunday" and "Tough"...
* ...as does Music/RayStevens in "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex"...
* ...and Jason Michael Carroll in "Where I'm From", to the point that he even quotes the first two lines at the end.
* If you think an opera singer performing Amazing Grace ''a capella'' wouldn't reduce a stadium full of rock and roll fans to awestruck silence, may I present [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B0awbQXSFs Jessye Norman]].
[[/folder]]

** A choral hymn in 8-6-8-6 meter greets you when you first walk into a church-with-a-capital-fucking-C? Must be "Amazing Grace"... [[SubvertedTrope wait, what's that]]? "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'', you sly dog, you! You distracted me with all the [[SceneryPorn pretty shinies]] - I didn't even ''notice'' you were using trochees!

* Not sung, but quoted (for... some reason) in Chapter 7 of ''BrokenSaints'', when Raimi is going crazy due to a constant stream of lucid dreaming.

* Exception: ''CloneHigh'' substitutes FranzSchubert's ''Ellens dritter Gesang'' (a.k.a. "Ave Maria"). It turns out that Genghis Khan is an amazing tenor.
* Another parody: in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', Fry's imagined death has his favorite song "I'm Walking On Sunshine", also played by the bagpipes.
** Considering ''[[{{Tearjerker}} Jurassic Bark]]'', it might not be such a parody.
* Used hilariously in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', where the Joker [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld0uIhst3TA eulogizes]] the believed-to-be-dead Batman, and [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou decides to murder his supposed killer]] by sealing him into a coffin and rolling it into an acid pool. The end of the scene is accompanied by Harley Quinn playing the song ''[[Funny/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries on a kazoo]]''. Given that this is Joker, both conveying genuine sadness and savagely funny mockery of funeral tropes at the same time was likely his intended goal.
** When they recorded this scene, they were only able to do one take because when Arleen Sorkin (Harley) had finished, everyone was laughing too hard to do another take.
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Ike's Wee Wee": At Ike's funeral, conducted by Father Maxi dressed as a rabbi, the piper plays [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hava_Nagila "Hava Nagila."]] As the boys walk away from the funeral, Kenny falls in an open grave and is crushed by the tombstone, and the funeral reconvenes around the grave, the priest changes to his normal appearance (Kenny's Catholic), and the piper plays... "Hava Nagila."
** And has everyone covering their ears.

-->--'''[[Series/ICarly Carly]] stalling for time at a wake in the episode "iPie"'''

** A choral hymn in 8-6-8-6 meter greets you when you first walk into a church-with-a-capital-fucking-C? Must be "Amazing Grace"... [[SubvertedTrope wait, what's that]]? "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" ''BioshockInfinite'', you sly dog, you! You distracted me with all the [[SceneryPorn pretty shinies]] - I didn't even ''notice'' you were using trochees!

* Reese sings an [[HollywoodToneDeaf out-of-tune]] version of it in one ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'' episode. As quoted below, he doesn't know the right lyrics. To be fair, he is a BookDumb.

** A choral hymn in 8-6-8-6 meter greets you when you first walk into a church-with-a-capital-fucking-C? Must be "Amazing Grace"... [[SubvertedTrope wait, what's that]]? "Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" ''BioshockInfinite'', you sly dog, you! You distracted me with all the [[SceneryPorn pretty shinies]] - I didn't even ''notice'' you were using trochaic meter!