LYRICS

1. This old man he sang one; he sang praises to the Son,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

2. This old man he sang two; he sang praises just like you,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

3. This old man he sang three; he sang praises just like me,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

4. This old man he sang four, he praises to the Lord,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

5. This old man he sang five, he sang to the Lord on high,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

6. This old man he sang six, he sang praises tapping sticks,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

7. This old man he sang seven, he sang praises up in heaven,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

8. This old man he sang eight, he sang praises all the day,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

9. This old man he sang nine, he sang praises all the time,
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

10. This old man he sang ten, he sang praises once again.
With a nick-nack, paddy-whack, say a little prayer.

Let’s sing praises everywhere.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.
Let’s sing praises everywhere.

Jesus Loves Me!
(In honor of the start of the school year)
(1860)

Hymn Background:

“Then Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love. May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height–to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge;
that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
Ephesians 3: 17-19

Anna and Susan Warner lived in a lovely townhouse in New York City where their father, Henry Whiting Warner, was a successful lawyer.  But the “Panic of 1837” wrecked the family’s finances, forcing them to move into a ramshackle Revolutionary War-era home on Constitution Island on the Hudson, right across from the Military Academy at West Point.

Needing to contribute to the family income, Anna and Susan began writing poems and stories for publication.  Anna wrote “Robinson Crusoe’s Farmyard”, and Susan wrote, “The Wide, Wide World”.  The girls thus launched parallel literary careers which resulted in 106 publications, 18 of them co-authored.

One of their most successful joint projects was a novel titled Say and Seal in which a little boy named Johnny Fox is dying.  His Sunday School teacher, John Linden, comforts him by taking him in his arms, rocking him, and making up a little song: “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so . . .”

The novel became a best-seller, second only to Uncle Tom’s Cabin; and when hymnwriter William Bradbury read the words of John Linden’s little song written by Anna, he composed a childlike melody to go along with them.  “Jesus Love Me”, soon became the best-known children’s hymn on earth.

Despite their success, the Warner sisters never seemed able to recover from the staggering financial reverses of 1836.  Years later a friend wrote,  “One day when sitting with Miss Anne in the old living room she took from one of the cases a shell so delicate that it looked like lace work and holding it in her hand, with eyes dimmed with tears, she said, ‘There was a time I was very perplexed, bills were unpaid, necessities must be had, and someone sent me this exquisite thing.  As I held it I realized that if God could make this beautiful home for a little creature, He would take care of me.‘ “

For forty years, Susan and Anna conducted Bible classes for cadets at West Point, and both were buried with full military honors. They are the only civilians buried in the military cemetery at West Point. To this day, their home on Constitution Island is maintained by West Point as a museum to their memory.

Jesus Loves Me
(Original Text)

LYRICS:

1. Jesus loves me! This I know for the Bible tells me so;
Little ones to Him belong, They are weak but He is strong.

Refrain:
Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me
Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.

2. Jesus loves me! He who died heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin, let His little child come in. 

Refrain

3. Jesus take this heart of mine, make it pure and wholly Thine;
Thou has bled and died for me, I will henceforth live for Thee. 

Refrain

4. Jesus loves me! He will stay close beside me all the way;
He’s prepared a home for me, And someday His face I’ll see. 

Refrain

No, Not One