There are probably not too many songs that speak to both religious and secular groups, whilst also traversing a huge demographic and community engagement, from traditional Sunday church through to popular TV culture. Amazing Grace is perhaps the one song that achieves such reach.
Twelve year old Queensland singer/saxophonist, Levi-X has just released a new interpretation, Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing), that digs into its history and meaning with rawness and innocence that only youth can bring.
A Brief History of Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace is now over 240 years old, originally being written by John Newton in the 1770's. Many years prior to writing the song, Newton was involved with some of the most terrible grievances against humanity of the age, being the trans-Atlantic slave trade.
One particular voyage, his ship hit a ferocious storm off the west coast of Ireland, so severe that all on board thought their lives would be lost. Facing death, he cried out to God "Lord have mercy on us". A plea that came to fruition.
Newtown went onto change his life. He became an ordained minister and a proactive abolitionist against the very slave trade that he once was involved with. Later in life he went on to pen the lyrics for Amazing Grace – a recognition of the saving grace he had from his wretched life prior.
Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) – Innocence and Simplicity
In most representations of the song, the focus of the delivery is about the way it is sung, or how choirs lift the musical power to new levels on stage. Levi-X's Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) is different.
The songs uncomplicated composition aims to delicately remind us of the place we start life with youthful simplicity; a place that we can seek to return irrespective of the tumultuous journey that life can unknowingly take us.
The accompanying music video tackles the deeper meaning of the songs roots, and visually represents the message of redemption that so many versions of the song don't tackle in its fullness. .
Amazing Grace (Grace Amazing) is Levi-X's debut song, who he wrote with his father, and is played with his older brother (aged 15) on guitar. Levi-X both sings and plays saxophone on this single.
