Fish the Right

I Need Thee Every Hour

Words: Annie S. Hawks · Tune: NEED, Robert Lowry

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Organ and orchestra: an introduction, then each of the 5 verses. Tap a verse’s number to start there.
  1. I need Thee ev'ry hour,Most gracious Lord;No tender voice like ThineCan peace afford.
    RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
  2. I need Thee ev'ry hour,Stay Thou nearby;Temptations lose their pow'rWhen Thou art nigh.
    RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
  3. I need Thee ev'ry hour,In joy or pain;Come quickly and abide,Or life is vain.
    RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
  4. I need Thee ev'ry hour;Teach me Thy will;And Thy rich promisesIn me fulfill.
    RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.
  5. I need Thee ev'ry hour,Most Holy One;O make me Thine indeed,Thou blessèd Son.
    RefrainI need Thee, O I need Thee;Ev'ry hour I need Thee;O bless me now, my Savior,I come to Thee.

About this hymn

Words
Annie S. Hawks, 1872. Refrain by Robert Lowry. As printed in The Hymnal (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.) (1895), no. 501.
Tune
NEED, Robert Lowry, 1872.
Harmony
Pentecostal Hymns No. 2, 1898. Score from the Open Hymnal Project.
Recordings
Arranged and recorded by Fish the Right, from the harmony above: the melody note for note and every chord the hymnal’s own. Played on the Salamander Grand Piano V3 by Alexander Holm (CC BY 3.0), with organ, strings, brass and timpani from VSCO 2 Community Edition by Versilian Studios (the organ sampled by Simon Dalzell); drums from Virtuosity Drums and bass from Black And Blue Basses by Versilian Studios and Karoryfer Samples; pads from GeneralUser GS by S. Christian Collins; made with abcMIDI, sfizz, FluidSynth and FFmpeg.
Rights
Words 1872, tune 1872, setting 1898: all published before 1931, so public domain in the United States. Checked: words (hymnary.org), tune (hymnary.org), harmony (openhymnal.org).