Potato Bug, Potato Bug
The Potato Bug Hymn is a one-stanza text, inspired in equal parts by an arthropod and by Psalm 42. It was written by Leland Bryant Ross in October, 2000. The text was written for the tune O Tannenbaum,
Contents
Lyrics
Potato bug, potato bug,
you seek the dark where God is found,
Potato bug, potato bug,
the dark where God's love's all around.
Like you, I yearn to shade my eyes,
to gaze in awe on darkened skies:
I long to crawl beneath a Rock —
the Rock of my salvation!
Meter
The hymn is written in the form 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7. (The tune is often construed otherwise, especially as 8 7 8 7 8 8 8 7.)
Copyright
The author has placed the text in the public domain.
Origin
The circumstances of the song's origin are explained at the "hymn"'s page in TTT-Himnaro Cigneta. One influence not mentioned there is Brian Wren's hymnody, including the text beginning "Joyful is the dark, holy, hidden God, / rolling cloud of night beyond all naming. . . "
