Fun

42 Songs Prophets Have Quoted in Conference (from Broadway to Country Music)

43 Non-Hymns Mentioned in General Conference Talks

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Latter-day Saints are instructed to "choose wisely when using media because whatever you read, listen to, or look at has an effect on you. Select only media that uplifts you." But as time goes on, the search for uplifting media has become more and more difficult, especially the search for uplifting music. 

That's where general conference comes in. No, we're not talking about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (though they are great to listen to!). We went looking for songs besides hymns that have been mentioned by prophets and apostles conferences past--and were surprised by how many we found! 

While this is by no means an exhaustive list, it's still fun to see what uplifting songs have inspired Church leaders to share them with us!

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"Angels Among Us" by Don Goodman and Becky Hobbs

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "Teach the Children," October 1997

"A popular song includes the words, 'There are angels among us.' These angels are quite frequently the precious little ones God, our Father, has entrusted to our earthly care. 

"Believe Me, if All Those Endearing Young Charms" by Thomas Moore

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Joni James - Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms

Quoted By: Paul H. Dunn, "By Faith and Hope, All Things Are Fulfilled,"April 1987

"And so for the first time, Thomas Moore sang to his wife the song that still lives today:

"'Believe me, if all those endearing young charms which I gaze on so fondly today, were to change by tomorrow and flee in my arms like fairy gifts fading away, thou would’st still be adored, as this moment thou art—let thy loveliness fade as it will.'

"Moore heard a movement from the dark corner where his wife lay in her loneliness. He continued:

“'Let thy loveliness fade as it will, and around the dear ruin each wish of my heart would entwine itself verdantly still—'

The song ended."

"Bring Him Home" by Claude-Michel Schonberg, Jean-Marc Natel, and Herbert Kretzmer

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "Bring Him Home," October 2003

"One of the longest-running musicals in history is Les Miserables. The story is set in the period of the French Revolution. The principal character in the musical is Jean Valjean. In his heartfelt concern for the young man, Marius, who is going off to battle, he expresses in song a sincere prayer:

God on high, Hear my prayer;
In my need you have always been there.
He is young, he’s afraid;
Let him rest, heaven blessed.
Bring him home. …

Bring him peace, bring him joy.
He is young; he is only a boy.
You can take, You can give;
Let him be, let him live.
If I die, let me die,
Let him live. Bring him home."

"Come Fly With Me" by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "Patience—A Heavenly Virtue," October 1995.

"In the words of a well-known song, I wish you could '“come fly with me' to eastern Germany, where I visited last month."

"Don't Kill the Little Birds" by Unknown

Quoted By: Spencer W. Kimball, "Fundamental Principles to Ponder and Live," October 1978

"In Primary and Sunday School we sang the song:

Don’t kill the little birds
That sing on bush and tree,
All thro’ the summer days,
Their sweetest melody.

"As I was talking to the young men at that time all over the world, I felt that I should say something more along this line.

"I suppose in every country in the world there are beautiful little birds with their beautiful plumage and their attractive songs."

-->Get the sheet music for "Don't Kill the Little Birds"

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"Edelweiss" by Rodgers & Hammerstein

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley, "Watch the Switches in Your Life," October 1972

"Do you remember the movie Sound of Music, with its final, beautiful song, 'The Edelweiss Song'? It speaks of the flower of the Alps—'small and white, clean and bright, bless my homeland forever.'"

"Falling in Love with Love" by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart

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Falling in Love With Love (1998 Remaster)

Quoted By: Dallin H. Oaks, "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ," April 1994

"Your parents and grandparents will remember the words of an old song, 'Falling in love with love is falling for make believe.'” 

"Girl of My Dreams" by Sonny Clapp

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Women in Our Lives" October 2004

"Before I married her, she had been the 'girl of my dreams,' to use the words of a song then popular."

"Have Courage to Say No!" by Horatio Richmond Palmer

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Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "The Army of The Lord" April 1979

"As I stood at the pulpit and gazed out on that sea of faces, I remembered the song we had just sung. Its title was 'Have Courage, My Boy, to Say No.' I selected as my acceptance theme 'Have Courage, My Boy, to Say Yes.' Such is the courage I seek this evening."

-->Get the sheet music for "Have Courage to Say No!"


"He Ain't Heavy" by Bob Russell

Quoted By: Ezra Taft Benson, "To the Young Women of the Church," October 1986

"Help carry their load so you can say, as in the lyrics of that song, 'he ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.'" 

"Hosanna" by Russell M. Nelson

Quoted By: Russell M. Nelson, "Keys of the Priesthood," October 1987

"As a symbol of gratitude, I have penned a few lines to be sung as the concluding portion of my message. A verse for each of three scenes of history may summarize my remarks. This song will be new to you. The words have been written to music from Wales.  For the gracious support of Brother Jerold D. Ottley and our male chorus I express my appreciation. To this song I have assigned an ancient title, “Hosanna,” the prayerful shout of fervent praise:

Through time’s immortal endless stay
In love he guides our way.
Beyond the realms of heaven’s beam,
Our great God, Elohim.
Hosanna to his holy name—
Our fathers’ God is still the same.

That holy night in Bethlehem
His Son was born among men.
To ransom from a timeless grave,
Each child of God to save.
Hosanna to his holy name—
Our fathers’ God is still the same.

His priesthood power restored to earth
To bless each soul given birth.
Our song of prayer to him we raise
Proclaiming joy and praise.
Hosanna to his holy name—
Our fathers’ God is still the same.|
Amen, amen, amen, amen.

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"I Want to Be a Mother" by Janeen Jacobs Brady

Quoted By: Carol B. Thomas, "Strengthen Home and Family," April 2002

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"I Want to Be a Mother" from SONGS FOR A MORMON CHILD

"When I grow up, I want to be a mother and have a family:
one little, two little, three little babies of my own.
Of all the jobs for me, I’ll choose no other.
I’ll have a family. …

And I will love them all day long
and give them cookies and milk and yellow balloons,
And cuddle them when things go wrong,
and read them stories and sing them pretty tunes."

"I Want To Be Happy" by Vincent Youmans and Irving Caesar

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley "The Women in Our Lives," October 2004

"There was a popular song we sang many years ago, the lyrics of which said:

'I want to be happy,
But I won’t be happy
Till I make you happy, too.'

How true this is."

"Let There Be Peace on Earth" by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller

Quoted By: Dallin H. Oaks, "World Peace," April 1990

"Conversely, each citizen furthers the cause of world peace when he or she keeps the commandments of God and lives at peace with family and neighbors. Such citizens are living the prayer expressed in the words of a popular song, 'Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.'”

"Look for the Little Light" from My Turn on Earth by Carol Lynn Pearson and Lex De Azevedo

Quoted By: N. Eldon Tanner, "The Light of the Gospel," October 1977

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My Turn on Earth: Look for the Little Light

 "A recently composed musical play by Carol Lynn Pearson and Lex De Azevedo has a very sweet little song with great appeal. It is entitled 'Look for the Little Light' and has this message:

When it’s hard to tell what’s wrong and what’s right,
When it’s hard to know what to do,
When the way looks dark and you’re stumbling around,
Here’s a word for you.
Look for that bright little, right little light inside,
Growin’ brighter day by day.
It’ll show you the road that you should take,
And it will never grow dim.
Just keep in touch with your Father above,
'Cause it was lit by him."

"Love One Another" by Sister Germaine Habjan

Quoted By: Addie Fuhriman, "Singleness: How Relief Society Can Help," October 1980

"And as a folk song repeats:

Love one another,
Bear one another’s burdens,
Share one another’s joys,
And bring each other home."

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"Make the World Brighter" by Mrs. Frank A. Breck & Frank A. Simpkins

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "Yellow Canaries with Gray on Their Wings," April 1973 “Go, gladden the lonely, the dreary;

Go, comfort the weeping, the weary;
Go, scatter kind deeds on your way;
Oh, make the world brighter today!”

"Marching to Glory" by William Hunter

Quoted By: Mark E. Peterson, "Eternal Togetherness," October 1974 "We used to sing in Sunday School a hymn with words that went like this:

"We’re marching, marching homeward
To that bright land afar;
We work for life eternal;
It is our guiding star."

Another verse reads:

"Then day by day we’re marching,
To heaven we are bound;
Each good act brings us nearer
That home where we’ll be crowned."

"The Momotaro Song" a Traditional Japanese Song

Quoted By: Boyd K. Packer, "An Appeal to Prospective Elders," April 1975

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"And then I recalled a little song that I had learned those 26 years before, and I sang it to those children:

Momotaro-san, Momotaro-san
Okoshi ni tsuketa kibi dango
Hitotsu watashi ni kudasai na"

"The 'Mormon' Boy" by Evan Stephens

Quoted By: David B. Haight, "Hymn of the Obedient: 'All is Well'" October 1997

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Homer Brothers sing "Mormon Boy"

"It was there we would sing “A Mormon Boy.” We don’t hear that song much anymore. I wish we would.

A Mormon boy, a Mormon boy, 
I am a Mormon boy. 
I might be envied by a king, 
For I am a Mormon boy”

"No Man Is an Island" by John Donne

Quoted By: Richard H. Winkel, "No Man Is an Island," October 1999 "I would like you to contemplate the first two verses of the song adapted from a meditation by John Donne:No man is an island;

No man stands alone.
Each man’s joy is a joy to me;
Each man’s grief is my own.We need one another,
So I will defend
Each man as my brother;
Each man as my friend."

"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," by Unknown

Quoted By: Neal A. Maxwell, "How Choice a Seer!" October 2003

"Yes, as in the lyrics of the moving spiritual of yesteryear, 'Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows but Jesus.'"

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"Old Friends, Bookends" by Simon and Garfunkel

Quoted By: Vaughn J. Featherstone, "The Savior's Program for the Care of the Aged," October 1974

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Simon and Garfunkel-Old Friends, Bookends Theme -full version.

"A popular song says:

Old friends,
Old friends
Sat on their park bench
Like bookends, …

How terribly strange
To be seventy."

"Over the River and Through the Wood" by Lydia Maria Child

Quoted By: Quentin L. Cook, "Lamentations of Jeremiah: Beware of Bondage," October 2013

"The words of a familiar song came into my mind: 'Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go.'"

"Prisoner of Love" by Frank Sinatra

Quoted By: Vaughn J. Featherstone "A Prisoner of Love," April 1992

"There was a popular song that our generation may remember. Review the slightly adjusted lyrics with me:

Away from home tonight you’ll find me,
Too weak to break the chains that bind me;
I need no shackles to remind me
I’m just a prisoner of love.

For one command I stand and wait now
From one who’s master of my fate now.
I can’t escape for it’s too late now;
I’m just a prisoner of love.

What’s the good of my caring,
Unless I am sharing his love for me;
Although there may be others,
I must be a brother, for I’m not free.
He’s in my dreams, awake or sleeping.

Upon my knees to him I’m creeping,
My very life is in his keeping.
I’m just a prisoner of love.
I am a prisoner of love."

"Prove It by the Things You Do" by Bing Crosby

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "Those Who Love Jesus," October 1985

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"Prove It By The Things You Do"- BING CROSBY

"Years ago we danced to a popular song, the words of which were, 'It’s easy to say I love you, easy to say I’ll be true, easy to say these simple things, but prove it by the things you do.'”

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"Shalom Aleichem" a Jewish song

Quoted By: Eldred G. Smith, "Peace," April 1972

"Our guide on a recent tour in the Holy Land, who is a Jordanian Arab and a Greek Orthodox Catholic by the name of Sari Rabadi, taught us a little Arabian song: 'Havano, shalo, malechem,' which translated means: 'We bring you peace.'”

"Show Me Your Companions" by Unknown

Quoted By: James E. Faust, "Spiritual Nutrients," October 2006

"Grandfather would sing most of the day. Mostly he sang the songs of Zion. But one song he sang that impressed me greatly was 'Show me your companions, and I will tell you what you are.'”

"Sixteen Going on Seventeen (Reprise)" by Rodgers & Hammerstein

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "Anonymous" &  "A Doorway Called Love," April 1983, October 1987 respectively

"A bell is no bell till you ring it,
A song is no song till you sing it,
And love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay …
Love isn’t love till you give it away"

"Somebody Loves You" by Dean Martin

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Light Within You" April 1995

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Dean Martin - Somebody Loves You

"Back in those days there was a popular song, the opening lines of which were:

Somebody loves you, I want you to know,
Longs to be near you, wherever you go."

"The Song Is Ended (But the Melody Lingers On)" by Irving Berlin

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley, "A Time of New Beginnings," April 2000

"There was a popular piece of music when I was young that said, 'The song is ended but the melody lingers on.'”

"Stouthearted Men" by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II

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"Stout Hearted Men" Nelson Eddy (New Moon 1940)

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley, "Stay the Course—Keep the Faith," October 1995

"I remember an old song rendered in stirring tones by a male chorus:

Start me with ten who are stouthearted men,
and I’ll soon give you ten thousand more …'"

Quoted By: Sterling W. Sill, "Transfusion," October 1974

"And Oscar Hammerstein must have been thinking about something like this when in his song 'Stouthearted Men' he said, 'Hearts can inspire other hearts with its fire.' And then he said:

Give me some men who are stout-hearted men,
Who will fight for the right they adore.
Start me with ten who are stout-hearted men,
And I’ll soon give you ten thousand more."

"Sunrise, Sunset" by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick

Quoted By: Barbara B. Smith, "In the Time of Old Age," April 1978

“'Sunrise, sunset—swiftly fly the years. …' Those lines from the poignant song bring a memory of two friends who, like the father and mother portrayed in Fiddler on the Roof, did not 'remember getting older.'”

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"There is a Balm in Gilead" by Unknown

Quoted By: Boyd K. Packer, "The Balm of Gilead," October 1977

"The lyrics of a song record:

There is a Balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole,
There is a Balm in Gilead,
To heal the sin sick soul."

"To a Child" by Ora Pate Stewart

Quoted By: H. Burke Peterson, "Mother, Catch the Vision of Your Call," April 1974

"As in the song 'To a Child,' children are not a gift to us, but a precious loan, a priceless loan to be returned—returned more valuable than when we received them, understanding more, better prepared to return to him who lent them to us."

"Try to Remember" by Tom Jones

Quoted By: Dallin H. Oaks, "Always Remember Him," April 1988

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Andy Williams - Try To Remember(Year 1965) トライ・トゥ・リメンバー

"The effect was described in the words of the once popular song, 'Try to remember, and if you remember, then follow.'”

"Turn Around" by Malvina Reynolds

Quoted By: Dwan J. Young, "An Invitation to Grow," April 1982

"'Turn around,' as the song says, 'and they’re three. Turn around, and they’re four. Turn around, and they’re a young man or woman going out of the door.'"

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"When Summer Is Gone" by Franklyn Baur

Quoted By: Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Marriage That Endures," April 1974

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"When Summer Is Gone" (1929) Franklyn Baur

"When I was much younger and less brittle, we danced to a song whose words went something like this:

Is love like a rose
That blossoms and grows,
Then withers and goes
When summer is gone?"

"When the Lights Go on Again" by Vera Lynn

Quoted By: Quentin L. Cook, "Let There Be Light!" October 2010

One song, titled “When the Lights Go on Again (All over the World),” deeply touched me.

"Whene'er You Make a Promise" by Unknown

Quoted By: Linda K. Burton, "The Power, Joy, and Love of Covenant Keeping," October 2013

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When E'er You Make a Promise

"My cute grandpa taught us the importance of keeping promises through a simple song. It went something like this: 'Before you make a promise, consider well its importance. Then when made, engrave it upon your heart. Engrave it upon your heart.'”

"Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?" by Robert Lowry

Quoted By: N. Eldon Tanner, "Why Is My Boy Wandering Tonight?" October 1974

"I well remember, and some of you may also remember, singing the song 'Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight?' Our beloved president and prophet, Spencer W. Kimball, used to sing this song with such great feeling that many were moved to tears. Let me read the words:

Where is my wandering boy tonight, the boy of my tend’rest care:
The boy that was once my joy and light, the child of my love and prayer?

Once he was pure as morning dew, as he knelt at his mother’s knee;
No face was so bright, no heart more true, and none was so sweet as he.

Oh, where is my boy tonight? where is my boy tonight?
My heart o’erflows, for I love him, he knows,
Oh, where is my boy tonight?"

"Wishing (Will Make It So)" by Glenn Miller

Quoted By: Thomas S. Monson, "To the Rescue," April 2001

"There is an old song of my vintage. It’s entitled “Wishing Will Make It So.” It’s not true. Wishing will not make it so. The Lord expects our thinking. He expects our action. He expects our labors. He expects our testimonies. He expects our devotion."

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