In the United States, the hymn is usually set to an American folk tune known as "Nettleton", which first appears in Wyeth's Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, possibly collected by Elkanah Kelsey Dare, who was the musical editor. The tune appears on page 118 in F major for two voices, with a revival chorus ; the facing page has another musical setting in A minor without any chorus. Asahel Nettleton also published music, so some attribute his namesake tune directly to him. In the United Kingdom, the hymn is also often set to the tune "Normandy" by C Bost. The "Nettleton" tune is used extensively in partial or full quotation by the American composer Charles Ives, in such works as the First String Quartet and the piano quintet and song "The Innate". The "Nettleton" tune is also quoted at the end of "My Trundle Bed" by Tullius C. O'Kane. In the shape note tradition, most tunebooks have one or more tunes other than "Nettleton" that use Robertson's lyrics, in part, or in whole, often adding a camp meeting-style revival chorus between each verse. Because most singers have the lyrics memorized, it can be sung at remarkably fast tempos without stumbling over the words. For example, the tune "Warrenton," which first appeared in the 1838 edition of William Walker's Southern Harmony, is sung in 4/4 time or 2/2 cut time; to fit the text to this melody, the second half of each verse is omitted and replaced with a chorus of "I am bound for the kingdom, will you come to glory with me? / Hallelujah, praise the Lord!"
Recordings
Nancy Bryan sings a version of this hymn on her album Neon Angel from 2000.
Christian artist Fernando Ortega recorded a version on his album Hymns & Meditations in 1994
Sufjan Stevens recorded a version for his Hark! Songs for Christmas album, which reached 122 in the US charts and is featured in the closing minutes of the season four premiere episode of Friday Night Lights.
Gateway Worship performed the song on their album Living for You and added a chorus to the song, calling it "Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King".
The hymn appears on Phil Wickham's album 'Sing-A-Long'.
This song is also sung by Clark Davis in the film Love Comes Softly and is a recurring background music in the film.
Mumford & Sons have covered it in a small number of their live shows.
Gospel recording artist Anthony Brown and group therAPy covered the first verse of the hymn in the song "Without You" on their sophomore album Everyday Jesus.
Christian band MercyMe recorded the song on their album The Worship Sessions.
Indie rock band Kings Kaleidoscope covered the hymn in their first EP, Asaph's Arrows.
Johnnie Vinson arranged an instrumental piece based on this song featuring both a trumpet and an oboe solo
Chris Tomlin covered the song under the title Come Thou Fount for his 2016 album Never Lose Sight.
Pastor and producer Billy Wiginton recorded a version incorporating modern pop and hip hop elements, and released it as a single in 2019.
Text
The lyrics, which dwell on the theme of divine grace, are based on 1 Samuel 7:12, in which the prophet Samuel raises a stone as a monument, saying, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us". The English transliteration of the name Samuel gives to the stone is Ebenezer, meaning Stone of Help. The unusual word Ebenezer commonly appears in hymnal presentations of the lyrics. Various revised versions appear in hymnals, often changing phrases or replacing the reference to Ebenezer. The version in Nazarene hymnals and those of the Holiness movement replaces "wandering" with "yielded," and "prone to wander" with "let me know Thee in Thy fullness". Many choirs, including the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, sing it in an arrangement by Mack Wilberg. It splits verse 2 into two parts and the last half of verse 3 is appended to each part to form two verses. A version titled "O Thou Fount of Every Blessing" and attributed to Robert Robinson is found in several shape-note hymnals of the American South. The melody is attributed to A. Nettleton, while several phrases are changed.
