I’ve heard Carlos Santana’s Amazing Grace guitar version and I must say it was wonderful. However, Carlos Santana had his opinions with regards to the song “Amazing Grace” and this may leave you wondering why he made his own version of the song. According to the interview which can be found at modernguitars.com, when Carlos Santana was asked to elaborate on his affinity for John Coltrane and not just Coltrane’s approach to scales and chords these are the things that he said;
“People need to understand there’s this incredible secret. We are more important than demons or angels. Demons only disobey. Angels only obey. We have free will. It takes an enormous amount of courage to request to God to come and be a human being on this planet. It ain’t easy being a human on this planet, whether you’re Michael Jackson or Donald Trump or a beggar in the streets, it’s the same. You still have to go through the same trials and tribulations, man. Look, Moses had to go for forty days and forty nights up in the mountains and get himself together, you know. That means it ain’t easy being human. You have to, like a snake, shed skin. The skin is guilt, shame, judgment, condemnation, fear. That’s the skin.”
Furthermore he said; “The new skin is beauty, elegance, excellence, grace, dignity. So you know, for me, it’s just not so complicated. I utilize the microphone, the pen, whatever I can, to invite people to recognize that there’s divinity and light in your DNA. Don’t sell yourself so short by saying, “Amazing grace, who’d save a wretch like me.” There ain’t nothing wretched about me or about you unless you perceive yourself to be a wretched person. Change your perception. Say, “God made me, so I must be good, I must have something.” You know what I’m saying? It’s all about perception. If you think you’re nothing, then that’s what you are. If you think you have access to command angels to give you opportunities and possibilities, then lo and behold, you will have that too. You are what you think. Be careful.”
Carlos mentioned about the song “Amazing Grace” and clearly dislikes the song. Moreover, when he was asked about his dreams for the future he also made mention about the song “Amazing Grace” and said; “There are enough songs that are the new hymns for tomorrow. I don’t like “Amazing Grace”. I like the melody, but I don’t like things that tell me that we’re all wretched and that we’re not worthy of God’s grace. That stuff is old. It doesn’t work anymore. Any time you think you’re a wretched person, you put yourself a serious distance between you and your creator. Any time you say, “I am made out of the same light,” your creator can work with you a lot faster, a lot more immediate, and a lot more productive and constructive.” I find it weird why Carlos Santana said these things and still made his own Amazing Grace guitar version. If you don’t like the song why make your own version? Confusing, indeed. In comparison to Jimi Hendrix’s Amazing Grace guitar version which was rendered due to patriotic reasons and passion for the song. Though it was an impromptu performance in Woodstock, still it was a great performance. Quite a comparison indeed.