<P> Following the appropriation of the hymn in secular music, "Amazing Grace" became such an icon in American culture that it has been used for a variety of secular purposes and marketing campaigns, placing it in danger of becoming a cliché . It has been mass - produced on souvenirs, lent its name to a Superman villain, appeared on The Simpsons to demonstrate the redemption of a murderous character named Sideshow Bob, incorporated into Hare Krishna chants and adapted for Wicca ceremonies . It can also be sung to the theme from The Mickey Mouse Club, as Garrison Keillor has observed . The hymn has been employed in several films, including Alice's Restaurant, Coal Miner's Daughter, and Silkwood . It is referenced in the 2006 film Amazing Grace, which highlights Newton's influence on the leading British abolitionist William Wilberforce, and in the upcoming film biography of Newton, Newton's Grace . The 1982 science fiction film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan used "Amazing Grace" amid a context of Christian symbolism, to memorialize Mr. Spock following his death, but more practically, because the song has become "instantly recognizable to many in the audience as music that sounds appropriate for a funeral" according to a Star Trek scholar . Since 1954, when an organ instrumental of "New Britain" became a bestseller, "Amazing Grace" has been associated with funerals and memorial services . It has become a song that inspires hope in the wake of tragedy, becoming a sort of "spiritual national anthem" according to authors Mary Rourke and Emily Gwathmey . For example, President Barack Obama recited and then sang the hymn at the memorial service for Clementa Pinckney, one of the victims of the 2015 Charleston church shooting . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Amazing Grace" (string version) "Amazing Grace" string version by the United States Air Force Band, Strolling Strings </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Amazing Grace" (string version) "Amazing Grace" string version by the United States Air Force Band, Strolling Strings </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Problems playing this file? See media help . </Td> </Tr>

Who sang amazing grace how sweet the sound