Many churches sang "Nearer My God to Thee" on April 15 because legend has it that this was the last song played by the Titanic's gallant orchestra before the great ship went down on that date in 1912.
The evidence is conflicted but according to Snopes.com, the band leader, Wallace Hartley, had told a close friend years before that this was the last song he would play if he was ever found on a sinking ship.
One other piece of evidence is somewhat heart-grabbing: no band member survived that awful night. It is confirmed fact that they stuck to their post, played ragtime and popular tunes all the while the great ship was slowly going under. Kudos to James Cameron for preserving that moment in his 1997 film.
The triumphant words convey what many experienced that night: "So by my woes to be/Nearer my God to Thee/ Nearer my God to Thee/Nearer to Thee."