I'll Be a Sunbeam Want Me for a Sunbeam". The latter version was covered by Nirvana. The hymn was also referenced in the lyrics of the song "Alibi" by Elvis Costello ("Maybe Jesus wants you for a sunbeam?"). I'll Be a Sunbeam "I'll Be a Sunbeam" (also called "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam") is a popular children's Christian hymn composed by Nellie Talbot; it is sung to music composed in 1900 by Edwin O. Excell. Due to its age, the hymn has entered the public domain in the United States. Published in Chicago by Excell as hymn number 137 in his "Praises" in
Aberystwyth (hymn tune) Aberystwyth (hymn tune) "Aberystwyth" is a hymn tune composed by Joseph Parry, written in 1876 and first published in 1879 in Edward Stephen's "Ail Lyfr Tonau ac Emynau" (Welsh for "Second Book of Tunes and Hymns"). Parry was at the time the first professor and head of the new department of music at the recently founded University College Wales, Aberystwyth, now called Aberystwyth University. The tune "Aberystwyth" has been the most popular setting for Charles Wesley's hymn "Jesus, Lover of My Soul". In 1897 Enoch Sontonga composed the hymn "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" ("Lord Bless Africa" in Xhosa), setting it to