I heard an old refrain;
In memory it came to me.
I sang it o'er again,
That beautiful melody:
"What a friend we have in Jesus!"
Softly the echo came,
As it did in the days of my childhood:
That song with an old refrain.

I heard an old refrain
At evening when the lights were low;
I heard an old refrain
As in the long ago.
"Have we trials and temptations?"
I heard the old sweet strain,
As it came from the soul of the organ:
That song with an old refrain.

I heard an old refrain;
How sweetly did the echoes ring!
I heard an old refrain,
The song Mother used to sing.
"Are we weak and heavy laden?"
I hear it once again,
As I sit in the dusk of the twilight:
That song with an old refrain.

Oops... 1st verse ends in "That beautiful melody" (not memory)... and I think the
Song Title is "Song With An Old Refrain".

I'm looking for it too . . . for years. My recollection goes back to early 50's.
Here's how it began ...

"I heard an old refrain...
In memory it came to me...
I heard it once again ...
That beautiful memory...

Have we trials and temptations...
Sweetly the echoes came...
As it did in the days of my Childhood...
That song with an old refrain..."

Beyond that, it evades me. It's easy to see the song is written about the old
time hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus".

Wish I could find it too. LOL..
P.S. It was the first solo I ever sang in church. I was age 15 and scared to
death. No wonder I can't remember it!

I believe some of the words are:

What a Friend we Have in Jesus
Softly the echoes came
As they did in the days of my childhood
That song with an old refrain.

I am looking for an old hymn I heard a few times back in the 1970s. I believe the title is "I Heard an Old Refrain."