Jesus Walked This Lonesome Valley

Jesus Walked this Lonesome Valley

White Spiritual recorded by Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Pete Seeger, Mississippi John Hurt and the King’s Heralds.

Being a true “folk song,” versions vary somewhat. Most include the following verses.

Jesus walked this lonesome valley.
He had to walk it by Himself;
O, nobody else could walk it for Him,
He had to walk it by Himself.

We must walk this lonesome valley,
We have to walk it by ourselves;
O, nobody else can walk it for us,
We have to walk it by ourselves.

You must go and stand your trial,
You have to stand it by yourself,
O, nobody else can stand it for you,
You have to stand it by yourself.

Pete Seeger added the following verses in performance

Now Daniel was a Bible hero

Was a prophet brave and true

In a den of hungry lions

He showed what faith can do for you.

Now some folks say John was a Baptist

Some folks say he was a Jew;

But the Holy Bible tells us

That he was a preacher too.

And, bless his heart, he added another verse about "union" stuff, but you know Pete and I'm not going to be critical.

Mississippi John Hurt plays this song finger picking style, using the G position with fingers 2, 3 & 4 and sliding that position up and down the fretboard forming the chords, with his little finger tracing the melody on the first string. This is how he does it.

You got to walk that lonesome valley,

Well, you got to walk it for your self;

Ain’t nobody else can walk if for you,

You got to walk that valley for your self.

My mother had to walk that lonesome valley,

Well, she had to walk it for herself;

Nobody else could walk it for her,

Yes, she had to walk that valley for her self.

Oh, yes, you got to walk this lonesome valley,

You got to walk it for your self’;

Yes, nobody else can walk it for you,

You got to walk….

My father had to walk that lonesome valley,

He had to walk it for himself;

Yes, no body else could walk it for him,

He had to walk….

Oh, Jesus had to walk that lonesome valley,

He had to walk it for himself;

Yes, nobody else could walk it for him,

He had to walk that valley for his self.

Oh, yes, you got to walk that lonesome valley,

Yes, you got to walk it for your self;

Yes, nobody else can walk it for you,

You got to walk that valley for yourself.

Billy Ed Wheeler, (with Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber) used “Lonesome Valley” as the core of a song he called “The Reverend Mister Black,” which was released by the Kingston Trio in 1963 becoming a top ten hit on the Billboard that year. “Mr. Black” was also recorded by Bobby Darin (1963), Faron Young (1963), and Johnny Cash (1981). Others who have recorded this song are Tex Ritter, Lonnie Donegan, John Stewart, Tim Grimm, and Sherwin & Pam Linton.

On a biblical note, the only version of the song that is delivered spiritually accurately is the rendition sung by Mississippi John Hurt. The simple insertion by others of the word “by” renders the song unbiblical. In using the word "for" John Hurt puts the song on a solid foundation.

A Christian must never, never think that he is walking this “Lonesome Valley” by himself. Jesus has told us that He will never leave us (John XIII. 18); “I will fear no evil for thou are with me.” (Psalm XXIII. 4); and He assures us that He will be with us even unto the end of the world, (Matt. XXVIII. 20).

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."
                                      Isaiah XLI. 10

Jesus will always walk this “Valley” with us; but he cannot and will not walk it for us. He walked it for us once; now, in faith and trust, we must follow Him. No one can walk it “for” us; we must walk it “for” ourselves, but, praise the Lord, not “by” ourselves.”

                               GD

When the Ship Comes In

When the Ship Comes In

written and performed by Bob Dylan

Oh the time will come up
When the winds will stop
And the breeze will cease to be breathin'
Like the stillness in the wind
'Fore the hurricane begins
The hour that the ship comes in.

And the seas will split
And the ship will hit
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking;
Then the tide will sound
And the waves will pound
And the morning will be breaking.

Oh the fishes will laugh
As they swim out of the path
And the seagulls they'll be smiling
And the rocks on the sand
Will proudly stand
The hour that the ship comes in.

And the words that are used
For to get the ship confused
Will not be understood as they're spoken
For the chains of the sea
Will have busted in the night
And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean.

A song will lift
As the mainsail shifts,
And the boat drifts on to the shoreline;
And the sun will respect
Every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in.

Then the sands will roll
Out a carpet of gold
For your weary toes to be a-touchin'
And the ship's wise men
Will remind you once again
That the whole wide world is watchin'.

Oh the foes will rise
With the sleep in their eyes
And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'
But they'll pinch themselves and squeal
And know that it's for real
The hour that the ship comes in.

Then they'll raise their hands
Sayin' we'll meet all your demands;
But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered;
And like Pharaoh's tribe
They'll be drownded in the tide,
And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

Wikipedia says that this is a “folk music song by Bob Dylan, released on his third album, The Times They Are a-Changin in 1964.” And I know, I know of the hotel scene that supposedly inspired the composition. ¹

In the early 1960’s I was thoroughly entrenched in the “folk music” craze sweeping the country.  I had played the guitar for six or so years and finally I could listen to newly released songs in which I could actually hear the guitar being played. My first affections went to Peter, Paul & Mary. From them I gravitated to Joan Baez and read on the back of one of her albums about this young mover and shaker named Dylan. I bought his first album, then his second and memorized all the songs I could. Wrote them in my spiral bound notebook. I bought his third album. Felt so in tune with the outside world. One of the many songs I memorized was “When the Ship Comes In.” I carried my guitar pretty much everywhere I went ready to play at a moment’s notice. Through four years in the USMC and into Vietnam.

When you memorize a song, and sing it long enough, it becomes your song. I always liked “When the Ship Comes In.” It played well. It sang well. Notice I didn’t say I sang well, but Dylan had proved that singing well was not necessary in the delivery of a song. I really didn’t understand the song, except maybe in a large overall picture that someday, not sure when, but someday, the oppressed would come out on top and wrongs would be righted.

In 1972, I read a book called “The Great Controversy.” It is a history of God’s church during the past 2000 years, and ends with a vivid biblical account of the second coming of Jesus. It is in some cases a life-altering book and it was so in my case.

Sometime afterward, I don’t remember exactly when, it occurred to me that my song “When the Ship Comes In,” was a remarkable allegory of Christ’s second coming. I have not since been able to shake that little revelation. Now I don’t push that around and I would never sing it for special music in church. It’s just my little thing.

Very little in the 60’s was as it seemed to be. P, P & M, put it well in I Dig Rock n Roll Music when they said “But if we really say it, the radio won’t play it, and so we lay it between the lines.” Many wordsmiths of the time employed this concept and their ever-so-hip audiences ate it up and spent much time looking for hidden meanings.

“When the Ship Comes In” is not about a young man being treated badly at a hotel. It probably was inspired by the incident but the song has a universal appeal that transcends pettiness and triviality.

When pressed for the “secret” meanings of his songs, Dylan would often withdraw as if he himself was not sure of the meanings. “Dylan himself has commented on more than one occasion that he felt the songs were coming through him as if he were channeling them, as if they were arriving from somewhere else.”²  Thomas Larson wrote, “They came to him with ease, as if he was channeling them from some unknown source. Tom Paxton said, ‘He felt he wasn’t writing songs, he was [just] writing them down. They were there to be captured.” ³

As a Christian, I believe that there are two powers on earth vying for my attention. Only two. Christ, for good; Satan, for evil. With Christ living in me, my thoughts are directed by Him. There is no middle ground. If one chooses to live without Christ, he has made a choice. If he rejects good, he has by default accepted evil. His thoughts are then directed by the evil one.

I do believe that there was a great deal of “channeling” going on during the 60’s and since the great majority of the so-called “folk music” of the period was promulgated by non-Christians, I have to assume that Christ was not doing the channeling.

That leaves me with two possibilities regarding my theory. When the Ship Comes In was either an overblown Calvinesque (re. Calvin & Hobbes) reactive fantasy toward an elitist hotel manager, or maybe God does have a sense of humour and occasionally does a little channeling Himself, sometimes even if the channelee doesn’t even understand what’s going on.

Chapter 40 of the Great Controversy can be found on the web.  

http://www.whiteestate.org/books/gc/gc40.html

I may be the only one that sees and feels the similar mood, sequence of events and the message “between the lines.” And I could be wrong. I've been wrong before - a couple of times.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Ship_Comes_In

2. http://open.salon.com/blog/mjwycha/2010/02/20/the_dylan_files_2_-_folk_years_1961-1964

3. Larson, Thomas History of Rock and Roll p. 78

Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace

written by John Newton (1725-1807)

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me;
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear,
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear,
the hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
we have already come.
T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far,
and Grace will lead us home.

The Lord has promised good to me,
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.

When we've been there ten thousand years,
bright shining as the sun.
We've no less days to sing God's praise,
then when we've first begun.

Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.

The beautiful message delivered by this favorite gospel song is that forgiveness and redemption are possible regardless of the sins that people commit and that the soul can be delivered from despair through the mercy of God’s “Amazing Grace.”

Written by Newton in 1772 as a poem to be read at prayer meetings, it was published in 1779. But it took William “Singing Billy” Walker, the creator of the shape-note hymnal Southern Harmony (1835) to bring it to life. Coupling Newton’s soul-searching lyrics with the tune New Britain, Walker created a blend of message and melody that became a popular favorite at camp-meetings and churches across the South.

In the late nineteenth century,  the great evangelist, Dwight Moody and his musical arranger, Ira Sankey, heralded a great religious revival in the cities of the U.S. and Europe, giving the song international exposure.

The first recording of Amazing Grace was an a cappella version in 1922 by the Sacred Harp Choir and it was included from 1926-1939 in the Okeh records catalog, usually a concentration of jazz and blues recordings. Other well-received recordings of this song were by Fiddlin’ John Carson (1930) and Mahalia Jackson (1947).

In the 1960’s Amazing Grace became a symbol of the Vietnam war protest movement and a counter-culture anthem. It could be that it first gained notice and credibility when Arlo Guthrie performed it at Woodstock in 1969. His recent film “Alice’s Restaurant” had left hippies and hippie-wannabees across the country whistling the tune leaving the theater.

The following year, Judy Collins, an ardent war protester and a performer with name recognition, recorded Amazing Grace. Remembering her recording at St. Paul’s cathedral at Columbia University, Collins said, “I didn’t know what else to do about the war in Vietnam. I had marched, I had voted, I had gone to jail on political actions and worked for the candidates I believed in. The war was still raging. There was nothing left to do, I thought...but sing ‘Amazing Grace.’ ” ¹  It rose to number 15 on the Billboard top 100 and remained on the charts for 15 weeks. In the UK it charted 8 times between 1970 and 1972 peaking at number 5 and spending a total of 75 weeks on the popular music charts.

Although Collins employed it as a tool for her opposition to the Vietnam War, two years after her rendition (1972), the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, senior Scottish regiment of the British Army, recorded an instrumental version featuring a bagpipe soloist accompanied by a pipe and drum band. The tempo of their arrangement was slowed to allow for the bagpipes, but it was based on Collins': it began with a bagpipe solo introduction similar to her lone voice, then accompanied by the band of bagpipes and horns, where in her version she is backed up by a chorus. It hit number 1 in the UK singles chart, spending 24 weeks total on the charts (the best-selling single in the UK in 1972) and rose as high as number 11 in the U.S. As of 2002, it was the best-selling instrumental record in British history, and a controversial one, as it combined pipes with a military band. The pipe president of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards was summoned to Edinburgh Castle and chastised for demeaning the bagpipes.²

Other notable recordings include Sam Cooke (1963), the Byrds (1970), Elvis Presley (1971), Skeeter Davis (1972), Amazing Rhythm Aces (1975), Willie Nelson (1976), and the Lemonheads (1992).

David Grisman and Jerry Garcia had a longstanding performing relationship beginning with Grisman’s mandolin work on American Beauty and his collaboration on the bluegrass album, Old and In the Way. In February 1993, Grisman and Tony Rice were recording in David’s studio and thought to call Jerry. Unrehearsed, this session has a spontaneity about it with some conversations between songs. During the session, Pam Rice, Tony’s wife, requested Amazing Grace. Simply and spiritually beautiful, this version, performed in Gmaj, with Jerry singing, is Garcia’s only recorded performance of this soul-stirring gospel classic.

1. Collins, Judy (1998). Singing Lessons: A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing , Pocket Books, 165

2. Turner, Steve (2002). Amazing Grace: The Story of America's Most Beloved Song, HarperCollins.