One more from my "Drafts" folder. That makes three today, so far. The original blog post was written February 9, 2018. My Uncle Burt is no longer with us, but reading this post again, I could hear him singing so clearly. I loved listening to my uncle sing! I hope you enjoy reading this old post:
While sorting through a box this morning, I found a scrap of paper with a note to myself from a few years back. I'd had a phone call from my Uncle Burt, asking if I had the lyrics to an old song he was trying to recall, or if I remembered them. He most likely remembered them himself long ago, but at the time I could only remember bits and pieces, which I wrote down. Every so often, I’d look at the note and try to remember, but couldn’t. Somehow that note ended up in a box of photos and ancestry notes.
Well, this morning I still couldn't remember, so I decided to google a line. The first try brought no results. I tried the other line I had, and there it was! Different title, different lyrics, but the right tune. The original song is called, When They Ring Those Golden Bells, and there are several YouTube versions by different artists, including Tennessee Ernie Ford, Andy Griffith, Mahalia Jackson, and even Natalie Merchant.
I'm not sure who had written our lyrics, but it was possible my grandmother. Anyway, some of them came back to me after I listened to the original tune. Here they are, as best I can remember:
There's a land that's like a river
Flowing, going on forever
We will reach that distant shore by faith's decree
Moving forward with each other
From one triumph to another
While the trumpet sounds with life
For you and me
Don't you hear the trumpet sounding
Rising, billowing resounding
Tis the call to rise above this troubled sea
Man's last enemy to banish
Sin and death from earth to vanquish
While the trumpet sounds with life
For you and me
(To the tune of When They Ring Those Golden Bells)
