Far Side Banks of Jordan

Описание: Terry Smith wrote this beautiful song. According to Google, it was first recorded by Johnny and June Cash in 1975, but that recording wasn't released until 2012. The first time I heard this song, it was being sung by the Marksmen Quartet. In the last few years before he passed, Pap and Granny liked to watch the RFD channel on Saturday evenings. Around that time, Jimmy Fortune, formerly of the Statler Brothers, was featured several times on the show Larry's Country Dinner. Jimmy sang this song on that show and in a lot of his live performances, helping to re-popularize the song.
According to Google, Fortune sometimes sang the song as a solo when he was still performing with the Statler Brothers. Pap and Granny really liked to hear Jimmy sing it. The song had slipped from my memory for a while until just yesterday when my friend, Jamie Shook, sent me a clip of a man and woman singing the song on Facebook. Jamie suggested that he and I learn to sing the song as a duet, and I immediately agreed. With this video, I'm killing two birds with one stone: I'm filling this week's Old Timey Tuesday spot while also giving Jamie (who lives two hours away) a video to practice with, so he can learn the tenor part.
Jamie and I may wind up doing the song in C major (where Jimmy Fortune sang it) and have Jamie sing high lead on the chorus while I sing harmony underneath him. The reason for that possibility is that the verses are very low. But as a starting point, I sang it here in this video in the key of B flat. Jamie can probably sing high harmony here in this key, but we won't really know the best arrangement until we're able to get together to practice.
I don't know much about Terry Smith, but I think this song is absolutely beautiful, encouraging, and powerfully moving. When Pap passed, we (the family) all expected Granny to be emotionally devastated by it. However, to our great surprise, relief, and joy, she took it very well, better than most of us. Granny told me that one morning at breakfast, not long before he passed, Pap said to her, "You remember that song that we heard that Jimmy Fortune sing?" She said she remembered. Pap said, "I want you to think of that song when I'm gone. I want you to remember that I'll be right there waiting for you, and I don't want you to be sad." Granny said ok.
Granny said that Pap reminded her a couple more times before he passed to focus on the truth represented in that song. And so, she did just that when he went on to be with the Lord. As I sang this song, I did not allow myself to think about what Granny told me, not even for a second. I knew that if I did, I would never make it through certain parts of the song. I wouldn't have been crying from sadness but from how moving that thought is, that promise and expectation! That's one thing I learned about myself years ago. I'm far more likely to cry about something immensely poignant and moving than I am to cry about something very sad. The way this song sours and climbs when the chorus starts, combined with the advice given in the verses, from one loved one to another, would have gotten me for sure, if I had allowed myself to think about it. That's one tricky thing about singing songs like this. Allow yourself to truly feel the emotion and meaning of the song, and you'll sing it better. Allow yourself to feel it too much, and you'll be unable to get the words out, and you'll have to either stop or reset somehow during the song. Therefore, it's safer to not heartfully absorb the words as you sing it, and to just let the listeners do that for you. If they cry, the song can go on without a hitch.
I always say that I hope our Acorns enjoy each video. With this one, I hope that you not only enjoy it but that you find reassurance and are reminded that, through Christ Jesus, we can see our lost loved ones again one day. Just as this song so beautifully communicates, we can share the glorious beauty of heaven with the ones we love the most.

Listen to original singles released on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5VX6Z...

Listen to original singles on YouTube:
   / @paulwilson6260  

Listen to Shepherd of My Soul (Album released in 2016):
https://open.spotify.com/album/4VnoOy...