October 21, 2016 (Friday)
In my opinion a song almost as sad is “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” written and sung by Kris Kristofferson and sung also by Johnny Cash. Its words picture a sad man with many memories: “Well I woke up Sunday morning with no way to hold my head that didn’t hurt.. there’s something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone..”
When I was a kid I used to listen to Roy Acuff sing “The Wreck on the Highway.” “Who did they say it was, brother, who was it fell by the way? When whiskey and blood ran together I didn’t hear nobody pray..” Sad song.
The Beatles sang, “Ah look at all the lonely people. Eleanor Rigby died in the church. And was buried along with her name. Nobody came..” A very sad song indeed.
In case you have not noticed, many of the most popular songs of the rock and roll, pop and folk categories as well as classic country and other genres are about loneliness, sadness and tragedy.
They say that people like sad songs because they let them know that others are having a hard time also, that they are not alone with their troubles and trials. In a strange way, sad songs offer consolation.
A sad song that offers hope is, Steve Green’s “People Need the Lord,” written by Greg Nelson and Phil McHugh, “Everyday they pass me by, I can see it in their eyes, Empty people filled with care, Headed who knows where.. People need the Lord, people need the Lord, At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.. People need the Lord, people need the Lord.”
In 1904 a song was written that has offered comfort and hope to millions of people all these years. It is, “His Eye Is On the Sparrow,” written by Civilla D. Martin and Charles H. Gabriel, later made popular by Ethel Waters. If you’re feeling down, find a quiet place and sing this song to yourself:
Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come,
Why should my heart be lonely, and long for heaven and home,
When Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
Whenever I am tempted, whenever clouds arise,
When songs give place to sighing, when hope within me dies,
I draw the closer to Him, from care He sets me free;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
(You can hear any or all of these songs on You Tube)
Listen to Ethel Waters sing, “His Eye Is On The Sparrow”