The Burl Ives rendition of the song was always my favorite..need an old soul with an old heart to really make that song come alive.

Interesting blog, and thank you very much for your comments! I will post pictures of the DIY projects, so check back!

I like it. The song’s very telling in a way.

why are some religious songs so disturbing? no offense.

It’s that blood washed stuff.

I remember my Mother singing this when I was a kid, so it must be old. The mournful melody instantly came back to me when I read the words. Thank you for the memories! She grew up in the isolated Tennessee mountains around Knoxville. A lot of old folk songs began there and was passed down for generations. I wonder if this was one. Have you heard ‘The Knoxville Girl’, the tale of a local murder she used to sing?

My favorite rendition is Emmylou Harris live. It’s on my “boo hoo 1″ iPod playlist.

Wow. I have surfed to your blog several times, but never commented. But this was too random not to comment on….this was one of the songs that we sang in church this morning….I had part of it in my head a little while ago, and couldn’t remember the rest. Thanks for the help.

I don’t think I’ve heard this song before–how funny that your cousin was so self-aware at seven.

Thanks for visiting!

Love the song. Wish I knew the tune. I am comfortable with old souls. They have a special gift from God to skip the vanity of this world and relish the true riches.

Wish I could help you cry. I get real uncomfortable with me when I don’t cry for a long time. That’s why my last confession was so good for me. Tears like a river poured down my face. No sobs, just a river of broken heartedness, relief, joy. . . over the idea that God had showed up and loved me in spite of me. The sacrament of confession is powerful, cleansing, healing. That day, it was not so much about sin and shame as hurt and need.

Your heart and emotional are safe with Him. He loves you deeply.

I’m cheating and commenting here, because comments are off on “Under Pressure”.

I loved that post…so well written, so powerful. I grew up with the Bowie/Queen version, thankfully, and that song is in my head quite often as well. Though I am pretty good at crying. It can be quite cathartic to let it out, if you can learn how. Listen to the old-man-who- is-not-a-bum. (Ever read “Little Princess”? Little-girl-who-is-not-a-begger? Come to think of it, SHE had trouble crying, too. Stiff upper lip and all that.)

[...] few months ago I wrote about the wayfaring stranger. I’ve heard it all my life but it wasn’t until Jack White sang it in Cold Mountain that [...]

I have heard and known this song for at least 65 years. It was a standard in wv and played in my grandparents home.