Wayfaring Stranger (Cover)

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The Lyrics

I'M JUST A POOR
WAYFARING STRANGER
TRAVELING THROUGH
HIS WORLD BELOW
THERE IS NO SICKNESS
NO TOIL, NOR DANGER
IN THAT BRIGHT LAND
TO WHICH I GO

I'M GOING THERE
TO SEE MY FATHER
AND ALL MY LOVED ONES
WHO'VE GONE ON
I'M JUST GOING OVER JORDAN
I'M JUST GOING OVER HOME

I KNOW DARK CLOUDS
WILL GATHER ROUND ME
I KNOW MY WAY
IS HARD AND STEEP
BUT BEAUTEOUS FIELDS
ARISE BEFORE ME
WHERE GOD REDEEMS
THEIR VIGALS KEEP

I'M GOING BACK
TO SEE MY MOTHER
SHE SAID SHE'D MEET ME
WHEN I COME
SO I'M JUST GOING OVER JORDAN
I'M JUST GOING OVER HOME
I'M JUST GOING OVER JORDAN

(I didn't mean for the lyrics to be in all caps - the website I copied and pasted from sort of exploded.)

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Some Thoughts -

This is a cover version of "Wayfaring Stranger," by Johnny Cash. Though this is actually an American folk song, I attribute it to Johnny Cash because his version was the one that inspired me to do this in the first place. I try to match his phrasing and vocal styles to some degree, but I know I don't compare.

There are a lot of reasons to do cover songs - but the reasons that I chose to cover this song is are pretty straight-forward. First, it can be a simple song, meaning it was within my abilities to play. Second, I really liked the melody and the overall message of the song. I have strong feelings that coincide fairly well with the song, and that proved to be a very strong motivation to perform it.

I'd like to think that the song is haunting, but I'm not really holding my breath. The stripped-down nature of the performance is due more to my musical (in)abilities than anything else. Sometimes covers really improve on an original song, but I was more interested in manifesting my emotions.

One final note: the song is sung almost word for word from the Johnny Cash version. There were one or two changes. Some of them were significant, some of them were not. I'm just left to wonder what genre of music I should call this...probably country.