Will You Miss Me When I’m Gone? by Mark Zwonitzer is a wonderful journey through the lives and music of the “First Family of Country Music” - The Carter Family. Zwonitzer knits together the lyrics of many Carter family songs into the stories of their often turbulent and tumultuous lives. With recollections from so many surviving friends and family members, he is able to piece together a beautiful tribute to A.P., Sara, Maybelle, and the whole clan.
One thing that fascinates me about the Carter Family music is how the sacred and the profane are so seemlessly interwoven. Their songs capture the reality that we are all a mix of saints and sinners, in desperate need of the grace of God. In human terms, we are left alone in this world, unable to fully connect with each other.
Everybody’s got to walk this lonesome valley
We’ve got to walk it by ourselves
There’s nobody here can walk it for us
We’ve got to walk it by ourselves
But our hope is in God who can reunite us in a better world to come.
Can the circle be unbroken
Bye and bye, Lord, bye and bye
There’s a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Listening to the Carter family, I am reminded that I am not alone. Each of us is a sinner in desperate need of Christ’s saving love. But there is hope - in God - bye and bye.
I liked your comment about mixing the sacred and the profane…That’s where we are each day. The Carters just said it better than most of us can.
You also said: “But there is hope - in God - bye and bye.”
That “bye and bye” hope is the same one that gets us out of bed in the morning, isn’t it? God is the same yesterday, TODAY, and tomorrow.
Kat