The Very Last Day

One of my early folk gospel favorites was Very Last Day by the inimitable Peter, Paul & Mary. Paul was actually a Christian and was responsible for the trio's inclusion of Christian folk music selections on many of their albums.  I actually performed this once for Sabbath School when I had the music crew stand me up. It's kind of a militant sort of Christian song - rather like Oh, Sinner Man, so I let 'em all have it with my rather aggressive version of Very Last Day.

PP&M do a terrific job of capturing the intensity of the song. Remember this was back when SDA pastors were preaching hard about the time of trouble and the return of Christ. This song seems to catch the determination of people holding on while waiting for the coming of the Lord.  Here's Very Last Day.

 


Love the way these guys work the harmony. Nobody does it better. They make it sound effortless, but they really worked hard to achieve that perfect sound. I still play this song when I feel militant about the Second Coming.

Tom

All My Trials - My Theme Song

The first time I was ever asked to perform a song for church was the Spring of 1972 at the Weslaco, Texas SDA Church when I was at Valley Grande Academy.  I had just learned a nice chord progression for All My Trials, the old spiritual and had mastered simple finger-picking.  I was so terrified to perform up front that my voice was shaking. Afterward, people complimented me on my "emotional" and "heart-felt" delivery. 

Forty years later, I sang the last song I ever performed solo in church at Tyler SDA Church in Tyler, Texas. Oddly enough it was the same song. I'd just learned a new chord progression and had written some verses for it. Over four decades, I had learned the limitations of my voice, so I did a kind of whisper sing and encouraged the congregation to join in on the chorus. As the song went on (my wife says I did too many verses), the congregation gradually picked up in volume and we had a nice little sing-along going, which helped me get through without embarrassing myself totally.

Here is that last performance. Zaida Arante sent me the video. All My Trials, therefore, bookended my church singing career. I'm just glad I got through it without weeping publicly. This was just a few weeks before we left Texas, possibly forever. Given the state of the world right now, all our trials most likely will "...soon be over."

© 2017 by Tom King