Gently Lead me

DESCRIPTION: "Gently lead me lest I stray, O my savior, day by day, Sadely lead till life is past, Till I reach the fold at last." "Lead me, O my savior, Lead and guide me, Lead me gently on...." The singer hopes to hear Jesus's call at the end of life
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: before 1960 (recording, The A. P. Carter Family)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
Roud #18033
RECORDINGS:
A. P. Carter Family, "Gently Lead Me" (Acme 998)
NOTES [84 words]: The line "Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us" is part of a poem of the same name by Dorothea Ann Thrupp (for whom see "A Little Ship Was on the Sea"). The most common tune is apparently by William B. Bradbury; it has also been sung, according to the CyberHymnal site, to "Pleasant Pastures" and "Wallhead." In H. S. Perkins's 1893(?) hymnal The Climax is a tune credited to H. H. Johnson. However, that is not the same poem as this piece, although I suspect the imagery of the Thrupp poem inspired this. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.6
File: RcGenLea

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