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Lyrics:
Hallelujah, we are on our way
Hallelujah, we are on our way to God
From Egypt lately come
Where death and darkness reign to seek our new
Our better home where we our rest shall gain
There sin and sorrow cease and every conflict’s o’er
There we shall dwell in endless peace and never hunger more
Jerusalem, our happy home
Would God I were in Thee
Would God my woes were at an end
Thy joy that I might see
We soon shall join the throng
Their pleasures we shall share
And sing the everlasting song
With all the ransomed there
There in celestial strains enraptured myriads sing
There love in every bosom reigns for God Himself is King
Anonymous folk hymn, from 1616 / Arrangement and melody by David Crowder / Arr. ©2005 worshiptogether.com Songs / sixsteps Music (ASCAP) Admin by EMI CMG Publishing
Behind the Song:
'I have a very thick book that was found at an antique shop not located in Chicago. It is very old. It is red. It has ornate patterns in gold that is flaking off here and there set against the red. It is called “The Book of Praise.” It is a collection of songs and prayers, most of which are well older than the book, which is itself very old as previously mentioned. In it I found this text from 1616, whose official title, according to the information in the back of the golden, red book, was: “A Song by F. B. P. to the Tune of Diana.” I thought it very close in content to the bluegrass music I had been immersed in. We recorded it. I then received a CD in the mail of Ralph Stanley lining out some songs. Ralph’s voice is that of an angel. All of human history is held within it. The last track on this CD is titled “Jerusalem, Our Happy Home.” I knew I had felt something similar turn inside my chest when I had read the words of this song, as it had that night Marty leaned over the table while tapping his index finger on the age-worn-yellowed piece of paper that he had just pulled from the box containing a slew of Hank Williams’ original handwritten lyrics. Hank had messing penmanship. I believe that not only are we headed toward an eschatological encounter, but that God is as well in motion. Toward us. Momentum and consequence. There is a musical metaphor for this in the outro of this song. The acoustic guitar repeats the main riff of the song as the banjo plays the same melody in reverse. They drop one note on each sequential cycle through the melody until they dissolve into each other finally concluding on the same note in the end.' - David Crowder
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