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Can the Circle be Unbroken

CAN THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN
 
 
“Can the Circle Be Unbroken (By and By)”  is the title of a country/folk song reworked by A. P. Carter from the hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel.  The song’s lyrics concern the death, funeral, and mourning of the narrator’s mother.  The song first gained attention due to the Carter Family.  The song has been covered by many groups and musicians.  Its refrain was incorporated into the Carl Perkins song “Daddy Sang Bass” and the Atlanta song “Sweet Country Music”.  It is primarily covered in gospel, bluegrass, and folk, but versions in other genres exist.  Most cover versions of the song use the alternate title “Will the Circle be Unbroken”.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 

But that was just the beginning.  One of the A. P. Carter songs on The Famous Carter Family is so timeless that it is hard to imagine anyone writing it:  “Keep on the Sunny Side”.  There are three bonafide classic gospel songs:  “Can the Circle be Unbroken”, “Lonesome Valley”, and “Gospel Ship”.  Another song was one I knew as a Woody Guthrie number, “Worried Man Blues”.  The other songs I was not familiar with but quickly learned to love as much as the others.  I gathered up a few more Carter Family albums and learned what I could about them. 

 

I started correcting people that the song “Will the Circle be Unbroken” is actually named “Can the Circle be Unbroken”.  Eventually I came across the “Will” title so much that I decided that I needed to look it up.  It turns out, according to Wikipedia, that “Can the Circle be Unbroken” was reworked by A. P. Carter from the hymn “Will the Circle be Unbroken?” that dates from 1907. 

 

(February 2015)

 

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