Flashback: Emmylou Harris’ Rendition of “Wayfaring Stranger” Will Give You the Chills

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Great artists, such as Johnny Cash, Burl Ives, and Joan Baez, have already covered the spiritual classic “Wayfaring  Stranger,” but only one version has become a chart-topper. With her crystalline voice emerging as the guitar delicately plays, country icon Emmylou Harris kindles a melodious tone in her version of “Wayfaring  Stranger” that would dazzle any listener. This was featured on her album Roses in the Snow, which was released on April 30, 1980. Her cover soared to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart and No. 1 on the Canada RPM Country Tracks. 

Adding it to Emmylou Harris’ evergreen tunes, this bluegrass masterpiece truly is in a league of its own. One YouTube user commented on Harris’ record, “This is the only version of “Wayfaring Stranger” as far as I’m concerned!” 

Whether you think it’s the greatest or not, you can’t deny the fact that Harris can make any tune as hauntingly bewitching as possible. In 2002, she released a remastered version of it under Warner Bros. Records. 

Meaning Behind the Song

Emmylou Harris’ “Wayfaring Stranger” tells the soulful longing of a man towards the afterlife. She vividly articulates the sorrow and hardships of a lonesome traveler who is a ‘poor wayfaring stranger’ upon experiencing the ‘world of woe.’ Like any man in anguish, it is the traveler’s wish to find a place and cross the boundary between life and death by ‘going over Jordan.’ She believes that she must come to a utopia where ‘weary eyes no more will weep.’  

The well-known American folk song originated in the early 19th century. Many variations have existed throughout its dissemination, traversing the borders of music around the world. In the book The Makers of the Sacred Harp, authors David Warren Steel and Richard H. Hulan revealed that the song was published in 1858 in Joseph Bever’s Christian Songster. In 1666, Johann George Ebeling composed the melody, while Paul Gerhardt wrote the lyrics in Germany as “I am a guest on earth” based on Psalm 39:12 and 119:19.

Years after the American Civil War, a Union soldier at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, changed the title to Libby Prison Hymn. It was said that the writer inscribed the song to comfort a fellow disabled soldier from the adverse conditions of the prison. 

Harris’ raw vocals provided a mystical interpretation of the song, adding an emotive weight that draws her listeners into the journey she speaks of. The spiritual undertones underscore the hope for divine redemption. With the singer’s spotless storytelling, she poignantly expounded the human desire for peace to be with her beloved and the Savior. 

Let Emmylou Harris cast you a spell in her dreamy performance of “Wayfaring Stranger” below.

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