The Cyber Hymnal ‎#7381

7381. When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder

1. When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

Refrain
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll, is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder I’ll be there.

2. On that bright and cloudless morning when the dead in Christ shall rise,
And the glory of His resurrection share;
When His chosen ones shall gather to their home beyond the skies,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. [Refrain]

3. Let us labor for the Master from the dawn till setting sun,
Let us talk of all His wondrous love and care;
Then when all of life is over, and our work on earth is done,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there. [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more
• Title: When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder
• Author: James Milton Black (1893)
• Refrain First Line: When the roll, is called up yonder
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: This song was sung in the Academy award winning movie Sergeant York (1941). "While a teach­er in a Sund­ay-school [in Will­iams­port, Penn­syl­van­ia] and pre­si­dent of a young peo­ple’s so­ci­e­ty," says the au­thor of this hymn, "I one day met a girl, four­teen years old, poor­ly clad and the child of a drunk­ard. She ac­cept­ed my in­vi­ta­tion to at­tend the Sun­day-school, and joined the young peo­ple’s so­ci­e­ty. One ev­en­ing at a con­se­cra­tion-meet­ing, when mem­bers an­swered the roll-call by re­peat­ing Script­ure texts, she failed to re­spond. I spoke of what a sad thing it would be, when our names are called from the Lamb’s Book of Life, if one of us should be ab­sent; and I said, "O God, when my own name is called up yon­der, may I be there to re­spond!" I longed for some­thing suit­a­ble to sing just then, but I could find no­thing in the books. We closed the meet­ing, and on my way home I was still wish­ing that there might be a song that could be sung on such oc­ca­sions. The thought came to me, "Why don’t you make it?" I dis­missed the idea, think­ing that I could ne­ver write such a hymn. When I reached my house my wife saw that I was deep­ly trou­bled, and quest­ioned me, but I made no re­ply. Then the words of the first stan­za came to me in full. In fif­teen min­utes more I had com­posed the other two vers­es. Go­ing to the pi­a­no, I played the mu­sic just as it is found to-day in the hymn-books, note for note, and I have ne­ver dared to change a sin­gle word or a note of the piece since." Sankey, pp. 302-3

Tune Information

• Name: [When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more]
• Composer: James Milton Black (1893)
• Incipit: 12333 33211 21165
• Key: A♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain