This hymn has been running around in my head for a couple of weeks now, and I catch myself humming the melody. We often sang it as an “Invitation Hymn” at church when I was a kid.

Where He Leads Me

1. I can hear my Savior calling,
   I can hear my Savior calling,
   I can hear my Savior calling,
   “Take thy cross and follow, follow Me.”
   • Refrain:
     Where He leads me I will follow,
     Where He leads me I will follow,
     Where He leads me I will follow,
     I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
2. I’ll go with Him through the waters,
   I’ll go with Him through the waters,
   I’ll go with Him through the waters,
   I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
3. I’ll go with Him through the garden,
   I’ll go with Him through the garden,
   I’ll go with Him through the garden,
   I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
4. I’ll go with Him to dark Calv’ry,
   I’ll go with Him to dark Calv’ry,
   I’ll go with Him to dark Calv’ry,
   I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
5. I’ll go with Him to the judgment,
   I’ll go with Him to the judgment,
   I’ll go with Him to the judgment,
   I’ll go with Him, with Him all the way.
6. He will give me grace and glory,
   He will give me grace and glory,
   He will give me grace and glory,
   And go with me, with me all the way.

My usual hymn research sites didn’t offer much information about E. W. Blandy (also spelled “Blandly” ) other than a brief statement in Hymnary.org, saying  he was a Salvation Army officer and had written the lyrics after given the choice between “a comfortable post at an established church, and an alternate assignment to the New York City waterfront and slum called Hell’s Kitchen.” He went to Hell’s Kitchen.

John S. Norris (1844-1907) composed the beautiful melody.  He was a Methodist pastor who changed to the Congregationalist denomination, and continued ministering there. He pastored several churches over about a thirty year timespan. According to Hymn Time, he wrote several hymns,

Hymn Time also says that the hymn was written in 1890, but gave no information how the two men might have collaborated.

When I started surfing YouTube looking for recordings of this song, I really didn’t find much that I wanted to use. I wanted to find something that was arranged as closely to the original as I could get. At first I thought the only one what was really close was a recording by Willie Nelson. If you know anything about Willie’s style, particularly his musical phrasing, you know why that is strange. However, Willie does a great job with this one. If you want to (I know Ed will), you can hear it here.

Finally, I found this really nice recording by Lynda Randle.  It was “provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group North America”.

What about you?
Are you following Him?
See you in church!

Connie