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HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
This is a song I wrote for a video on the history and ministry of the Missionary Sisters of Service, a small Australian religious order begun in 1944. The sisters celebrated their 75-year anniversary in 2019.
From their website:
"We were founded by a young country priest, Father John Corcoran Wallis, in 1944, in Tasmania, with (four) women initially responding ‘yes’ to a deep call in their hearts to serve those on the margins. Our motto of ‘going out into the highways and byways’ comes from the parable in the Gospel of Luke 14:15-24. Like the people sent out in that parable, we seek out people wherever they are, in whatever they’re doing, visiting in homes, gathering in communities, supporting and empowering them in their lives and in the Love of God".
[NB. Fr. John Wallis came originally from the small Victorian town of Yea, so I wove the word 'Yea' into the lyrics. As for 'Adventure Bay' - that is a locality on Bruny Island, Tasmania, where Fr. John ministered as a newly ordained priest.]
*****
lyrics
HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS
Father Wallis heard these words one day
In a little bush house by Adventure Bay:
“What about us?” He pondered long
The call of the battlers out beyond.
“Yea” was the word he really had to say
So he scratched around till he found a way.
There came four women in a life so new
With a song and a prayer they could just make do.
CHORUS: On the highways and the byways
With the out-of-sight out-of-mind people far away.
On the highways and byways
To the call of those beyond we go.
With people on the land through their ups and downs,
Isolated mums in mining towns;
In for a chat and a cup of tea
Yes a barbecue can a banquet be.
Out to beyond by letter and the wheel;
Where to next? ... like a wind we feel.
In the shanty camp or the concrete town
This life can turn you upside down.
CHORUS: On the highways and the byways
With the out-of-sight out-of-mind people shut away.
On the highways and byways
To the call of those beyond we go.
Who are we today? We are young and old
Looking for the signs as the times unfold.
Many are the fields and the hands are few;
Ah but where we are what we can we do.
Whose is the call? The challenge is to come
In the midst of the world to a different drum
With a pilgrim’s tread to a better day
On the winding path or the broad highway.
INTERLUDE
Father Wallis heard the word one day
In a little bush house by Adventure Bay:
“What about us?” He pondered long
The call of the battlers out beyond.
“Go to the people now!” Father Wallis said.
You may get lost but you’ll still be led.
The Spirit of the Land is calling you
With the stringybark gum and the kangaroo.
FINAL CHORUSES:
On the highways and the byways
With the out-of-sight out-of-mind people far away.
On the highways and byways
To the call of those beyond we go.
On the highways and the byways
As the people gather round at the closing of the day.
On the highways and byways
To the call of those beyond ... we go.
[Words and music by Peter Kearney]
*****
credits
released May 7, 2021
RELATED RESOURCES:
'Highways and Byways' is one of twelve tracks on Peter's CD 'THE COMMON GOOD' available through Peter Kearney's Online Store. Links below:
1. CD-AUDIO: Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/356148
2. CD-ROM: Link: peterkearneysongs.com.au/product/554039
The cd-rom provides melodies, chords, lyrics, background notes for all 12 songs. The disc contains pdf scans of the original book (now out of print) + cover.
THE RECORDING:
Recorded at Abergeldie Studio, Mittagong
Arranged and produced by Peter Kearney and Kenny Miller
Vocals, guitar and percussion track Peter Kearney
Fiddle by Lindsay Martin.
Peter Kearney is an Australian songwriter and singer. His early folk-hymns 'Fill My House' & 'The Beatitudes' are
internationally known. He has written many other songs of justice and peace, songs for children, and a musical-narrative on St. Francis of Assisi. His published recordings include 153 original songs.
LINKS BELOW are for Peter's:
- Website
- Online store
- Facebook Artist Page....more
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