Altar Call
Words & Music by Neil Carswell
I remember when I was just a boy,
in the hot summer sun,
standing next to my Grandpa,
you know he was the only man I ever knew
who could truly talk to God.
He never drank much water
when he worked out in the fields,
he used to ride me on his tractor,
and to a little boy, what a thrill.
His older brother, well, he had an old mule,
we used to drag his sled behind
and in the summertime we'd grind molasses too.
Been fifteen winters since Grandpa passed away,
but sometimes late at night
I can still hear that old fiddle when he played.
My heart is hard, my soul grows weak,
my tears run shallow as a muddy creek.
My days are numbered,
and my nights are long,
God gave his son for the altar call.
Fifteen winters ago,
when I went out on the road.
Seeking my fame and fortune
with a rock & roll show.
High dollar bottles of wine, and big airliners,
never could compare to the fields I used to plow
with Grandpa as a child.
My heart is hard, my soul grows weak,
my tears run shallow as a muddy creek.
My days are numbered,
and my nights are long.
God gave his son for the altar call.
My heart is hard, and my soul grows weak,
my tears run shallow as Muddy Creek.
My days are numbered, and my nights are long ...
God shed his blood for the altar call.
I remember when I was just a boy,
in the hot summer sun,
standing next to my Grandpa,
you know he was the only man I ever knew
who could truly talk to God.
Song written at the cabin in North Carolina a few years back around the same time I wrote Temporary Relief, and in the same evening I wrote Edge of the Green, which is on the Good Man's Journey album. That was a special day of writing; I was inspired by God that day. I had been going to a church that my old friend Vernon Macarthy was preaching at. It was a new start in his life and a special time for me also. It seems I had it together for a while so I guess God blessed me with this song, a true story of my childhood spent with my grandfather Joe White, the most inspirational person I have ever met in my life. I feel this is one of the greatest, if not the greatest, song I have ever written in my career, one we captured in a back porch style of recording in the bluegrass fashion I was so heavily influenced by as a child with my oh so musical family members. One of the only gospel songs I have ever written and a song I am very proud of. I feel songs like these only come once or twice in a lifetime. I hope it touches you and helps you reflect on someone you loved as a child who influenced you in the ways of the lord as he did I. God bless.
Basic Tracks Cutting Session & Overdubs: Quad Studio "B" Nashville, TN
Chief Engineer: Phil Green
Assistant Engineers: Kyle Wilson & Earl Drake
Mixed at: The Rec Room, Nashville, TN by Ben Fowler
Mastered by: Richard Dodd, Nashville, TN
Lead vocal & Acoustic Guitar: Neil Carswell
Acoustic Guitar: Stu Kimball
Resophonic Slide Guitar: Chris Anderson
Upright Bass: Ross Sermons
Fiddle: Tramp
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