Gather Us In (AOV 1/12)

Mary Haugen’s ultimate gathering song.  According to As One Voice it was written by Mary, but we can safely assume they meant Marty.  You can follow pages of arguing over this song here.  Again, I think repetition and mangling have driven some people to distraction, but, this is a great song of realised eschatology, just perhaps in need of more delicacy in execution, as in the original.  I doubt my backing provides that.

You can get the actual text at Hymnary. The sheet music is here and the SATB can be purchased at J W Pepper. Oh…I suppose it can also be purchased in various collections at GIA.

Then again, there are the parodies:

Gather us in, the rich and the famous,
gather us in, the poor and obscure,
gather us in, the slightly eccentric
and all the late-comers out there by the door.

Gather us in, the hairy and balding,
gather us in, the skinny and fat,
gather us in, the chic and and frumpy
and anyone wearing a big flowered hat.

Gather us in, the handsome and homely,
gather us in, from near and from far,
and don’t forget the man in the Buick
who dropped off his wife and is parking the car.

Gather us in, the Packers and Bears fans
gather us in, who do not like sports,
gather us in from every direction
but keep out the flip-flops and tank tops and shorts.

It is perhaps beyond the wit of the parody writer to note that these people are indeed welcome, and some people dress in thongs and shorts as their normal attire.  They are invited to the feast because the pious were too busy.