This setting of the twenty third Psalm wins the local popularity stakes. It was written by prolific local Queensland songwriter, Brian Boniwell, about whom I know nothing in particular, but whose music I have been playing for simply ages. Despite departing from the text somewhat it still gets a Yes from the NLMB.
Paul Gurr’s version can be purchased on I-Tunes by following this link.
You can hear a tasteful version on guitar and vocal here…or you could learn it from the backing if you are not familar with it.
Verse 1
The Lord is my Shepherd, and I want to follow,
wherever he leads me, wherever he goes.
Over the mountains, the waters and by-ways,
valleys and highways he’s waiting for me.Refrain
I want to go to meet him there, to lay myself down in his love.
The Lord is my shepherd, and I want to follow,
wherever he leads me, wherever he goes.Verse 2
And while on the journey to where we are going,
he promised to be there to help us along.
And over the mountains we’ll walk on together,
to know all the wonders he’s given to meRefrain
© Spectrum Publications, 1978.
http://www.spectrumpublications.com.au/
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I would be interested in a copy of the sheet music with the copyright okay on it – I can’t find it available on musicnotes.com or any other sheet music online company. Any ideas?
G’Day Dale.
It’s a problem. Brian Boniwell has no web presence and there is nothing at Spectrum’s site. Having said that you could contact Spectrum and see if they have it in some form.
The only official source I can find is in the As One Voice Collections.
Geoff
It is also in Gather Australia but the accompaniment version is no longer available – I heard the last copies were destroyed in one of the Victorian bushfires.
Geoff
thank you Geoff – I am able to do my own accompaniment as I’m a musician. Just need the basics and to be able to use it. I don’t know Spectrum, but I’ll have a look. I hadn’t realised I’d had a reply to my message. Thank you for taking the time.
G’Day Dale
Since I commented all those years ago, Willow now publish Brian Boniwell and the sheet music is available to purchase for download from them.
https://willowpublishing.com.au/product/the-lord-is-my-shepherd-2/
cheers
Geoff
We have found it also in the “Together in Song” – Australian Hymn Book II. A beautiful worship song….
Thanks, Sylvia, so it is.
I found a copy of TIS at the Lifeline book sale yesterday which was some compensation for failing to find an accompaniment version of Gather Australia.
Geoff
I’ll have a look for this book online – many thanks Sylvia. I live in NZ, so a little more awkward in some ways.
There’s a postal address in the index of copyright owners in As One Voice Volume 1. I can’t remember the address but I can look it up if you like; or if you find it easy to do so yourself (if you have access to As One Voice) you can look it up. So you can contact Brian directly. Brian is 66 now and wrote the hymn in 1981 when he was 32; but the index is from the most recent As One Voice edition (published in I think 2010 or 2011) so I’d be surprised if it wasn’t up to date.
Thanks so much for your helpful reply, Christian.
Brian saved me the trouble and got in touch a while back and sent details of where we can get his sheet music.
https://www.sixmaddens.org/?p=5871
cheers
Geoff
Hello,
some trivia…
I can’t say for sure whether the hymn author Brian Boniwell is the same Brian Boniwell about to refer to but … I was a student from the mid 1970s through to the early 1980s at Marist Brothers Rosalie (in Paddington, Brisbane) which was a Catholic Junior and High School for boys. Mr Brian Boniwell was a teacher there. He was definetly the Grade 8 class head master in 1979 and I recall him being there in about Grade 6 (or Grade 7) which would be about 1977 or 1978.
To add to this story I recall him in about Grade 6 being very excited because he had written a hymn or was writing a hymn and had received postive feedback from someone.
Regards
Frank
Could you pls help me with a backing version of this beautiful hymn? I want to sing it at my mother’s funeral and the general midi versions on the net are pretty ordinary. Do you know who I can contact, I am willing to pay.
Deborah
A MIDI file is available for 50c at Wayne McHugh’s site:
https://mymidi.audio/downloads/the-lord-is-my-shepherd-boniwell/
Geoff
Thanks for the reply Geoff, your version is so much nicer, flows better and is easier to sing to. I will keep on looking and hopefully get lucky