Rich colors of a fall harvest at sunset

Every year I usually display the song that epitomizes Thanksgiving for me, “We Gather Together.” Always, when I was growing up, Thanksgiving was the one day in all the year when I knew that my father and mother and I would sit down together to eat, using the rose dishes and iced tea glasses, and special serving dishes that were ONLY used on that one special day. So “We Gather Together” has always held a special place in my heart as “THE” Thanksgiving song.

This year, however, I was reminded just recently about another song, not particularly a Thanksgiving song, although it is absolutely a song of thanksgiving. It’s called “The Promise of Living” from Aaron Copeland’s one opera, The Tender Land, perhaps my favorite work of his. The song is not his; it’s an revivalist hymn called “Zion’s Walls,” music and lyrics attributed to John G. McCurry to which Copeland gave new lyrics that are truly inspirational, especially in these times when division is rife between us all.

So here’s my Thanksgiving song for 2018, Aaron Copeland’s “The Promise of Living,” arranged by John Williams. It’s truly a song about giving thanks.

May you all have a blessed and safe Thanksgiving.