Newbook songs

[j frankel]

After maybe 3 new book singings, so far my favs are "Balm in Gilead", probably everyone's fave, & "Heavenly Meeting", an amazing minor version of "Evening Shade" written about 50 years after.

Also on my list, though not particularly for the OK tune, is "Thomaston", with words from the "all flesh is grass" psalm.  Which my father always used to point out on Yom Kippur & it turns out appears in Conservative (religiously conservative not politically) Jewish funerals.

As I'd bet JP Karlsberg, the author, knows.

The depressing line is followed in the Real Psalm, & at those Jewish uses by "but you will live in G-d forever!", which apparently Mr. Watts didn't see fit to include in his version.  Gotta look up what he dìd use.

[David Olson]

>Gotta look up what he dìd use.

Psalm 103 vv 15 & 16. 

Psalm 103:4. 8-18. Second Part. S. M.
Abounding compassion of God; or,
Mercy in the midst of judgment.

7 Our days are as the grass,
Or like the morning flower;
If one sharp blast sweep o'er the field,
It withers in an hour.

[JPS 1917]
15 As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof knoweth it no more.


8 But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children's children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.

[JPS 1917]
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children;
18 To such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His precepts to do them.

<https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt26a3.htm>

David Olson

San Diego, California

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[j frankel]

Yah, but I still don't know what Watts put for *his* 2nd verse (which may tell us why JPK didn't use it).

[Micah Walter]

(via Hymnary)

1 My soul, repeat his praise,
Whose mercies are so great,
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.

2 God will not always chide;
And, when His strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.

3 High as the heav’ns are rais'd
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.

4 His power subdues our sins;
And his forgiving love
Far as the east is from the west
Doth all our guilt remove.

5 The pity of the Lord,
To those that fear His name,
Is such as tender parents feel;
He knows our feeble frame.

6 Our days as are the grass,
Or like the morning flower!

If one sharp blast sweep o’er the field,
It withers in an hour.

7 But Thy compassions, Lord,

To endless years endure;
And children’s children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.

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[Robert Vaughn]

Joan,

According tot he 1719 Watts Psalms Imitated on HathiTrust, "My days are as the grass" (actually "Our days are as the grass") is stanza 7 of Psalm 103, second part, verses 8-18. If by the second verse you mean the verse that follows this one (verse 9 by Watts's numbering), it is this:

But thy compassions, Lord,

To endless years endure;

And children's children ever find

Thy words of promise sure.

Here is a pic. Hopefully it will come through.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ia.ark:/13960/t22c0kg40&seq=304

Robert Vaughn 

Mount Enterprise, TX

http://baptistsearch.blogspot.com 

Ask for the old paths, where is the good way

http://mtcarmelbaptist.blogspot.com 

For ask now of the days that are past...

http://oldredland.blogspot.com 

Give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.

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[Wade Kotter]

The text used with THOMASTON is actually a slightly amended version of verse 7 in Watts' short meter paraphrase (imitation as Watts referred to it) of verses 8-18 from Psalm 103. You can see the full 8 verse paraphrase here as originally published by Watts in 1719 beginning on p. 267 and continuing on to p. 268:

https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_the-psalms-of-david-imit_1719/page/n298/mode/1up

Specifically, verse 7 reads:

Our Days are as the Grass,
Or like the Morning-flower;

If one sharp Blast sweeps o'er the Field,
It withers in an Hour.

So there is no "2nd verse" which Jesse left out. There are many examples in the Sacred Harp where composers and/or editors chose to use only one verse out a longer text. If you want to know why Jesse chose to set only one verse why not contact him directly instead of trying to read his mind?

Wade

Dr. Wade Kotter

Retired Librarian

Independent Hymnologist and Unrestrained Loud Treble

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord" 

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[j frankel]

Unlike lotsa Watts' words, which somehow turn the psalms into being about Jesus, which they are not, this stays true to the origin psalm.

I do not know why it is not used as verse 2 in the song.

[Charity Vaughn]

Watts was a Christian, and (to oversimplify things) Christians believe the entire Bible is about Jesus so that probably explains the “somehow”. ;-) 

In the beginning (at creation) was the word, and the word was made flesh (Jesus). 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 30, 2026, at 9:25 AM, j frankel <ghos...@gmail.com> wrote:



Unlike lotsa Watts' words, which somehow turn the psalms into being about Jesus, which they are not, this stays true to the origin psalm.

I do not know why it is not used as verse 2 in the song.

On Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 9:19 AM Robert Vaughn <rl_v...@yahoo.com> wrote:

Joan,

According tot he 1719 Watts Psalms Imitated on HathiTrust, "My days are as the grass" (actually "Our days are as the grass") is stanza 7 of Psalm 103, second part, verses 8-18. If by the second verse you mean the verse that follows this one (verse 9 by Watts's numbering), it is this:

But thy compassions, Lord,

To endless years endure;

And children's children ever find

Thy words of promise sure.

Here is a pic. Hopefully it will come through.

<1785417488884blob.jpg>

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/fasola-discussions/CAKN%2Bcr8J2yCVGJLeWzsdtcfrqzp47AD7V4B6UvRN0EVt8RXQcA%40mail.gmail.com.

<1785417488884blob.jpg>

[j frankel]

To Wade:

Because I prefer mind-reading.

It a pretty dour song without the follow-up verse.

And everyone who's asked for reasonings from the new-book editors have gotten, so far, crickets.

I think maybe the most interesting thing about new-book is the number of *old* songs they put in.

I attended at least a couple singings where editors mentioned new-book intentions & they talked a lot about using pages that were blank in '91 & stuff like that, & never mentioned reviving songs from older/other-than-Denson books.

[j frankel]

That was to be "its", but you-all knew this.

[David Olson]

> I do not know why it is not used as verse 2 in the song.

I don't think the first two lines sing well with the tune Thomaston. There is a whole note on "but". In other words, the meter is iambic, but in the line "Our/my days are as the grass", the first syllable has more meaning than its unaccented position would suggest, so JPK gives it a whole note; but this doesn't work ofr "but". 

Also, it's a characteristic of Sacred Harp versification that the "ameliorating" verse of a song is often omitted. Not a tragedy, since one song is followed by another. The next leader can choose to lead an "ameliorating" song or intensify the despair of the previous song. That's one of the charms of convention singing. 

David Olson

San Diego, California 

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[Charity Vaughn]

You are right about the *crickets*. There are some things that should be easy enough to answer, like why they went back and reviewed 91 submissions and selected them over some 1000 tunes that were submitted for this revision. And that’s not to speak of the more difficult questions. 😬

As for the old songs though, no doubt individuals submitted songs from older books for consideration. The submissions did not have to be your own compositions, or new compositions. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 30, 2026, at 10:52 AM, j frankel <ghos...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg]

Hello singing friends,

A singer brought this discussion to my attention, so—with apologies to those who prefer mind reading—I thought I would share a bit about my process in writing THOMASTON. I was already familiar with this verse from Watts's psalm paraphrase, and had it in mind when I wrote the song in 2012. I decided then to try writing a short, simple fuging tune with word painting illustrating some of the imagery in the text. In THOMASTON, I think of the figures that accompany "sweeps o'er" and "withers" as examples of this. Because of the word painting, I never considered setting additional verses from Watts's text.

I find the text's imagery of the fragility and temporality of life striking and moving. This is a powerful message for me and helps me appreciate my time on earth and be present in the moment. It makes me think of how short all of our lives are in the great sweep of human experience and in comparison with the all-encompassing infinitude and love of God. It also resonates for me with the sadness and inexplicability of the unexpected deaths of young people in my life. The song is a dedication to one of these people: Bentley McGuire (1993–2020), a talented Sacred Harp singer, friend, and former Camp Fasola camper of mine, and the son of Middle Georgia singers Oscar and Katy McGuire.

I hope this information is helpful. I appreciate the interest in my song.

All best,
Jesse

--

Jesse P. Karlsberg
Decatur, GA
617 984 9378
jesse.k...@gmail.com

[Anne Evers]

Thank you, Jesse, for taking the time to share this. I am deeply moved. 

Anne

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[Wade Kotter]

Yes, thank you Jesse.

Wade

Dr. Wade Kotter

Retired Librarian

Independent Hymnologist and Unrestrained Loud Treble

South Ogden, UT

"Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord" 

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/fasola-discussions/55D3EC7B-767C-4F5A-B518-CE8B57683560%40gmail.com.

[Carlton, David L]

Jesse, many thanks for letting us know your thinking on writing a song that's one of my favorite new ones.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

David L. Carlton

Professor of History, Emeritus

Vanderbilt University

david....@vanderbilt.edu

Phone (M): 615.715.6183

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

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From: fasola-di...@googlegroups.com <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg <je...@silversand.org>
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2026 3:36 PM
To: Fasola Discussions <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [fasola-discussions] Newbook songs

 

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[j frankel]

And I had actually written a song myself based on the verses in the Yom Kippur prayerbook. I had forgotten that.  Its not the one I was trying to get into shapes for submission to NewBook, & not as good a shape-note tune as JPK's anyway.

Its based on a Yom Kippur tune & I like it, though.

On Fri, Jul 31, 2026, 7:41 PM j frankel <ghos...@gmail.com> wrote:

I find it hard to believe none of the other editors suggested he add a verse to complete the meaning of the psalm.

But he's one of them, so they wouldn't.  I guess.

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[j frankel]

I find it hard to believe none of the other editors suggested he add a verse to complete the meaning of the psalm.

But he's one of them, so they wouldn't.  I guess.

On Thu, Jul 30, 2026, 10:33 PM 'Carlton, David L' via Fasola Discussions <fasola-di...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

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[Will Fitzgerald]

I think that Jesse more than adequately described his goals, which I think were well achieved, in writing his song. It stands on its own.

Keep writing yourself! I would love to see your Yom Kippur-inspired version.

--
Will

> On Aug 1, 2026, at 3:40 AM, j frankel <ghos...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
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