roseanne cash, “50,000 watts”
from: the river and the thread, 2014
“It’s a hard road but it fits your shoes
Son of rhythm, brother of the blues
The sound of darkness, the pull of the oak
Everything is broken and painted in smoke
But there’s a light on Sunday, a new design
The sound of the whistle, those radio wires
Love in your future, I’ll wait for you there
Put 50000 watts of a common prayer
50000 watts of common prayer
50000 watts of common prayer
To be who we are and not who we were
A sister to him, a brother to her
We’ll live like kings without any sin
Redemption will come, just tune it all in
But there’s a light on Sunday, a new design
The sound of the whistle, those radio wires
Love in your future, I’ll wait for you there
Put 50000 watts of a common prayer
50000 watts of common prayer
50000 watts of common prayer
My common prayer
Your common prayer
50000 watts of common prayer”
Albert Brumley wrote “Turn Your Radio On,” in 1938. It sanctification was renewed by John Hartford’s version on “Aero-Plane,” in 1971. Gospel radio is no stranger to us. But strange is what gospel radio can get. Intimate as it is in spirit, radio is hard to beat for gettin’ lifting. So put your hands on your computer or phone as Roseanne Cash and her husband John Leventhal usher you into the divine lobby of our hired angels.