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SONGS OF PRAISE: I SAW THE LIGHT (1948)

“Here’s the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don’t find it anywhere else. Songs like ‘Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain’ or ‘I Saw the Light’ -that’s my religion. I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity. The songs are my lexicon. I believe the songs.”

Bob Dylan. Like Dylan, I’m agnostic. But I do have a soft spot for religious music. This is the first of half a dozen or so religious and spiritual songs I intend to post over the next few days. This song was written by Hank Williams who, as I may have mentioned before, is my all-time favourite songwriter. It’s performed here by the Grand Ole Opry cast including Hank, Roy Acuff, a young June Carter (who later married Johnny Cash).

Incidentally, Paul Schrader, who wrote Taxi Driver and Raging Bull, also wrote a brilliant script called Eight Scenes From the Life of Hank Williams which, unfortunately, was never filmed. You can read it here.