Good Night ("The Christian's Good Night")

This hymn was written by Sarah Doudney as a eulogy for an esteemed public figure in Britain. The eulogy was set to music by Ira Sankey, perhaps America's most prolific hymn-writer of the 19th century, and made popular in Britain in the last part of the 19th century by Sankey's best-selling hymn books, "Sacred Songs and Solos."

This version of the hymn is probably an adaptation of the original hymn used in revivals (where the masses didn't have hymnals, they sung by repetition). In any case, this version is far simpler than the original.

Good Night (Sarah Doudney 1871, Ira David Sankey 1892)
 
Lay down, my dear brother,
Lay down and take your rest
Oh, won't you lay your head down
Upon your savior's breast;
 
I love you, but Jesus loves you the best
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
 
Lay down, my dear sister,
Lay down and take your rest
Oh, won't you lay your head down
Upon your savior's breast;
 
I love you, but Jesus loves you the best
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
 
Lay down, my dear sinner,
Lay down your weary head
Oh, won't you lay your head down
Upon your savior's breast
 
I love you, but Jesus loves you the best
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight.

Back to the Stolen Shack Album

Kent Gustavson, vocals, guitar and mandolins
Nicholas Walker, string bass
Gabe Shuford, harpsichord