Give the credit to a higher power, the universe at large, or a streak of good fortune, but Vince Gill opting to release what would become a beloved signature song seemed to be one of those “divine intervention” moments that changed music forever. Gill released the song as his last single from his sixth studio album, When Love Finds You, on August 28, 1995.
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From there, the song grew into a country and gospel staple that countless people have used to help process and heal from their grief. Gill is no stranger to this ongoing journey, either. The losses that inspired this classic track are ones he still feels today, leading to emotional performances that accentuate the song’s beautiful message about the afterlife.
Vince Gill Released His Signature Song on This Day in 1995
Vince Gill released singles from his sixth studio album, When Love Finds You, over the course of a year. The last track he released was “Go Rest High on That Mountain,” which MCA Nashville put out on August 28, 1995. The album itself performed incredibly well, peaking at No. 6 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and No. 2 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart. But not even Gill could have had any way of knowing that his song would transform into something vastly larger than himself. He was, after all, looking inward to an incredibly private, vulnerable space when he wrote it.
“I know that song is powerful,” Gil said in an interview with Bill Gaither. However, he said, “It had no intention of being any of that. All it was intended for was me to grieve my brother’s death and honor him and celebrate what I thought was in store for him. I really didn’t even plan to record it. Tony Brown said, ‘You have to record this song.’ I said, ‘Well, okay. If you want to.’ Then they told me they were going to put it out as a single, and I said, ‘You guys have lost your minds.’ I couldn’t have been more wrong. I really could not be prouder that I was lucky enough to strike a chord with people that they want to go to that song in their gravest times.”
Gill wrote the song for his older brother, Bob Coen, who died of a heart attack when he was 48 in 1993. “That’s how I process grief,” he told the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009. “Sit down with a guitar and make something up. Turns out that if anybody remembers any of my songs, it’ll be this one.”
The Country Icon Took a Cue From Morbid Bluegrass Traditions
Few genres make death sound as beautiful as bluegrass. Whether accidental demises, violent murders, or death in a general sense, this musical tradition has often centered around narrative tales that range from depressing to unnerving. But because the story is wrapped up by beautiful melodies, vocal harmonies, and stringed instruments playing off of one another, it can be easy to forget just how dark the songs really are.
Thus, it’s unsurprising that when death was on his mind, Vince Gill turned to bluegrass to write his enduring signature song. “I wouldn’t have been able to write that song if I hadn’t played bluegrass music and learned the structure of that music and how it works,” Gill told The Bluegrass Situation. “Bluegrass music is so honest and so real. Some of those morbid murder ballads and the saddest of the sad songs are what I love most. Give me, “Mother’s not dead. She’s only a-sleepin’, patiently waiting for Jesus to come.” That’s about as good as it gets.”
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