The Final Song Roy Orbison Wrote Was a “Gift From God,” Later Recorded by His Children and John Carter Cash

In 1986, Roy Orbison took his favorite nylon-stringed guitar, the same one he used to write “In Dreams” nearly 25 years earlier, to the beach in Malibu, California, and wrote a new song. Later co-written with his lifelong friend and collaborator, Bill Dees, who also co-wrote “Oh, Pretty Woman” with Orbison, “The Way is Love” was the final song Orbison would write before he died in 1988.

Orbison originally recorded a demo of “The Way is Love” on cassette for his 22nd album, Mystery Girl, which was poshtumously released in 1989. Shortly after its recording, the tape was lost for yeras, until it was later restored and featured as a bonus track on the 25th anniversary reissue of Mystery Girl in 2014.

The new version of “The Way is Love” was completed and recorded by Orbison’s sons, Wesley, Alex, and Roy Jr., who added backing vocals and new instrumentation to their father’s recording. Produced by John Carter Cash, who also added acoustic guitar to the track, the song was recorded at Cash Cabin Studio in Henderson, Tennessee, on the same property where Johnny Cash and Orbison were once nieighbors. The property is also where Orbison’s sons were raised and two of their brothers died in a house fire in 1968.

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[RELATED: The Only Song Roy Orbison Wrote With Dear Friend Johnny Cash in 1969]

“A Gift From God”

“The Way is Love” was a special song for Orbison. After he finished writing the song, he went into a room in his house, sat on the bed, said a prayer, and cried tears of joy at the song he had just written. Orbison considered it a gift from God. His lyrics give an answer to disharmony and disunity with the simple act of love.

If I could be the one to write the rules
I’d write the whole wide world to come back to the school
Where you learn how to lay the law
Without listening to the fools

Who would break just to break
And take just to take
But together we can find another way
Like I feel for you
A feeling that is true
The Way Is Love

Life is so much better
When the way is love
And every song’s a good song
And everyone can sing along
The Way Is Love
An always understood song

The Way Is Love
It’s in the air tonight
The Way Is Love makes everything alright
And the way is love
The Way Is Love

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images