This Classic Was Jimmy Carter’s Favorite Song

Jimmy Carter was always known as the “Rock & Roll President” but his favorite song doesn’t follow in that vein. In the wake of the former president’s death, those close to him have spoken out about his life-long love of music. According to one fellow member of the Maranatha Baptist Church, Carter’s favorite song seems apt for the recent news of his passing. Find out which song was Carter’s favorite, below.

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This Classic Was Jimmy Carter’s Favorite Song

Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,
Sing His mercy and His grace;
In the mansions bright and blessed
He’ll prepare for us a place.

Along with Carter’s love of music, he was famously a devoted Christian. Jan Williams, the pianist at Maranatha Baptist Church–which Carter taught Sunday School at for many years–attributed his favorite song to “When I Get To Heaven.” Though exactly which song she is referencing remains a little fuzzy, the probable answer feels right at home with Carter’s reputation.

When we all get to heaven,
what a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
we’ll sing and shout the victory!

It seems Williams is referring to the traditional hymnal “When We All Get to Heaven.” This ode to the afterlife was written in 1898 by E.E. Hewitt. Though the title is slightly different, Williams’ church setting leads us to believe she was talking about this track.

This hymnal turns death into a celebration. When we all see Jesus / we’ll sing and shout the victory, the lines read. We could see Carter falling in love with this song throughout his time at Maranatha Baptist Church.

While we walk the pilgrim pathway
Clouds will overspread the sky;
But when trav’ling days are over
Not a shadow, not a sigh.

Though that answer somewhat surprises us given Carter’s rock & roll affinity. Carter became deeply engrained in the music scene throughout his presidency. It shined an accepting light on Carter from those in the rock scene.

“There are some people that didn’t like my being deeply involved with Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan and disreputable rock and rollers, but I didn’t care about that because I was doing what I really believed,” Carter once said. “And the response from the followers of those musicians was much more influential than a few people that thought being associated with rock and roll and radical people was inappropriate for a president.”

Luckily for Carter, musicians loved him right back. Even Bob Dylan, famously tight lipped, once spoke about the former president.

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“It’s impossible to define Jimmy,” Bob Dylan once said. “I think of him as a simple kind of man, like in the Lynyrd Skynyrd song [‘Simple Man’]. He takes his time, [and] doesn’t live too fast. Troubles come, but they will pass. Find the woman and find love, and don’t forget there’s always someone above.”

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