"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the chorus appears in the later songs "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" and "Daddy Sang Bass".
Lyrics
There are loved ones in the glory
Whose dear forms you often miss. When you close your earthly story, Will you join them in their bliss?
Will the circle be unbroken
By and by, by and by? Is a better home awaiting In the sky, in the sky?
In the joyous days of childhood
Oft they told of wondrous love
Pointed to the dying Saviour; Now they dwell with Him above.
You remember songs of heaven
Which you sang with childish voice. Do you love the hymns they taught you, Or are songs of earth your choice?
You can picture happy gath'rings
Round the fireside long ago, And you think of tearful partings When they left you here below.
One by one their seats were emptied. One by one they went away. Now the family is parted. Will it be complete one day?
The song is generally played to be uplifting to the congregation, and is a frequent standard in gospel revivals.
Other versions
Tune variants
The Ballad Index notes that the tune now commonly sung differs substantially from the original tune by Gabriel. It also notes the first known recording of this variant, by the Metropolitan Quartet in 1927.
Carter version
A reworked version of the song, intended as a funeral hymn, was written by A. P. Carter and released in 1935 by the Carter Family. The Carter version, titled "Can the Circle be Unbroken", uses the same music and the same verse structure but with different verse lyrics and a modified chorus. That version has often been recorded as "Will the Circle be Unbroken", including the 1972 performance by Mother Maybelle Carter and ensemble on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album of the same title.
The original version of the song does not insert "Lord" in lines 2 and 4 of the chorus, though the Carter version does. Also, the third line of the chorus is phrased as a question in the original, but as a declarative sentence in the Carter version, and the Carter version as written begins the chorus with 'Can' instead of 'Will'.
Inasmuch as the changes constitute substantial transformation and an original creative work, the Carter version is still under copyright.
Less-known versions
In 1936, Bill and Charlie Monroe recorded yet a different version. In 1970, the music group The Doors performed an impromptu version live in Chicago, with vocalist Jim Morrison changing the lyrics to "oh, the circle has been broken, me oh my Lord, me oh my." In 1988, Spacemen 3 released a version of the song titled "May The Circle Be Unbroken" as one of the B-sides on their single "Revolution". Aside from the change in the titular line, it is lyrically identical to the Carter Family version.
Parodies
In 1994, Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon included a parody "Will the Fetus Be Aborted?" on their album Prairie Home Invasion. In 1999, "Will the Turtle Be Unbroken," a parody, was written and released by Les Barker under the group name The Mrs Ackroyd Band.