If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again How sweet and happy seem, those days of which I dream If I could hear my mother pray again She used to pray that I, on Jesus would rely If I could hear my mother pray again Carter and Ralph Stanley hailed originally from Dickenson County, Virginia -- a beautiful, if stark, ridge country area, between the Kentucky and Tennessee borders, a place where it was hard to make a living. The family soon moved to McClure, Virginia where their parents worked a small farm in the Clinch Mountains. Music was a part of their lives from the word go, as they were able to listen to the likes of the Monroe Brothers and Mainer's Mountaineers (and of course the Grand Ole Opry) on local radio.
Their harmonies are much admired, and many consider Carter Stanley to be one of the greatest singers in the history of country music. The brothers also wrote many of their own songs and Carter had a particular knack for writing deceptively simple lyrics that portrayed strong emotion. The Stanley's style can best be described as a traditional "mountain soul" sound that remained close to the Primitive Baptist vocal stylings they learned from their parents and others near their southwestern Virginia home.
Stanley Brothers
When memory recalls them now and then
And with what repture sweet, my weary heart would beat
If I could hear my mother pray again
If I could hear her tender voice as then
So happy I would be, t'would mean so much to me
If I could hear my mother pray again
And always walked the shining gospel way
So trusting still his love, I seek that home above
Where I shall meet my mother some glad day
If I could hear her tender voice as then
So happy I would be, t'would mean so much to me
If I could hear my mother pray again
