I must confess, the vocal pyrotechnics of The Hopeful Gospel Quartet's version (where I learned it) have not yet translated, for us, into a workable approach, in the refrain in particular. I think to lead it as a unison song I'll have to chop out a line of that refrain. (This can happen when you fall in love with a song and rush it into production before you and your band hammer out the finer points, as has happened to us on two or three of the 200+ songs in our songbooks to date.) You can hear it on PHC yourself to see how YOU might handle it. I believe a Barnes family clip can be found at Amazon.

Textually, the "mountain" can be a metaphor for life in general or for any specific struggle a singer might have in mind. It's a good lead-in to a sermon, too.

Musically, the text is well set in a cheerful, git-r-done sort of good-ole-boy rouser.

~Susan

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CLIMBING UP ON THE ROUGH SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN
Learned from the singing of The Hopeful Gospel Quartet; they most likely learned it from The Barnes Family. Heard on "A Prairie Home Companion," which is produced by Prairie Home Productions,
presented by Minnesota Public Radio and distributed nationwide by Public Radio International. The weekly Saturday evening live webcast is archived online, and contains audio clips, photos, scripts
and guest information from every performance of A Prairie Home Companion since the fall of 1996. Adapted and arranged for the Good News-Goodtime Band by Susan O. Hinton.

REFRAIN:
I'm climbin' up (climbing up on the rough side)
On the rough side (oh yeah) of the mountain (what I gotta do)
I must hold to God (His most powerful hand)
His most powerful hand (yes I'm a-climbin')
I'm climbin' up (climbing up on the rough side)
On the rough side (oh yeah) of the mountain
Lord, I'm doin' my best to make it in.

1. Oh Lord, Lord, Lord you know I'm strivin';
Trying to make it through this barren land.
As I go from day to day
I can hear my Savior say,
"Trust in Me, child, I'll hold your hand."

2. I'm climbing up, oh yes, I'm climbin' up!
Oh my burdens, sometimes, they press me down.
If I can keep the faith
I'll have strength to run the race;
I'm looking, yes I'm lookin' for my crown.

3. Now one day this old race will soon be over.
There' will be no more races to run.
When I stand before God's throne
All my heartaches will be gone
And I'll hear my Savior say, "Welcome home."

4. We're climbin' up, still climbin' up
Though narrow and rocky be the trail.
With His light along the way,
You know we cannot go astray;
If we follow Him I know we cannot fail.

SH