I first came across 'The New Road' on a limited edition CD titled 'The Guilford Tapes' given to me yonks ago by Keryn Randall, a fine singer. The recording was of its author, John Beavis, performing at the Guilford Folk Club in Victoria. The song has been recorded by Danny Spooner on his 'Emerging Tradition' CD and by Martyn Wyndham-Read on his 'Oceans in the Sky' CD. Martyn calls it a 'gypsy hymn' and reflects that it is about 'the redemptive pattern of human nature'. Even us non-believers can recognise it as a good'un.

THE NEW ROAD
(John Beavis)

You who puzzle on the saviour’s deeds
Won't you stop and listen where the new road leads
First born child of the refugees
He was raised in Nazareth, schooled in charity
And found salvation on His knees.

Manhood brought him to the Jordan shore
Where the baptist shivered in the rags he wore
Plunged his cousin in the pilgrim stream
And the dove descended and the old oad ended
And the new road wakened from a dream

Red sun sinking over Galilee
Saw the stranger walking by an inland sea
Four young fishermen around entwine
For the new road heading to a Canaan wedding
Where he turned the water into wine

Thousands listened on the mountain slope
As they dined on miracles and breathed in hope
Blind men followed with the light restored
As the sightless Pharisees condemned as heresies
The wide-eyed workings of the lord

Alleluja, how the people cheer
The palm leaves rustle as the king draws near
Woe, Jerusalem, the truth you shun
And your sins ensuing are your own undoing
Till your stones lie broken in the sun

Thirteen gathered in an upstairs room
As the high priest plotted for the saviour’s doom
Blood and body in the wine and bread
Then he kissed his enemy in sweet Gethsemane
Twelve hours later he was dead.

Mary wondered at the stone flung wide
And the tomb rang hollow as she stepped inside
Angels seated where the christ had lain
Bid her quit the prison for the son had risen
And would speak in Galilee again

Show by living what the lord had done
In the selfless giving of his only son
Chart this passage to the last amen
For the climb is steady if the pilgrim’s ready
The new road reaches out again

Here's a live recording of Martyn Wyndham-Read. He omits the final stanza.

Youtube clip

--Stewie.