Lyr Add: Songs by Joe Wise

Subject: ADD: You Fill the Day(Joe Wise)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Dec 16 - 04:20 AM

This is part of a project I'm working on, researching the songs in the Rise Up Singing Songbook.

I used to sing a lot of songs by Joe Wise back in the late 1960s. I wonder what happened to him. He did a lot of youth-oriented church music. This was one of his best-known songs. Now it sounds very 1960s...

YOU FILL THE DAY
(Joe Wise, 1968)

You fill the day with your glory and your power,
You fill the night with your quiet and your deep love.

Run with your head up in the wind,
Run with your head up in the wind, the wind;
Your head held high, your soul an open door,
And breathe the wind that makes you free,
And breathe the wind that makes you free.

You fill the day with your glory and your power,
You fill the night with your quiet and your deep love.

Stand with your face up in the sun,
Stand with your face up in the sun, the sun;
Your head held high, your soul an open door,
And feel the warmth that makes you free,
And feel the warmth that makes you free.

You fill the day with your glory and your power,
You fill the night with your quiet and your deep love.

Lay with your face up in the rain,
Lay with your face up in the rain, the rain;
Your head held high, your soul an open door,
And drink the rain that makes you free,
And drink the rain that makes you free.

You fill the day with your glory and your power,
You fill the night with your quiet and your deep love.

Walk hand in hand with one you love,
Walk hand in hand with one you love, you love;
Your head held high, your soul an open door,
And hold the hand that makes you free,
And hold the hand that makes you free.

You fill the day with your glory and your power,
You fill the night with your quiet and your deep love.


Transcribed from the Joe Wise album, Hand in Hand:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p1BHP3IN20

The song appears in the Rise Up Singing Songbook, which corrects Wise's grammar on "Lay with your face..."

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Songs by Joe Wise
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Dec 16 - 04:44 AM

Here's a Joe Wise biography from his publisher, GIA Publications:

Joe Wise (b. 1939) is a writer and a painter. He has recorded and published nineteen albums, three books, a film score, and a video. His music is sung all over the world. He holds a BA in Philosophy and an STB in Theology from St. Mary's (Baltimore, MD), an M.Ed. in Counseling and Guidance from Spalding College (Louisville, KY), and an MA in Religious Education from Catholic University (Washington, DC)

In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s he led liturgies, conducted workshops, and gave concerts and lectures all across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. His writings have been published in various magazines and journals, including a humor piece in Sports Illustrated. His award-winning paintings hang in private and corporate collections.

He and his wife Maleita now live in Arizona and give retreats and workshops using journaling and visual journaling as a primary tool in spiritual awareness. They are each writing books on this process.

His web address is: http://joeandmaleitawise.com

The Joe Wise songs I knew best were "Take Our Bread" and "Gonna Sing My Lord." They were Folk Mass Greatest Hits back in the 1960s. I think they're a cut above much of the music that was published for American Catholics back then. When I sang these songs, I was wearing polyester, wide ties, and bell-bottom trousers.

Another Joe Wise hit was Maleita's Song. Back then I wondered who Maleita was. Apparently, he's been married to her all these years.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Songs by Joe Wise
From: GUEST,Andrew
Date: 18 Mar 18 - 06:53 AM

Thank you for posting this, I awoke a little after 4:00 a.m. today with snippets of this song running through my head and since I haven't heard it since 1975 I wasn't sure if I had the lyrics right, your posting confirmed my thoughts that I had a couple lines inverted.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Songs by Joe Wise
From: GUEST,Mary Oberst
Date: 12 Apr 19 - 02:20 AM

Yes, it's midnight and though I have left my Catholicism far behind the songs I sang in my high school days, have left a lasting impression. The words to this song wouldn't let me sleep so I had to try to find them. Many thanks. The music and the words come to me when I am most at peace. It's a joy to have the words now. Thanks for the entry.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Songs by Joe Wise
From: GUEST,Joe
Date: 25 Jul 19 - 10:19 AM

At our wedding (1980) my wife and I used You Fill the Day as our recessional song. "Walk hand in hand with one you love." We just celebrated our 39th anniversary and still walk hand in hand.