A
song sung by gospel
wunderkind Sam Cooke as a member of The Soul Stirrers; I'm not sure if it's an old, old song, or if it was contemporary for its day (the early/mid
1950s). It's a
gospel song, but when I first heard it, sung by a modern-day gospel group (though the group's origin was from around the same time as the Soul Stirrers), it reminded me of a
rock and roll ballad of the 50s, and that blurred sacred/secular distinction is what gave us, eventually,
soul music - it wasn't too long after that Sam's brother L.C. wrote "You Send Me", a
ballad of a different sort.
The story comes from a popular passage in the New Testament, Matthew 9:20-22.
Oh, there was a woman in the Bible days
She had been sick, sick so very long
When she heard that Jesus was passing by
So she joined the gathering throng
And while she was pushing her way through
Someone asked her: "What are you trying to do?"
She said:
"If I could just touch the hem of His garment,
I know I'll be made whole."
She cried:
"Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord,"
I know I'll be made whole."
Oh, she spent her money here and there
Until she had no, had no more to spare
The doctors, they'd done all they could
But their medicine would do no good
When she touched Him The Savior didn't see
But still He turned around and cried:
"Somebody touched me!"
She said:
"It was I who just wanna touch the hem of Your garment."
I know I'll be made whole right now."
She stood there crying:
"Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord, Oh Lord!"
Said:
"If could just touch the hem of His garment,
I know I'll made whole right now."