"Sail On!"

Charles Hutchinson Gabriel wrote the words to “Sail On!” Born in Iowa in 1856, he eventually moved to California. He died in Los Angeles in 1932. Gabriel wrote several pieces of music not only for the church, in the way of evangelism songs , but also secular music to be sung in parlors—called Parlor Music which seems have gotten its start in Cincinnati, Ohio, and New York with the Fillmore Brothers Publishing Company. One such piece is “Go to Sleep My Honey.”

After 1900, the influence of ragtime and other pop music like jazz and blues had made its impact on the rhythmical quality of evangelism songs. People tended to like the songs to be simple in both words and melody so that they could be easily remembered and learned quickly by larger groups. Many of the songs of this time do not focus on the praise of God, as much as they do on one’s personal religious experience that brings one to “know God.”

“Sail On!”

Upon a wide and stormy sea,

Thou’rt sailing to eternity,

And thy great Admiral orders thee:

“Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!”

Refrain

Sail on! Sail on!

The storms will soon be past,

The darkness will not always last;

Sail on! Sail on!

God lives and He commands:

“Sail on! Sail on!”

Art far from shore, and weary worn,

The sky o’ercast, thy canvas torn?

Hark ye! a voice to thee is borne:

“Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!”

Refrain

Do comrades tremble and refuse

To further dare the taunting hues?

No other course is thine to choose,

“Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!”

Refrain

Do snarling waves thy craft assail?

Art pow’rless, drifting with the gale?

Take heart! God’s Word shall never fail.

“Sail on! Sail on! Sail on!”

Refrain

Homer Alvan Rodeheaver who used his musical talents as he toured with the Billy Sunday evangelism team rearranged “Sail On” in 1918. Billy Sunday is the famous baseball player turned evangelist who was influenced by the Dwight L. Moody evangelism camp meetings in the early part of his life. Rodeheaver became Sunday’s song leader and soloist in 1909.

“Sail On!”

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