Willie & Bobbie Nelson - Farther Along (5:20)

Willie & Bobbie Nelson - Farther Along (5:20)

Songwriter:. Rev. W. A. Fletcher

One thing most people don't know is how influential Gospel has been for Willie Nelson and his sister Bobbie. From their childhood in the cotton-farming country of Abbott, Texas, Willie and Bobbie were raised with good country Gospel music, and the soulfulness of that upbringing has permeated their lives ever since.

The lyrics to the song were written in 1911 by Rev. W. A. Fletcher, an itinerant preacher, while he was travelling to the Indian Territories by train. Fletcher was feeling depressed because his wife was expecting their first-born child in a few weeks and he wouldn't be present for the occasion. He felt that his priorities were with his ministry in the Indian Territories and wrote the lyrics to reflect his frame of mind at the time.

Sitting next to him on the train was J. R. Baxter, a gospel music promoter who was quite taken with the lyrics that Fletcher was writing and offered him $2.00 for them. Mr. Baxter subsequently had them put to music and the song has been quite popular in the gospel music arena ever since.