January 07, 2013 Farther Along sung by the Peasall Sisters

Farther Along (disputed origins) sung by the Peasall Sisters 

I ran across this tune in Rhapsody the other day, while looking for some thing else. I really like these girls, and remember them from "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou". They played George Clooney's daughters. They were the sweet little voices who sang.....

"In the Highways" – written by Maybelle Carter 
They are Leah, Sarah and Hannah Peasall.

From Wikipedia.....

The lyrics to the song were written in 1911 by Rev. W. A. Fletcher, an itinerant preacher, while he was traveling to the Indian Territories by train.Fletcher was feeling depressed because his wife, Catherine Louise Emmett Fletcher of Cleburne, Texas, 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.

The song deals with a Christian's dismay at the apparent prosperity of the wicked, when contrasted with the suffering of the righteous. The repeated theme is that, in Heaven, the truth will be revealed.
The song was copyrighted in 1937, as part of the Starlit Crown collection, and was renewed in 1965. It is often erroneously thought of as a folk hymn or as being in the Public Domain

From http://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Farther_Along/

attr. to W. B. Stevens

alt. by Barney E. Warren, pub.1911

Tempted and tried, we’re oft made to wonder

1. Why it should be thus all the day long;
   While there are others living about us,
   Never molested, though in the wrong.
   • Refrain:
     Farther along we’ll know more about it,
     Farther along we’ll understand why;
     Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,
     We’ll understand it all by and by.
2. Sometimes I wonder why I must suffer,
   Go in the rain, the cold, and the snow,
   When there are many living in comfort,
   Giving no heed to all I can do.
3. Tempted and tried, how often we question
   Why we must suffer year after year,
   Being accused by those of our loved ones,
   E’en though we’ve walked in God’s holy fear.
4. Often when death has taken our loved ones,
   Leaving our home so lone and so drear,
   Then do we wonder why others prosper,
   Living so wicked year after year.
5. “Faithful till death,” saith our loving Master;
   Short is our time to labor and wait;
   Then will our toiling seem to be nothing,
   When we shall pass the heavenly gate.
6. Soon we will see our dear, loving Savior,
   Hear the last trumpet sound through the sky;
   Then we will meet those gone on before us,
   Then we shall know and understand why.

There are several contradictory claims for the authorship of this song. The words and music are frequently attributed to W. B. Stevens, although others have attributed the words to W. A. Fletcher.