Being a fan of walking, gardens and religious kitsch, and having a spare 50 pence in my pocket, I was able to buy a copy of the Jim Reeves album God Be With You from my local charity shop.
The walking element comes from a song on the first side, titled ‘In the Garden’ written in by Charles A Miles in 1912 or 1913 – sources differ. This is, or was, Charles.
The first half of the chorus runs
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
which I suppose is fair enough if you like that kind of thing, but the second half of the chorus runs
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
None other? Really? Not ever? And it’s not just the singer’s joy, it’s god’s joy too. They're sharing a joy that nobody, god included, has ever experienced before in the long history of creation. I mean really? Anyway the final verse runs
I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.
So even god’s had enough of this walking and talking.
The song has also been sung by all manner of people including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Meryl Streep in a duet with Garrison Keillor, and not least by Doris Day. Doris was my mother’s favourite and by some process she made me a fan too.
I can’t swear how much of walker Doris Day was (though she did have dogs), and her version of ‘In the Garden’ is on her album ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone.’
See how it all fits together?
But you know, I keep looking at that Jim Reeves album cover. Is he in a garden? It does look a bit like a garden, I love the giant saguaro cactus. But when I look more closely I think it could be a former gas station – there are a couple of antique gas pumps in the background. But maybe they’re being used as garden ornaments. Who knows?
However, more than that, whether it’s a garden or a disused gas station, Jim clearly isn’t there at all - he’s been cut out and collaged in to the album art. An earlier version of the album cover looks like this:
He’s still not in a garden, he actually seems to be sitting in a field. And I have no idea if he was a walker – I can’t find a picture of him walking - but he did sing a version of ‘Just Walking In the Rain.’ I suppose that’ll have to do.
Incidentally, if you have a moment or two to waste, try typing ‘Does god have feet?’ into your search engine. You’ll be surprised how many people have asked that question. A debate rages. Believers are divided between those who think that since we’re in god’s image, and since we have feet and can walk on them, then god must have feet too. Others say that god is a spiritual being without form or body, and Biblical mentions of his hands, feet, eyes and so on are purely symbolic. I’m going for a walk while I think about that one.
