Music Review: Phil Keaggy’s “Way Back Home”

By the time he released “Way Back Home” in 1994, Phil Keaggy was established as one of the founders of Christian rock and one of America’s premier guitarists in any genre. Though he had been performing and playing publicly for more than 20 years, Keaggy did some of his best work on this offering.

The album is full of Keaggy’s precise acoustic guitar work, lovely, lush compositions and lyrics that celebrate faith and family. Among the brightest spots on the record are “A New Star”, “Let Everything Else Go”, and “Here and Now”. But the album’s true highlight comes at the end on a cut where Keaggy set a recording made at his grandparent’s 50^th wedding anniversary to music.

Keaggy has an unusual singing voice which may take some getting used to for some listeners. And though he penned the lyrics to some of these songs, he is often at his strongest when offering musical interpretations of others’ words. Particularly affecting is his setting of Samuel Longfellow’s “In Every Need.”

Keaggy’s official online store says the album is out of print, but it remains available on Amazon. Highly recommended.

Because I have always found Longfellow’s poem moving and profound, I’m including it below.

I look to Thee in every need,
And never look in vain.
I feel thy strong and tender love
And all is well again.
The thought of thee is mightier far
Than sin and pain and sorrow are,
Than sin and pain and sorrow are, my Lord.

Discouraged in the work of life,
Disheartened by its load.
Shamed by its failures and its fears
I sink beside the road.
But let me only think of Thee
And then new heart springs up in me,
And then new heart springs up in me, my Lord.

There is an eye that never sleeps
Beneath the wing of night,
There is an ear that never shuts
When sink the beams of light.
There is an arm that never tires
When human strength gives way,
There is a love that never fails
When earthly loves decay.
But there’s a power which man can wield
When mortal aid is vain.

That eye, that arm, that loves to reach
The listening ear to gain.
That power is prayer which soars on high,
Through Jesus to the throne,
Which moves the Hand which moves the world
To bring salvation down, bring salvation down.