From the recording How All This Will Change
Ernest Jones is a "based on actual events" narrative of my then teenage grandfather (in the early 1900s) embarking on a family migration from Yanceyville, North Carolina to Lisbon, North Dakota.
Lyrics
Ernest Jones
Ernest Jones, got Jesus right beside him
Ernest Jones, heard what the preacher said
Ernest Jones, you know the Lord He tried him
With the faithful and the dead
They took the steel rail north from Carolina
Through the feuding hills of Tennessee
They crossed the great muddy water
Toward a place they may never see
Don’t you know - he too is holy. Don’t you know, he knows where he stands
Ernest Jones - got the good book beside him
Ernest Jones - just like his Mary said
Ernest Jones - you’ll never see inside him, but he echoes in your head
Through the long land of Lincoln
Fields waving like the sea
To the endless North Dakota
Sheyenne River – running free
Don’t you know - he too is holy. Don’t you know - he is where he stands.
Don’t you know - he’s constant like the river
Flowing endless, endless, across the dam
Ernest Jones - Got Jesus right beside him
Ernest Jones - Heard what the preacher said
Ernest Jones - You know the Lord, He tried him
With the faithful and the dead
Don’t you know - he still is holy. Don’t you know - he’s at the right hand
Don’t you know - he flows just like the river, endless, endless, across the dam
Ernest Jones - He’s standing by the pulpit
Ernest Jones - He’s walking in the fields
Ernest Jones - He’s leafing through the letters
His blood runs in me