Tell Mother Ill Be There
When I was but a little child how well I recollect
How I would grieve my mother with my folly and neglect;
And now that she has gone to heavn I miss her tender care:
O Savior, tell my mother, Ill be there!
Refrain~~ Tell mother Ill be there, in answer to her prayer;
This message, blessèd Savior, to her bear!
Tell mother Ill be there, heavns joys with her to share;
Yes, tell my darling mother Ill be there.
Though I was often wayward, she was always kind and good;
So patient, gentle, loving when I acted rough and rude;
My childhood griefs and trials she would gladly with me share:
O Savior, tell my mother, Ill be there!
When I became a prodigal, and left the old rooftree,
She almost broke her loving heart in mourning after me;
And day and night she prayed to God to keep me in His care:
O Savior, tell my mother, Ill be there!
One day a message came to me, it bade me quickly come
If I would see my mother ere the Savior took her home;
I promised her, before she died, for heaven to prepare:
O Savior, tell my mother, Ill be there!
Charles M. Fillmore
(1860-1952)
Charles Fillmore was educated by his older brother and studied for to become a minister at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 1883, he began writing hymns and in addition to ministering, he completed several hundred songs in his lifetime.
This song is special because Fillmore wrote it when he read about the death of the mother of American president William McKinley. President McKinley had a special relationship with his mother, who was very proud of him. When McKinley was just a child she use to brag he would become a Methodist bishop (of course he actually went a little higher than that). When Mother McKinley fell ill in the winter of 1897, she lived quite a ways from the capital, so the president had a special telegraph line installed between Washington and her hometown. When word finally came that death was quickly approaching, McKinley quickly wired back, Tell mother Ill be there!
Once Fillmore read this account, he quickly wrote these lyrics that have held great meaning for many mothers and children throughout the years.
