Here Was A Man
Composer(s): Johnny Bond; Tex Ritter
Performer(s): Johnny Cash



(Joy to the world the Lord is come)
Here was a man
A man who was born in a small village, the son of a peasant woman
He grew up in another small village
Until he reached the age of thirty he worked as a carpenter
Then for three years he was a traveling minister
But he never traveled more than two hundred miles from where he was born
And where he did go, he usually walked
He never held political office, he never wrote a book, never bought a home
Never had a family, he never went to college
And he never set foot inside a big city
Yes, here was a man
Though he never did one on the things that you'd usually associate with greatness
He had no credentials but himself, he had nothing to do with this world
Except through the devine purpose that brought him to this world
And while he was still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him
Most of his friends ran away, one of them denied him
One of them betrayed him and turned him over to his enemies
Then he went through the mockery of a trial
And was nailed to a cross between two thieves
And even while he was dying, his executioners gambled
For the only piece of property that he had in the world
And that was his robe, his purple robe
When he was dead he was taken down from the cross
And laid in a borrowed grave provided by compassionate friends
More than nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today he's a centerpiece of the human race
Our leader in the column to human destiny
I think I'm well within the mark when I say
That all of the armies that ever marched
All of the navies that ever sailed the seas
All of the legislative bodies that ever sat
And all of the kings that ever reigned
All of them put together had not affected the life of man on this earth
So powerfully as that one solitary life
Here was a man
(Joy to the world the Lord is come)