"Go Rest High on That Mountain" is a song written and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...

. It was released in August 1995 as the sixth single from his album '' When Love Finds You''. It is a eulogic

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or '' ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

. Gill began writing the song following the death of country music singer

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' country charts, and 7 ...

in 1989. Gill did not finish the song until a few years later following the death of his older brother Bob of a heart attack in 1993.

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ...

and

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

both sang background vocals on the record.

Content

"Go Rest High on That Mountain" is a tribute to an unnamed party who has died. It is composed in the key of

D major D major (or the key of D) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B, and C. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative minor is B minor and its parallel minor is D minor. The D major scale is: : Ch ...

with a slow tempo, largely following the chord pattern D-G-D-A-D. Gill added a third verse in December 2019 saying “Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense, does it?” he told ''People''. “Yeah, ‘Leave it alone, you idiot!’ That should be my mantra. But in my heart, I think this makes it better.”

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably calling the song "beautiful, majestic, and easily one of the best singles of Gill's already distinguished career." She goes on to say that the composition "boasts a touching spiritual lyric and Gill's consistently impeccable vocal delivery." In 2019, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' ranked "Go Rest High on That Mountain" No. 17 on its list of the 40 Saddest Country Songs of All Time. The song won the CMA's Song of the Year award in 1996 and a BMI Most-Performed Song award in 1997. It also received two

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

for Best Male Country Vocal Performance and Best Country Song in the 38th Grammy Awards. The single reached No. 14 on the Country Singles chart in 1995. It has sold 857,000 digital copies in the US since becoming available for download.

Music video

The music video was directed by

John Lloyd Miller John Lloyd Miller is an American filmmaker who has directed, produced and/or written music videos, short films, features, documentaries, commercials and television programming. Career Miller has worked in virtually every aspect of the film a ...

and premiered in mid-1995. Filmed at the

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...

in downtown Nashville, it features Gill performing the song (accompanied by Loveless and Skaggs on the choruses) while images of nature such as mountains, forests, and sunrises play on screens behind him.

George Jones eulogy

On May 2, 2013, Gill performed the song with Loveless at the funeral of fellow country artist

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

. At one point during the performance, Gill became too emotional to sing some of the words, but was able to complete the song by focusing primarily on his guitar playing, with Loveless stepping up to complete the back-up vocals and harmony. In a speech just prior to Gill's and Loveless' performance, Gill underlined their duet by stating that he always was aware of a "special anointing" in his duets with Loveless, and compared them particularly to Jones' duets with singer

Melba Montgomery Melba Joyce Montgomery (born October 14, 1938) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for a series of duet recordings made with George Jones, Gene Pitney and Charlie Louvin. She is also a solo artist, having reaching the ...

during the 1960s.

Personnel

Compiled from the liner notes. * Stuart Duncan – fiddle *

– lead vocals, electric guitar, electric guitar solo * John Hughey –

steel guitar A steel guitar ( haw, kīkākila) is any guitar played while moving a steel bar or similar hard object against plucked strings. The bar itself is called a "steel" and is the source of the name "steel guitar". The instrument differs from a conv ...

John Barlow Jarvis John Barlow Jarvis (born January 2, 1954 in Pasadena, California)Paul Kingsbury, editor"The Encyclopedia of Country Music: The Ultimate Guide to the Music" 2004 is an American songwriter, composer, session pianist and recording artist. Before mov ...

–

Hammond B-3 organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

– backing vocals *Tom Roady – percussion * Michael Rhodes – bass guitar * Randy Scruggs – acoustic guitar *

– backing vocals *

Steuart Smith Steuart Smith (born 24 June 1952) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, writer and producer from Arlington, Virginia, United States. He is a touring member of the American rock band Eagles, where he has performed as one of ...

– electric guitar * Carlos Vega – drums *Pete Wasner – keyboards, piano

Chart performance

"Go Rest High on That Mountain" debuted at number 70 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of September 2, 1995. The song has sold 857,000 digital copies as of November 2019 after it became available for download in the U.S.

Year-end charts

Notes

{{authority control 1995 singles 1994 songs Vince Gill songs Ricky Skaggs songs Patty Loveless songs Song recordings produced by Tony Brown (record producer) Songs written by Vince Gill Songs based on real people MCA Records singles Music videos directed by John Lloyd Miller Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance winners