What will I leave behind?

When searching for information about the song “What will I leave behind” by Sherrill Brown, I got a hit at Baptist Board -- only to find out later the thread was nearly ten years old and started by a banned member! So I thought I'd start a thread on this song. Last Sunday I thought of this song by during my sermon, but could only remember the distinct question and not the rest of the text. It is not in our church book, but I found it in the Mull’s Singing Convention Book, No. 5. Below is how it appears there.

1. After I leave for worlds unknown, over the border line;
Never again on earth to roam, what will I leave behind?

2. Will I be missed by those I love, or have I been unkind?
Have I been true to God above, what will I leave behind?

3. This is my prayer, O Lord, today, let me be wholly Thine;
And when I am called from earth away, let heaven then be mine.

Chorus: Leave behind, yes, leave behind, what will I leave behind?
After I leave for worlds unknown, what will I leave behind?

The song is copyrighted 1958 by Stamps Quartet Music Co., Inc., in Happy Songs: Our First 1958 Book for Singing Conventions, Singing Schools, Sunday Schools, Etc. Below I will link two versions of it that can be heard on YouTube. Other songs by Brown include “A Little Touch of Heaven,” “God Will Wipe Our Tears Away,” and “I Will Meet You There.” I couldn't find any bio on the composer (he wrote words and tune), but think he may be the same as a Sherrill Brown who lived in Buncombe County, North Carolina. After death, “What will I leave behind?” I wrote a few thoughts on that HERE.

 

That's interesting. Thanks. In the book I have it is in 6/4 time and the key of A flat. Of course, that may not be what the quartet is singing it in.