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IFLTS: 'Touch the Hem of His Garment,' Sam Cooke

'Touch the Hem of His Garment,' Sam Cooke
From 1956

I was born three months premature and deaf, with minimal chance of ever gaining my hearing. On Easter Day four months later, the organs rang out at church, I let out a cry and my hearing was miraculously restored. This early childhood experience and years of worrying about my hearing led to my total obsession with music -- constantly seeking out new discoveries with an insatiable hunger, like an archeologist on a never ending dig, always knowing that hearing was a privilege, not a right, and could easily be lost.

'Touch the Hem of His Garment' by Sam Cooke became the Rosetta Stone of my early searching, a song that to this day, I can't listen to without tearing up. The tears are not of sadness but tears of unexplainable joy, as the plaintive yet comforting wail of Cooke's voice and his innate soulfulness transcends traditional descriptions, and truly brings the listener to a higher, more soulful universe.

I first fell in love with Cooke through his pop songs, weaned on a steady diet of 'Chain Gang,' 'Another Saturday Night,' 'Wonderful World' and 'Bring it on Home to Me.' However, Cooke's voice really shines in his gospel songs, where he fully unleashes his unbridled emotions. The lore goes that Sam Cooke was on his way to a recording studio, completely unprepared, when he picked up a Bible and read a passage from the Book of Matthew, creating 'Touch the Hem of His Garment' on the spot -- a musical miracle in and of itself.

I feel that at the end of the day we are all looking for our own miracles, and every time I listen to this song it feels like a rebirth. I defy anyone to listen and not break out into goosebumps.


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lynda

please let me know where I can purchase a sam cooke c d. please

April 17 2010 at 1:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
John Cooper

Sam Cooke's artistry has been often imitated, but never duplicated. I often wonder what music would be like if the world was blessed to hear more material from such a God given talent. Music was deprived of greatness in 1964, when Sam Cooke went home to harmonize for the very being that enabled him to grace past, present, and future generations to come with his illustrious voice. From greats like U Send Me, Touch the Hem of His Garment, and A Change Gone Come, Sam Cooke will forever captivate the ears of audiences of all age groups worldwide.

January 11 2010 at 1:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply