Roll Away the Stone - Conry

Round stone, rolled away from the mouth of an empty, unlit tomb. 1 They have been saying all our plans are empty. They have been saying Where is their God now? Chorus: Roll away the stone see the Glory of God. Roll away the stone. 2 They have been saying no one will remember. They have been saying Power rules the world. 3 They have been saying no one hears the singing. They have been saying all our strength is gone. 4 They have been saying all of us are dying. They have been saying All of us are dead.

This hymn for Easter Sunday was written by American Roman Catholic pastoral musician, hymn-writer, theologian and catechist Tom Conry (b 1951).

It was first published in 1993 by TEAM Publications, and is now distributed by OCP.

It is set to an unnamed tune, also by Conry. This has a 4/4 time signature. When scored with one # (which usually indicates G or Dm), the first few notes are G G G G D z G G G F G D with accompanying chords Bm add G / C add9. This is not a tune which can be played using simplified chords - it needs skilled musicians and singers.

Downloads

Choral octavo.

Examples

Small choir with guitar / piano:

Cantor and choir with congregation - guitar accompaniment:

Solo singer, self-accompanied on guitar (good version for learning the song from):

Choir, cantors and congregation, with band:

Lyrics

The lyrics are copyright so cannot be reproduced here. But they are currently available on this website. A rough outline is:

1 They have been saying all our plans are empty ...

Chorus:
Roll away the stone see the Glory of God.
Roll away the stone.

2 ... no one will remember ...

3 ... no one hears the singing ...

4 .... "All of us are dying."