[CHAPTER 10] — TROUBLE WILL SOON BE OVER

The music of Willie Johnson

I first heard “Trouble Will Soon Be Over” on the “God Don’t Never Change” compilation album from 2016. It was sung by arguably the most famous artist that appeared on that record, the late Sinead O’Connor. The Irish singer is someone I remember from my childhood; it was probably around the time I first started taking an interest in music that she also had one of the biggest songs in the world. I recall O’Connor being an outspoken and controversial figure, and as best as I understand it, she had a life that appeared to have plenty of trouble. Sadly, like Johnson and many other gifted artists, it feels like her life came to an end sooner than many of us would hope for.

If you have made it this far through the journey into the music of Blind Willie Johnson, you will know that Johnson sings often of things that I doubt many of us think often about. He sings about death, judgement, heaven & hell, what we might call the last things and what is known in Christian theology as eschatology. These matters can be uncomfortable to speak of, and at times, speaking of these things can feel anything but hopeful, but this song that Johnson sings is precisely that. A song that is full of hope.

Oh, trouble'll soon be over, sorrow will have an end

Jesus once said, “in this world you will have trouble”. Trouble is something that cannot be escaped, and although we can live with wisdom that helps reduce our exposure to trouble, it cannot be avoided altogether. In reality, some troubles are not to be avoided and trying to do so may be the shirking of responsibility. That being as it is, Jesus calls us to “take heart”, for he has “overcome the world”.¹ The world and all its troubles do not have the final word. In the end, all of the world’s troubles and sorrows will end, and God will be all in all. This is a matter of faith; for many, it gives them hope for the next day, whilst for others, it is perhaps dismissed as wishful thinking.

On this subject, perhaps more than most others, I want to be careful to exercise restraint with my words. By any standard that could be applied to all the humans that have ever lived, I live a life that could be considered as trouble-free as any. I am grateful to have had limited exposure to genuine sorrow arising from the events in my life and those closest to me. I am privileged to live in a part of the world where the threat of war or the unravelling of society feels a long way away. “Jesus is Coming Soon” was Johnson’s song that first really grabbed my attention because of the connections between what he had to say about the Spanish Flu and the world we lived in during the COVID-19 pandemic. Even amongst all the turmoil of the pandemic, the reality is that it did not affect my personal world all that much, and a short couple of years later, at times, it almost feels like it never happened.

Well, though my burden may be heavy, my enemies crush me down
Someday I'll rest with Jesus and wear a starry crown

Although my lifetime has seen little in the way of trouble, this has not always been the case for my family. Although I live in the land of my birth, I am the child of a migrant. Like most migrants, I understand my family moved in search of a better life. Sometimes, a better life involves a safer and more peaceful life, which was certainly the case for my family. People that are my children’s age and younger may not realise it, but Northern Ireland, the place my family left, was for many years a place defined by trouble, in fact, the violent conflicts that went on in the second half of the twentieth century were known specifically as “The Troubles”. To this day, I have not stepped foot on Irish soil, and probably my best sense of what went on there in those years comes from movies like “In the Name of the Father” and “Patriot Games”. What I can say for sure is that even though I grew up with regular bomb threats made to my school and even though we would be evacuated out onto the oval as a precaution, I do not know what it is like to live in a war zone or anything that can be thought of coming remotely close to one.

The troubles in Northern Ireland were framed as a conflict between two religious groups: Catholics and Protestants. In case this is not clear, these are both Christian groups, and violent conflicts between Protestants and Catholics have a long history that goes back centuries right across Europe. In recent years, I have come to understand that, for the most part, these conflicts have really never been about religion at all, and this was certainly the case for Northern Ireland. The Troubles came to an end in 1998 with a peace agreement, and it seems somewhat ironic, or perhaps it would be better to say, most fittingly, that the religious conflict, which was never about religion, came to an end on the high holy day of Good Friday. In a similarly fitting manner, this journey through the music of Blind Willie Johnson must come to a fitting end with an approach to the Cross: Dark was the night, cold was the ground.

1. John 16:33 New International Version