“Will the Circle Be Unbroken”: Songs and Stories to Heal Families

Key points

Sharing stories and songs are ways of sharing ourselves, and bring us together.

Both country music and family stories express the tensions of life, the joys and sorrows.

Storying our lives through songs and family storytelling can be healing.

“Will the Circle Be Unbroken" is perhaps one of the best known hymns to emerge from the rich history of Appalachian folk music, brought to international renown by A.P. Carter of the Carter Family, the first family of country music. It combines the grief of losing a close family member—a mother—with the joy of knowing that the spiritual circle of family can never be unbroken. For many, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken" expresses the deep meaning and comfort we derive from family bonds that can never be severed, even by death.

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