Lyrics:

1. The world has need of willing men
Who wear the worker’s seal.
Come, help the good work move along;
Put your shoulder to the wheel.

(Chorus)
Put your shoulder to the wheel; push along,
Do your duty with a heart full of song,
We all have work; let no one shirk.
Put your shoulder to the wheel.

2. The Church has need of helping hands,
And hearts that know and feel.
The work to do is here for you;
Put your shoulder to the wheel.

3. Then don’t stand idly looking on;
The fight with sin is real.
It will be long but must go on;
Put your shoulder to the wheel.

4. Then work and watch and fight and pray
With all your might and zeal.
Push ev’ry worthy work along;
Put your shoulder to the wheel.

Text and music: Will L. Thompson, 1847-1909

-History: (Source: Wikipedia)

Written By: Will L. Thompson

Music By: Will L. Thompson

William Lamartine Thompson was a noted American composer, best known for his hymns, born on November 7, 1847 in East Liverpool, Ohio, died New York City on September 20, 1909.

Thompson began composing in his teens and in addition to hymns, wrote the popular songs “My Home on the Old Ohio” and “Gathering Shells from the Sea.”

Both a lyricist and composer, Thompson ensured he would always remember words or melodies that came to him at odd times. He said, “No matter where I am, at home or hotel, at the store or traveling, if an idea or theme comes to me that I deem worthy of a song, I jot it down in verse. In this way I never lose it.”

Thompson is best known as the writer and composer of the classic Christian hymn, “Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling.” It is thought to have been translated into more languages than any other hymn. It has been featured in the films The Trip to Bountiful, Junebug, and A Prairie Home Companion (sung by Meryl Streep and Lily Tomlin), in the Anne Tyler novel The Accidental Tourist, and the television series True Blood.

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