Some songs don’t just play — they sit with you, like an old memory that never fades. Family Bible is one of those songs.
Before the fame, before the braids and bandanas, Willie Nelson was a struggling songwriter in Houston, barely making rent. One night, he scribbled down the bones of Family Bible on a napkin — not to chase a hit, but because he felt it. It was about his mother, those quiet evenings growing up in Texas, and the worn Bible that anchored their home.
He sold the rights for $50, just to get by. And even though others recorded it first, when Willie finally sang it himself years later, it was like the song had come home.
There’s no showmanship here. Just piano, guitar, and a voice weathered by time and truth. He sings it slowly, like someone remembering the way the room looked in the glow of lamplight — how his mother’s voice sounded when she prayed, and how those little rituals shaped everything that came after.
Family Bible isn’t just a gospel tune. It’s a reminder — that faith doesn’t always come with fireworks. Sometimes, it comes in the form of a soft hymn after supper, a worn book passed down, or a grandfather humming a melody that’s been in the family longer than any name.
Video
Lyrics
There’s a family Bible on the table
Each page is torn and hard to read
But the family Bible on the table
Will ever be my key to memories
At the end of day when work was over
And when the evening meal was done
Dad would read to us from the family Bible
And we’d count our many blessings one by one
I can see us sittin’ round the table
When from the family Bible dad would read
I can hear my mother softly singing rock of ages Rock of ages cleft for me
Now this old world of ours is full of trouble
This old world would also better be
If we’d find more Bibles on the tables
And mothers singing rock of ages cleft for me
I can see us sittin’ round the table
When from the family Bible dad would read
I can hear my mother softly singing rock of ages
Rock of ages rock of ages cleft for me