Written and performed by Marty Robbins, “The Master's Call” tells the story of a young man, who leaves his house as an outlaw. One night while a storm is brewing, the young man plans to rustle a herd of cattle. As a bolt of lighting flashes across the sky, hundreds of cattle begin to stampede. As he reflects on his sinful deeds, he fears he might die. When he sees the face of Jesus Christ in a flash of lighting, he cries out for mercy. The same bolt killed numerous charging cattle and thus, his life was saved. At that point, he reaffirmed his faith in God.
The song begins with “When I was but a young man, I was wild and full of fire/A youth within my teens, but full of challenge and desire/I ran away from home and left my mother and my dad/I know it grieved them so to think their only boy was bad.”
The next verse continues with “I fell in with an outlaw band, their names were known quite well/How many times we robbed and plundered, I could never tell/This kind of sinful living leads only to a fall/I learned that much and more the night I heard my Master call.”
I love the music and the scene it sets for listeners. One can imagine being in that storm and watching the lightning flash then be horrified when the cattle begin to stampede. But as God always does, He gives the young man another chance to repent and come back to Him.
“The song's intended message is that God has a reason for everything, and it ends with the narrator devoting his life and soul to his savior,” according to Country Music Project.
“The song displays an excellent depiction of faith, redemption, and devotion to God as a savior,” said westernwriting.com.
Robbins released the song in his 1959 album titled, “Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs.” “The Master's Call” peaked at No. 6 on the U.S. pop albums chart. In 1965, the song was certified as a gold record by the RIAA.
According to Heavens Gate, “AllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars, calling it 'the single most influential album of Western songs in post-World War II American music.' In conjunction, “My Master's Call was included in every revision of the list of “1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.”
Information provided by Country Music Project, westernwriting.com, Heavens Gate and Second Hand Songs.