Reviews

Book Reviews

Long Journey - Kyla Rowland

Written by: Kyla Rowland
Publisher: My Abby Publishing
Website: http://www.kylarowland.com

Over the years there have been numerous books written, that give people a glimpse into how songwriters wrote their greatest songs and the stories behind them. I have always thoroughly enjoyed reading those types of books because songwriters and their songs have always deeply intrigued me, as I am fascinated how a songwriter came about writing a song. But I don't think I've ever come across a "Stories behind the Songs" book quite like Kyla Rowland's book, Long Journey. Kyla manages to take 40 of her most favored songs such as "One Scarred Hand", "Safe Thus Far", "He Rolls Me Over the Tide", "Wall of Prayer", "I Rest My Case at the Cross", "Wedding Invitation", "Out of Harms Way" along with some of her more obscure offerings like "In the Heat of the Battle", "My Heart is Already Home", "Loving the Lamb" and "Thinking of a Mansion" and she goes into great detail with each song as she genuinely shares her heart.

Having been an admirer of Kyla's writings for most of my life (next to Dottie Rambo and Rusty Goodman, she's the best there is), and was familiar with all but one song contained in this book, it was like looking into the heart of Kyla Rowland as she shared how each song came to be and allowed me to see many of these songs in a brand new light. The thing that really set this apart from any other book was how she took the time to relate each song to scripture. Long Journey goes so much deeper than "this is how I wrote this song.". Each song is divided into three parts; The Song (lyrics), The Story, and The Commentary. Between The Story and The Commentary, Kyla dives deep into the Scriptures as she confidently teaches us some wonderful truths about God's faithfulness, mercy, love and grace. We not only get to see Kyla's heart, but I believe we also see God's heart through these songs as God used her to pen some of Gospel Music's most cherished songs that were inspired many times, by Kyla's mother, Eulalia and her son, Barry. Kyla takes us on the journey of a lifetime as she shares her life, and enables us to embark with her on this journey that brought us these wonderful songs.

This book is worth every effort to try to obtain and worth every penny you spend in getting it. No words can adequately describe the journey you will take as you go from song to song, but it will be one you will not soon forget.