The Hills are Alive, from the Musical, THE SOUND OF MUSIC

The hills are alive with the sound of music

With songs they have sung for a thousand years

The hills fill my heart with the sound of music

My heart wants to sing every song it hears

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds

That rise from the lake to the trees

My heart wants to sigh like a chime that flies

From a church on a breeze

To laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over

Stones on its way

To sing through the night like a lark who is learning to pray

I go to the hills when my heart is lonely

I know I will hear what I’ve heard before

My heart will be blessed with the sound of music

And I’ll sing once more—Oscar Hammerstein and Richard Roberts (1965)

The 1965 classic musical, The Sound of Music, is one of my favorite musicals, and The Hills are Alive from this musical presentation is one of my favorite songs. This particular song is beautifully melodic and has a powerful message—a message of hope and optimism. I especially like the part that says,

I go to the hills when my heart is lonely

I know I will hear what I’ve heard before

My heart will be blessed with the sound of music

And I’ll sing once more

Psalms 121:1, 2 (NKJ) says, “I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth.” If you have seen the movie, The Sound of Music, you may recall that when the Von Trapp family went to the abbey to hide from the Nazis, Mother Superior quoted Psalms 121:1, 2, to them as she hid them.

Often, when we are going through difficult situations in our lives, it may seem like our song is gone. However, as we “look to the hills, from whence comes our help,” we see Jesus, Who is the “Author and Finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1), and we are reminded of His promises. As we rest in His faithfulness, He restores the song/music in our hearts, and we can “sing once more,” for this song comes from our Lord, Jesus Christ, Who is The Chief Musician.