Back in the 1960s, a bluegrass group from Missouri called The Dillards drew a lot of attention in the music world. They are probably best remembered for portraying the Darling Boys on The Andy Griffith Show. Their biggest hit was a song titled “There Is a Time,” which they performed more than once on the series. The song is a beautiful but melancholy tune about aging and the passing of time. The final verse says:

So do your roaming in the springtime
And you’ll find your love in the summer sun.
The frost will come and bring the harvest
And you can sleep when day is done.

Later, Rodney Dillard was asked to add a verse for a new recording of the song on Will the Circle Be Unbroken 3. Rodney called his collaborator, Mitch Jayne, and they both agreed to try to write a new verse. When they compared notes, the new ending they had written was nearly identical. It was a new, more hopeful final verse:

Time is like a river flowing
With no regrets as it moves on.
Around the bend, a shining morning
And all the friends we thought were gone.