Alpha and Omega

Lyrics and Music by Robbie Trice

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying 

Behold the tabernacle of God is with men 

And He shall dwell with them and they shall be His people 

And almighty God will be with them 

He shall wipe away the tears from their eyes 

And there shall be no more death 

Neither sorrow, nor crying and no more pain 

For the former things are all passed away 

He that sat upon the throne said, 

"Behold, I make all things new" 

And He said unto me, "Write these words 

For they are faithful and true" 

It is done (4 times) 

He is the Alpha and Omega 

The Beginning and the End 

The Son of God, the King of Kings 

Lord of Lords, He's Everything 

Messiah, Jehovah 

The Prince of Peace is He 

The Son of Man, Seed of Abraham 

Second Person in the Trinity 

 

Alpha and Omega is one of those songs that lived in virtual obscurity for many years. In some circles it still does. Yet it has been heard and sung all over the world for over thirty years. I was never really sure how vast the effect of Alpha and Omega on so many lives until the Internet came along. Occasionally I will search the web to see where the song will show up. Since it has be recorded and identified with the Gaither Vocal Band, it is easy to find the various recordings, tracks and sheet music. But recently I found it being a topic on several discussion groups. Most of the time, someone will hear it on the radio and ask where it came from and who wrote it. This prompted me to devote a page on our website to the Alpha and Omega story… 

I became a follower of Christ in September of 1969, as a high school senior. I had been playing guitar since the age of 13. I wrote my first song three weeks after picking up the guitar. Even though I knew absolutely nothing about songwriting, it was something that came fairly natural. From the moment I met the Lord, I knew that I would write and sing songs for Him…songs that reflected my faith. I was (and still am) an introvert, so I was not a natural evangelist. But I knew that I could write and sing. I could reach people that way. Following my salvation, I wrote a few songs about my faith and had opportunities to share them as Martha and I began singing around town and at school functions. When I got into collage I met a couple of Christian singer/songwriters and we began playing around in coffee houses and churches. Being with those guys inspired more songs, so I began to write quite a bit during that time. We went on to form the band, Kinfolk. It was 1971. 

One day I was sitting on the floor of my bedroom with my guitar, just playing some chords. I kind of liked what I was hearing, so I grabbed my King James Bible for some lyrical inspiration. I flipped through the pages and landed on Revelation 21. My eyes immediately fell on the 3rd verse, “And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men’…” I began to play the chords that I had just been playing and singing a melody to the 3rd verse. I thought, “Wow, this is working and I’m not even having to change a lot of the words around to fit the melody. It’s even rhyming!” When I got to “It is done” the chords and melody changed a little as the song began to naturally lift in dynamics. The way that pattern repeats four times is the way I did it the first time I sang it. When I got to “He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end”, the song just naturally exploded into this anthem as I began to think of the names of Jesus. This song fell together in about 20 minutes, a much shorter time than it has taken to tell you about it. I knew very little about the craft of songwriting at the time, so I personally believe that Alpha and Omega was given to me as a gift from God Himself. As hard as I have tried, I have never been able to write anything else quite like it. I have written many songs since, but that one was a gift. I am very thankful to God for that. 

Kinfolk first sang Alpha and Omega publicly at Glynlea United Methodist Church in Jacksonville, Florida. Kinfolk was playing for a outdoor youth rally in a tent. That night I got the band behind the tent. We pulled out our acoustic guitars and I taught them the song. About ten minutes later we sang it to this group of kids. We knew that night that we had something special. If songs can have an anointing on them, Alpha and Omega did. For the next few years that Kinfolk was together and touring, we sang A & O everywhere we went. We first recorded it in 1973 on an album called, “Clean”. We recorded the album for $1500 and pressed 1000 records, 500 cassettes and yes, 500 eight tracks. The song began to get local radio airplay and the recording found it’s way into the hands of a number of people who probably passed it around or made copies to give away. Before long, we found that A & O was going before us. By the time we would get to a place to do a concert, most of the people we were playing for already knew the song. Keep in mind that we had no record deal or national exposure. At some point in our travels from 1972 to 1975 we were invited to sing for CBN’s 700 Club. We did an all day video recording session and recorded five songs, including Alpha and Omega. A short time after our appearance on the 700 Club, the first ever music video program began as CBN launched “The Ross Bagley Show”. Kinfolk’s videos were among the few that he had in the beginning, so Alpha and Omega was in heavy rotation. I’m sure that many more people were exposed to it through Ross Bagley. 

After Kinfolk officially disbanded in 1979, Martha and I continued to do concerts and of course sang, Alpha and Omega. In 1982 we went to a Gaither Trio concert in Jacksonville. The New Gaither Vocal Band had just formed and they did a couple of songs from their debut album. At that concert, Martha spotted the drummer and his back up singer wife, who she had been with in the Spurrlows. At the break, she went up to Roger and Cosette Byrd and they had quite a reunion. Roger mentioned that if we ever did any recording or had any original songs to pitch to send them to him. In 1983, Martha and I recorded an album called, “Adjusted to the Light” and re-recorded A & O on it. Unknown to me, Martha sent a copy to Roger. About a year after that, we got a call. It was Roger Byrd. He said that he had just gotten around to listening to our tape and was so impressed that he gave it to Bill Gaither the next day. Bill told Roger to call me and to sign me to an exclusive songwriting agreement with Gaither Music. At the time there were only five writers with this contract. “Alpha and Omega” was recorded on the GVB album, “New Point of View” in 1984.  It would've been fine with me if it had stopped there.  My personal dream as a songwriter had come true.  Only God knew what He had in store for the song that keeps going and going and going...Alpha & Omega has truly lived up to it's name!

Little Known Facts 

Released by the GVB on 6 different recordings: New Point of View (1984), The Best From the Beginning (1989), Atlanta Homecoming (Oct. 20, 1998), The Gaither Vocal Band Vol. 1(April 4, 2000), Everything Good (August 13, 2002) and The Very Best of The Gaither Vocal Band (September 21, 2004). 

Re-recorded 3 times: New Point of View, Atlanta Homecoming, and Everything Good Re-recorded as many times or more than any other GVB song, with the possible exception of a Gaither written song. 

Never released as a single, but has had significant airplay over the years. 

Performed consistently in concert by the GVB from 1984 to present (from the Gaither's yearly New Years Celebration to Billy Graham Crusades). 

Has been covered by many independent artists, including Harvey Jett (formally of Black Oak Arkansas) 

Was once plagiarized by a group called The Diamond Brothers. I have a promotional 45 record that they sent to radio stations with their names listed as songwriters and publishers. Mr. Gaither’s attorneys contacted them and they agreed to recall all of the records. 

Almost did not get released on New Point of View because a small publishing company in Central Florida held publishing. Long before I signed with Gaither Music, I had given the publishing to Wind and Fire Music. The owner was a friend of mine who I knew would release the rights to Gaither Music since it was such a great opportunity for me. When I called him he informed me that he had just given it to the Florida publisher. There was a question as to weather or not they would sign it over to Gaither Music. Just days before the record went to press, Gaither Music obtained the rights.