Jason Kempin/Getty ImagesSince Vince Gill released “Go Rest High on That Mountain” in 1994, the song has become a classic meditation on death and grief. Vince has played the song at many funerals, and it’s also come to be among the tunes he’s best known for.

That’s why some concert-goers at Vince’s 2019 Christmas at the Ryman residency were surprised to hear something different about “Go Rest High on That Mountain.” Each year, the singer and his wife, Christian artist Amy Grant, perform that residency together. This year, however, Vince added a brand-new verse to the song.

“Yeah, it doesn’t make much sense, does it?” he tells People in a new interview. “Yeah, ‘Leave it alone, you idiot!’ That should be my mantra. But in my heart, I think this makes it better.”

In the just-added new verse, Vince moved on from earlier lines in the song that dwell in the heartache of a troubled life and the grief of losing a loved one. “You’re safely home in the arms of Jesus/Eternal life, my brother’s found/The day will come I know I’ll see him/In that sacred place, on that holy ground,” he sings in the new lines.

The singer points out that it was actually all the times he’s performed it over the years that made him realize “Go Rest High on That Mountain” was missing something. This new version feels much more complete to Vince, and he plans to perform it like that from now on -- though he isn’t sure about recording the song again.

“I don’t have any idea of what’s to come of this other than I just did it. I’m going to start singing that last verse because I think it makes the song a lot better,” he explains.

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