Randy Stonehill was born in Stockton, California on March 12, 1952, the son of Leonard Stonehill and his wife, Pauline Correia and is the younger brother of Jeffrey Stonehill.
He graduated from Leigh High School, in San Jose, California, then moved to Los Angeles where he stayed with pioneer Christian Rock singer, Larry Norman.
Stonehill's first album, Born Twice was released in 1971, with financial help from Pat Boone. The album—one side a live performance, the other side recorded in a studio—was recorded for a mere
$800US and according to Stonehill, "sounds like every penny of it!" [insert rim-shot here]
A year later, Stonehill made his film acting debut in The Blob sequel, Beware! The Blob (also known as Son of Blob), with Cindy Williams. He also made a cameo appearance in the 1973 Billy Graham film Time to Run, performing his song I Love You.
In 1976, Stonehill released the "Welcome to Paradise" album produced by Larry Norman with Andy Johns (The Who, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin) doing the engineering. This became a landmark album for the songwriter and was voted "3rd most important contemporary Christian album" in a mid-1980s poll of Christian music critics.(Contemporary Christian Music Magazine)
In the late 1970s, Stonehill then joined forces with Daniel Amos for the Amos n' Randy Tour. Stonehill would later provide backing vocals on several of Daniel Amos's musical projects.
1984, 'the album project "Celebrate This Heartbeat" Stonehill joined forces with longtime friend Phil Keaggy for the song Who Will Save The Children? The two later formed The Keaggy/Stonehill Band in 1989 with Daniel Amos bassist Tim Chandler and Swirling Eddie's David Raven on drums. Keaggy and Stonehill would also team up with singer Margaret Becker, drummer Joe English (former member of Paul McCartney and Wings) and others, in 1988 for the Compassion All Star Band's album "One by One".
UPDATED by Mark"The Shark" Christian
Judgement Day
Randy Stonehill Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the rain comes pouring down
The homeless people sleep on the muddy ground
And the children die so young
'Cause there's not enough to eat
When their only food is the garbage
They have found
Out of my mind
No matter how hard I try
And I realize I must never forget
There, but for fortune, go you and I
I just couldn't believe my eyes
And I wanted to cry out loud
Can't you see there will be
A terrible price to pay
On Judgement Day
The cruise ships painted white
Are anchored in the bay
The tourists fill their plates
From the lunch buffet
And the people on the shore
Gazing up like silent ghosts
Are doomed within a life
That is worlds away
I just can't get their faces
Out of my mind
No matter how hard I try
And I realize I must never forget
There, but for fortune, go you and I
I just couldn't believe my eyes
And I wanted to cry out loud
Can't you see there will be
A terrible price to pay
On Judgement Day
Randy Stonehill’s song “Judgement Day” is a poignant reflection on the harsh realities of poverty in Haiti, symbolized by the slums of Port-au-Prince, contrasted with the luxury and indulgence of tourists on cruise ships anchored in the bay. The song’s opening verse describes in vivid detail the desperate conditions of the slum dwellers, who have to sleep on muddy ground, scavenge for food in the garbage, and suffer from malnutrition and disease. The singer of the song is deeply moved by their plight and haunted by their faces, which he cannot forget. The refrain, “There, but for fortune, go you and I,” is a sobering reminder of how we are all vulnerable to the twists of fate that determine our social, economic, and geographical circumstances.
The second verse of the song offers a stark contrast to the poverty and suffering depicted in the first verse, as it portrays the opulence and obliviousness of the tourists on the cruise ships. The singer observes how they feast on a lunch buffet while the Haitians on the shore watch them like “silent ghosts,” aware of their own exclusion from the world of luxury and privilege. The final lines of the song warn of a “terrible price to pay on Judgement Day,” suggesting that the callousness and indifference of the rich and powerful towards the poor and marginalized will not go unpunished in the end. Overall, the song’s message is a powerful indictment of the structural inequalities that define our world, and a call for empathy, compassion, and social justice.
Line by Line Meaning
In the slums of Port-au-Prince
Describing the setting of the song as the impoverished areas of Port-au-Prince
When the rain comes pouring down
When the weather is bad
The homeless people sleep on the muddy ground
Describing the situation of homeless people who have no shelter
And the children die so young
Talking about the mortality rate of people living in poverty and danger
'Cause there's not enough to eat
Explaining the cause of poverty and hunger in this area
When their only food is the garbage
When people are desperate and have no choice but to eat from the trash
They have found
Found in the garbage
I just can't get their faces
The singer is haunted by the faces of the poor and hungry people he saw
Out of my mind
The singer cannot forget what he saw
No matter how hard I try
The singer has been trying to forget but cannot
And I realize I must never forget
The singer realizes the importance of remembering and raising awareness
There, but for fortune, go you and I
The singer acknowledges that it could have been anyone in this situation
I just couldn't believe my eyes
The singer is in shock and disbelief
And I wanted to cry out loud
The singer is overwhelmed with emotion
Can't you see there will be
The singer is addressing those who are unaware or ignoring the situation
A terrible price to pay
There will be consequences for the way we treat others
On Judgement Day
There will be a day of reckoning for those who ignored the plight of the poor and hungry
The cruise ships painted white
Describing the luxurious ships of tourists
Are anchored in the bay
The ships are docked in the harbor
The tourists fill their plates
The privileged tourists are indulging in a lavish meal
From the lunch buffet
Describing the all-you-can-eat buffet for the tourists
And the people on the shore
Referring to the local people who are not able to enjoy the luxuries of the tourists
Gazing up like silent ghosts
The locals are looking longingly at the tourists
Are doomed within a life
The locals are trapped in a life of poverty and inequality
That is worlds away
The locals' reality is far different from the tourists' experience
Contributed by Muhammad D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.