Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

"Will the Circle Be Unbroken?" is a popular Christian hymn written in 1907 by Ada R. Habershon with music by Charles H. Gabriel. The song is often recorded unattributed and, because of its age, has lapsed into the public domain. Most of the chorus appears in the later songs "Can the Circle Be Unbroken" and "Daddy Sang Bass".

The song is generally played to be uplifting to the congregation, and is a frequent standard in gospel revivals.

The Ballad Index notes that the tune now commonly sung differs substantially from the original tune by Gabriel. It also notes the first known recording of this variant, by the Metropolitan Quartet in 1927.

A reworked version of the song, intended as a funeral hymn, was written by A. P. Carter and released in 1935 by the Carter Family. The Carter version, titled "Can the Circle be Unbroken", uses the same music and the same verse structure but with different verse lyrics and a modified chorus. That version has often been recorded as "Will the Circle be Unbroken", including the 1972 performance by Mother Maybelle Carter and ensemble on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band album of the same title.

The original version of the song does not insert "Lord" in lines 2 and 4 of the chorus, though the Carter version does. Also, the third line of the chorus is phrased as a question in the original, but as a declarative sentence in the Carter version, and the Carter version as written begins the chorus with 'Can' instead of 'Will'.

The Carter version is still under copyright.

The Pointer Sisters and Nell Carter sing this song in an episode of Gimme a Break! titled "The Return of the Doo-Wop Girls" that originally aired on February 13, 1983.

The song in its reworked version, "Can the Circle Be Unbroken," appeared in the 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels, although the film's website shows the original song as the title.

June Carter's rendition of the song plays over the Deadwood season 1 episode 8 closing credits.

In the film 2012, the song can be heard on the family's way to Yellowstone Park.

In 2012, Belgian film The Broken Circle Breakdown (also known as Alabama Monroe) used the song on its soundtrack.

In 2016, Canadian circus "Cirque Éloize" used the song on its show "saloon".

The song is covered in Treme season 2 episode 10, "That's What Lovers Do", at Harley's memorial service.

A season 3 episode of Pretty Little Liars was titled after the hymn and featured the song within the episode.

The hymn is sung every year at the Country Music Hall of Fame, at the conclusion of each medallion induction ceremony. It is performed by the inductees of that respective year as well as any previously inducted members of the Hall of Fame who are present.

Two versions of the hymn are featured in the soundtrack for the 2013 video game BioShock Infinite: a traditional choir version, performed by Maureen Murphy, and an award-winning acoustic version performed by Troy Baker (guitar) and Courtnee Draper, the voice actors of main characters Booker DeWitt and Elizabeth, respectively. The use of the original lyrics was controversial: some commentators, apparently unaware of the differences between the original and Carter versions, criticized the omission of "Lord" from the chorus as anti-religious censorship. The choice was explained as simply being consistent with the 1912 setting of the game, at which point the word "Lord" had not been added. The song won "the Best Song in a Game" award during the VGX 2013. In March 2013, the score for BioShock Infinite contained "Will the Circle Be Unbroken (choral version)" with Ada Ruth Habershon, Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (2:56) on Track 3.

Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke joined Willie Nelson onstage to play and sing "Will the Circle be Unbroken?" among other numbers at Nelson's annual 4 July picnic, in 2018.

14 July 2019 in Nowlan Park Hurling Stadium in Kilkenny, Ireland Neil Young joined Bob Dylan on stage to play guitar and sing "Will the Circle be Unbroken?" together.