"Three Wooden Crosses" is a song written by Kim Williams and Doug Johnson, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

singer

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...

. It was released in November 2002 from his album, '' Rise and Shine''. The song became Travis' 16th and final Number One single, his first since "

Whisper My Name "Whisper My Name" is a song written by Trey Bruce, and recorded by American country music artist Randy Travis. It was released in June 1994 as the second single from his album ''This Is Me''. It became a Number One country hit for him in both the ...

" in 1994. "Three Wooden Crosses" was named Song of the Year by the

Country Music Association The Country Music Association (CMA) is an American trade association with the stated aim of promoting and developing country music throughout the world. Founded in 1958 in Nashville, Tennessee, it originally consisted of 233 members and was the f ...

in 2003 and won a

Dove Award A Dove Award is an accolade by the Gospel Music Association (GMA) of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the Christian music industry. The awards ceremonies presented annually and have been held in Nashville, Tennessee exce ...

from the Gospel Music Association as Country Song of the Year in 2004.

Content

The song describes four passengers on a midnight bus traveling from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

: a farmer on vacation, a

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

seeking higher education, a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

, and a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

, both of whom were "searching for lost souls". The bus is involved in a fatal accident when the

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus st ...

does not see a stop sign and the bus is hit by an

18-wheeler A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called a ' ...

which kills three of the four passengers; the lyrics ask why there are only three crosses and not four. (There is no mention of what happened to the drivers of either vehicle.) The song mentions that the farmer and teacher were killed in the wreck, with the farmer leaving a harvest and a son who would follow in his footsteps, and the teacher leaving wisdom with the children she taught. It also mentions that the preacher laid his bloodstained

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

in the hands of the prostitute, asking her if she could "see the

Promised Land In the Abrahamic religions, the "Promised Land" ( ) refers to a swath of territory in the Levant that was bestowed upon Abraham and his descendants by God in Abrahamic religions, God. In the context of the Bible, these descendants are originally ...

" prior to her own death. The end of the song reveals that the story about the passengers was told to the narrator by a preacher during a Sunday church service. In a twist, however, it reveals that the preacher who told the story is not the preacher from the bus, but rather the son of the prostitute, holding up the bloodstained Bible as proof. This reveals that the prostitute was the passenger that survived the accident, who read the Bible that had been given to her by the dying preacher to her son, leading him to eventually become a preacher himself.

Critical reception

Deborah Evans Price, of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine reviewed the song favorably, calling it a "beautifully written tale of faith and redemption." She goes on to say that Travis has never sounded better, "and his warm baritone perfectly conveys every nuance in the lyric."''

'', December 14, 2002

Chart performance

"Three Wooden Crosses" debuted at number 52 on the

Hot Country Singles & Tracks Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States. This 50-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly by collecting airplay data along with digital sales and streaming. ...

chart dated December 7, 2002. It charted for 34 weeks on that chart, and reached number 1 on the chart dated May 24, 2003, giving Travis his sixteenth Number One single, his first ''Billboard'' Number One since "Whisper My Name" in 1994. In addition, it reached the Top 40 on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

chart (peaking at #31), making it his first and (excluding guest singles) only top-40 hit on that chart.

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2002 singles 2002 songs Randy Travis songs Song recordings produced by Kyle Lehning Songs written by Doug Johnson (record producer) Curb Records singles Word Records singles Songs written by Kim Williams (songwriter) Songs about prostitutes Songs about buses Vehicle wreck ballads