"Wings of a Dove' is a country song written by Bob Ferguson in 1958. It was popularized when it was recorded by

Ferlin Husky Ferlin Eugene Husky (December 3, 1925 – March 17, 2011) was an American country music singer who was equally adept at honky-tonk, ballads, spoken recitations, rockabilly and pop tunes. From 1948 to 1953, he recorded under the stage name Terry ...

in 1960. His recording topped the country charts for 10 nonconsecutive weeks. It was Ferlin Husky's third and final number one on the country chart, spending nine months on it. "Wings of a Dove" was successful on the pop charts, as well, peaking at number 12 on the

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 ...

. In 1987,

Broadcast Music Incorporated Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) is a performance rights organisation, performance rights organization in the United States. It collects blanket license fees from businesses that use music, entitling those businesses to play or sync any songs from BM ...

awarded Ferguson with the "million air" plays for the "Wings of a Dove". The song alludes to a passage from the Bible about God sending Noah a dove during the flood in

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Religion * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of humankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Bo ...

8:6-12. The title is inspired from

Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

55:7 ("wings like a dove").

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

and

Porter Wagoner Porter Wayne Wagoner (August 12, 1927 – October 28, 2007) was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour. In 1967, he introduced singer Dolly Parton on his television show, ''The Por ...

's cover versions include a verse not in the original, referring to another passage about a dove in Matthew 3:16 where: "After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him."

Chart performance

Covers

The song has also been covered by many artists, including

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

Bonnie Guitar Bonnie Buckingham (March 25, 1923 – January 12, 2019), better known as Bonnie Guitar, was an American singer, musician, producer, and businesswoman. She was best known for her 1957 song, " Dark Moon", which was a country-pop crossover hit. Sh ...

The Jordanaires The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vo ...

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American Country music, country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for a long list of hit records, and is well known for his distinctive voice an ...

Hal Ketchum Hal Michael Ketchum (April 9, 1953 – November 23, 2020) was an American country music singer and songwriter. He released eleven studio albums from 1986 to 2014, including nine for divisions of Curb Records. Ketchum's 1991 album ''Past the Point ...

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

and The Whites, The Wilders, and Jim Witter, among others.

Nanci Griffith Nanci Caroline Griffith (July 6, 1953 – August 13, 2021) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. She often appeared on the PBS music program ''Austin City Limits'', starting in 1985 during season 10. In 1990, Griffith appeared on th ...

and

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

recorded a duet for Griffith's album '' Other Voices, Too (A Trip Back to Bountiful)''. Dolly Parton,

Tammy Wynette Tammy Wynette (born Virginia Wynette Pugh; May 5, 1942 – April 6, 1998) was an American country music singer and songwriter, considered among the genre's most influential and successful artists. Along with Loretta Lynn, Wynette helped bring a ...

, and

included it on their 1993 album '' Honky Tonk Angels''.

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

quoted a lyric from it in his 2020 song "

I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You "I've Made Up My Mind to Give Myself to You" is a song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and released as the fourth track on his 2020 album ''Rough and Rowdy Ways''. The song is performed in 6/8 time and has a lilt ...

" ("If I had the wings of a snow-white dove / I'd preach the gospel, the gospel of love").

Film

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

sang the tune in the 1983 movie '' Tender Mercies.'' The movie's soundtrack included a version sung by Duvall and Gail Youngs. *A rendition by

Point of Grace Point of Grace is an all-female contemporary Christian music vocal group. The current trio consists of Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, and Leigh Cappillino. The group started out as a quartet in 1991, with original members Breen and Jones, as wel ...

appeared on the 2002 soundtrack of the movie ''

Joshua Joshua ( ), also known as Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' Literal translation, lit. 'Yahweh is salvation'), Jehoshua, or Josue, functioned as Moses' assistant in the books of Book of Exodus, Exodus and ...

.''Most Popular Titles With Soundtracks Matching "Wings of a Dove"
IMDb.com, accessed May 22, 2011

References

1960 singles Gospel songs Nanci Griffith songs Ferlin Husky songs Hal Ketchum songs Loretta Lynn songs Dolly Parton songs Songs written by Bob Ferguson (musician) Song recordings produced by Ken Nelson (American record producer) 1958 songs Capitol Records singles {{1960s-country-song-stub