Lyrics
Verse 1
I want to be at the meeting
I want to be at the meeting
I want to be at the meeting, when all the saints get home
After separating, all the right from the wrong
I want to be at the meeting around the throne
Verse 2
After separating, from the right and the wrong
I want to be in the number
When the saints go marching home
Trouble will be over, sorrows will be gone
Then we'll have a meeting around the throne
Chorus
When I get to ?, walk ? up like a man
Buckle my sword flat off my side
Sticking in the golden sand
Talked to God the Father
Talked to God the Son
Then we'll have a meeting around the throne
Verse 3
When I get to heaven, I'll meet my mother there
Dropped almighty, here come a child, he must got here by prayer
I'll be at home, to sing a brand new song
Then we will go to the meeting around the throne
Chorus (Repeat)
When I get to ?, walk ? up like a man
Buckle my sword flat off my side
Sticking in the golden sand
Talked to God the Father
Talked to God the Son
Then we'll have a meeting around the throne
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
Built as anticipation of a reunion rather than a present experience, the song imagines a gathering "around the throne" where separation, described plainly as sorting "the right from the wrong," has already happened, language close to the judgment scene in Matthew 25:31-33 where one group is divided from another. Revelation 7:9-17's picture of a vast, uncountable multitude gathered before the throne sits behind the song's repeated wish to be counted "in the number" among the saints marching home.
The verses move through specific, almost narrative details — a sword set down, a conversation with the Father and the Son, a mother met again — treating heaven less as an abstract reward than a particular place with particular reunions waiting in it. Trouble being over and sorrow being gone are stated as settled facts rather than hopes still in question, and the repeated chorus keeps circling back to the same image: a meeting, around a throne, already anticipated as certain.
Related Scripture
- Revelation 7:9-17 A great multitude from every nation gathered before the throne.
- Matthew 25:31-33 The Son of Man separating people as a shepherd separates sheep from goats.