“A Beautiful Life” is a gospel hymn written by William M. Golden in 1918. Often known by its first line, “Each Day I’ll Do a Golden Deed,” it is said to have been inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan, and it urges a life of small daily kindnesses in light of how short life is.
Golden, a Mississippi singing-school man, is said to have written most of his songs while serving a prison sentence. “A Beautiful Life” outlasted the rest of his catalog: it has been printed in scores of hymnals and was recorded by Smith’s Sacred Singers in 1931, early in the era of commercial gospel records.
Its tight quartet structure made “A Beautiful Life” a favorite of bluegrass gospel groups. The Country Gentlemen recorded it on their 1968 album The Traveler and Other Favorites, one of countless bluegrass and country acts to carry the hymn forward.
