Distant Drums - Jim Reeves (1963)
Although Roy Orbison had recorded the song in 1963, it is Reeves' version of "Distant Drums" which has endured over the years.
It provided Jim Reeves with his only UK #1 hit – albeit posthumously – in the United Kingdom in 1966, some two years after his death in a plane crash on 31 July 1964.
The song remained in the UK charts for 45 weeks. The single also topped the US Country Chart for four weeks, becoming his most successful posthumous single.



I hear the sound of distant drums
Far away, far away
And if they call for me to come
Then I must go and you must stay

So Mary marry me, let's not wait
Let's share all the time we can before it's too late
Love me now for now is all the time there may be
If you love me Mary, Mary marry me

I hear the sound of bugles blow
Far away, far away
And if they call, then I must go
Across the sea, so wild and grey.

So Mary marry me, let's not wait
For the distant drums might change our wedding date
And love me now, for now is all the time there may be
If you love me Mary, Mary marry me