"He Walked on Water" is a country music

Country music

Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...

 song written by Allen Shamblin

Allen Shamblin

Allen Shamblin is a country music songwriter who was born in Tennessee, and was brought up in Texas.After graduating from Sam Houston State University he worked in Austin as a real estate appraiser. In 1987, he quit his job and moved to Nashville to pursue a career as a song writer. He supported...

 and recorded by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 country music singer Randy Travis

Randy Travis

Randy Travis is an American country music singer and actor. Since 1985, he has recorded 20 studio albums and charted more than 30 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, 22 of which were number one hits...

 on his 1989 album No Holdin' Back

No Holdin' Back

No Holdin' Back is the title of American country music singer Randy Travis's fifth album. It was released on September 26, 1989, by Warner Bros. Records Nashville. Three singles were released from it, all of which charted on the Hot Country Songs charts: the Number One hits "It's Just a Matter of...

, from which it was released as the third and final single. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard

Billboard (magazine)

Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

Hot Country Singles & Tracks (now Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs

Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...

) chart, and #1 on Canada's RPM

RPM (magazine)

RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,...

country chart.

Content

The song is a ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 in which a male narrator tells of his experiences as a boy and how he then believed his great-grandfather could "walk on water."

..."And my mama's daddy was his oldest son, and I thought that he walked on water."...

Reception

Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the song a mixed review in his review of No Holdin' Back

No Holdin' Back

No Holdin' Back is the title of American country music singer Randy Travis's fifth album. It was released on September 26, 1989, by Warner Bros. Records Nashville. Three singles were released from it, all of which charted on the Hot Country Songs charts: the Number One hits "It's Just a Matter of...

. He stated that the song "was a bad choice, though it sold well."

Chart positions

Chart (1990)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks	2
Canadian RPM Country Charts	1