Their Eyes: Negro Spirituals
March 31st, 2010 by parrishka
Negro Spirituals
Almost all the first Africans who arrived in the New World were slaves. They came from several regions of the African West Coast.
Their ways of living were described by slaves themselves, in some narratives . They had to work either in plantations or in town.
Slavery was an important issue facing Churches, as slaves were allowed to meet for Christian services. Some Christian ministers, such as J. D. Long , wrote against slavery.
Rural slaves used to stay after the regular worship services, in churches or in plantation “praise houses”, for singing and dancing.
But, slaveholders did not allow dancing and playing drums, as usual in Africa.
They also had meetings at secret places (“camp meetings”, “bush meetings”), because they needed to meet one another and share their joys, pains and hopes.
In rural meetings, thousands slaves were gathered and listened to itinerant preachers, and sang spirituals, for hours. In the late 1700s, they sang the precursors of spirituals, which were called “corn ditties”.
So, in rural areas, spirituals were sung, mainly outside of churches. In cities, about 1850, the Protestant City-Revival Movement created a new song genre, which was popular; for revival meetings organized by this movement, temporary tents were erected in stadiums, where the attendants could sing.
At church, hymns and psalms were sung during services. Some of them were transformed into songs of a typical African American form: they are “Dr Watts”.
The lyrics of negro spirituals were tightly linked with the lives of their authors: slaves. While work songs dealt only with their daily life, spirituals were inspired by the message of Jesus Christ and his Good News (Gospel) of the Bible, “You can be saved”. They are different from hymns and psalms, because they were a way of sharing the hard condition of being a slave.
Many slaves in town and in plantations tried to run to a “free country”, that they called “my home” or “Sweet Canaan, the Promised Land”. This country was on the Northern side of Ohio River, that they called “Jordan”. Some negro spirituals refer to the Underground Railroad, an organization for helping slaves to run away.
II. BOUND TO GO.
“Jordan River, I ‘m bound to go,
Bound to go, bound to go,-
Jordan River, I ‘m bound to go,
And bid ‘em fare ye well.
“My Brudder Robert, I ‘m bound to go,
Bound to go, &c.
“My Sister Lucy, I ‘m bound to go,
Bound to go,” &c.
II. I WANT TO GO HOME.
“Dere’s no rain to wet you,
O, yes, I want to go home.
Dere’s no sun to burn you,
O, yes, I want to go home ;
O, push along, believers,
O, yes, &c.
Dere’s no hard trials,
O, yes, &c.
Dere’s no whips a-crackin’,
O, yes, &c.
My brudder on de wayside,
O, yes, &c.
O, push along, my brudder,
O, yes, &c.
Where dere’s no stormy weather,
O, yes, &c.
Dere’s no tribulation,
O, yes, &c.”
O THE DYING LAMB !
“I wants to go where Moses trod,
O de dying Lamb !
For Moses gone to de promised land,
O de dying Lamb !
To drink from springs dat never run dry,
O, &c.
Cry O my Lord !
O, &c.
Before I ‘ll stay in hell one day,
O, &c.
I ‘m in hopes to pray my sins away,
O, &c.
Cry O my Lord !
O, &c.
Brudder Moses promised for be dar too,
O &c.
To drink from streams dat never run dry,
O de dying Lamb !
esus call you. Go in de wilderness,
Go in de wilderness, go in de wilderness,
Jesus call you. Go in de wilderness
To wait upon de Lord.
Go wait upon do Lord,
Go wait upon de Lord,
Go wait upon de Lord, my God,
He take away de sins of de world.
“Jesus a-waitin’. Go in de wilderness,
Go, &c.
All dem chil’en go in de wilderness
To wait upon de Lord.”
Dis de good ole ship o’ Zion,
Dis de good ole ship o’ Zion,
Dis de good ole ship o’ Zion,
And she ‘s makin’ for de Promise Land.
She hab angels for de sailors, ( Thrice. )
And she ‘s, &c.
And how you know dey ‘s angels? ( Thrice. )
And she ‘s, &c.
Good lord, shall I be de one? ( Thrice. )
And she ‘s, &c.
“Dat ship is out a-sailin’, sailin’, sailin’,
And she ‘s, &c.
She ‘s a-sailin’ mighty steady, steady, steady,
And she ‘s, &c.
She ‘ll neither reel nor totter, totter, totter,
And she ‘s, &c.
She ‘s a-sailin’ away cold Jordan, Jordan, Jordan,
And she ‘s, &c.
King Jesus is de captain, captain, captain,
And she ‘s making for de Promise Land.”
MANY THOUSAND GO.
“No more peck o’ corn for me,
No more, no more,-
No more peck o’ corn for me,
Many tousand go.
“No more driver’s lash for me, ( Twice. )
No more, &c.
“No more pint o’ salt for me, ( Twice. )
No more, &c.
“No more hundred lash for me, ( Twice. )
No more, &c.
“No more mistress’ call for me,
No more, No more,-
No more mistress’ call for me,
Many tousand go.”
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