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African American spirituals,
usually with a Christian religious theme,
were originally monophonic and a cappella
and were antecedents of the blues. The
terms Negro spiritual, Black spiritual,
and African-American spiritual, jubilee,
and African-American folk songs are all
synonymous. Spirituals sometimes provided
comfort and eased the boredom of daily
tasks. They were an expression of spiritual
devotion and a yearning for freedom from
bondage. Sometimes they were a means of
releasing pent up emotions and expressing
sorrow. Frederick Douglass, a former slave
wrote, "I did not, when a slave,
fully understand the deep meaning of those
rude and apparently incoherent songs.
I was, myself, within the circle, so that
I could then neither hear nor see as those
without might see and hear. They breathed
the prayer and complaint of souls overflowing
with the bitterest anguish. They depressed
my spirits and filled my heart with ineffable
sadness...The remark in the olden time
was not unfrequently made, that slaves
were the most contented and happy laborers
in the world, and their dancing and singing
were referred to in proof of this alleged
fact; but it was a great mistake to suppose
them happy because they sometimes made
those joyful noises. The songs of the
slaves represented their sorrows, rather
than their joys. Like tears, they were
a relief to aching hearts."
In song, lyrics about the Exodus were
a metaphor for freedom from slavery.
Songs like "Steal Away (to Jesus)",
or "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"
raised unexpectedly in a dusty field,
or sung softly in the dark of night,
signaled that the coast was clear and
the time to escape had come. The River
Jordan became the Ohio River, or the
Mississippi, or another body of water
that had to be crossed on the journey
to freedom. Wade in the Water
contained explicit instructions to fugitive
slaves on how to avoid capture and the
route to take to successfully make their
way to freedom. Leaving dry land and
taking to the water was a common strategy
to throw pursuing bloodhounds off one's
trail. The Gospel Train,
and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
all contained veiled references to the
Underground Railroad, and "Follow
the Drinking Gourd" contained a
coded map to the Underground Railroad.
The title itself was an Africanized
reference to the Big Dipper, which pointed
the way to the North Star and freedom. |
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"Amazing
Grace", performed by Elder Walter
Avenues and the Little River Primitive
Baptist Church |
c.1960 |
"Been
In The Storm So Long", performed
by the Fisk Jubilee Singers |
1956 |
"Couldn't
Hear Nobody Pray", performed
by the Tuskegee Institute Choir |
1975 |
"Deep
Down in My Heart", performed
by W. M. Givens in Darien, Georgia |
March 19, 1926 |
"Didn't
My Lord Deliver Daniel?", performed
by the Howard Roberts Chorale/Alvin Ailey |
1978 |
"Go
Down, Moses", performed by Paul
Robeson |
1965 |
"Lay
Down Body", performed by Mrs.
Bertha Smith (lead) and The Moving Star
Hall Singers of John's Island, South Caronlina |
1960 |
"Little
David, Play Your Harp", performed
by Brother Claude Ely and the Cumberland
Four |
1953 |
"My
Good Lord Done Been Here", performed
by Aunt Florida Hampton |
May 29, 1939 |
"Pharaoh's
Army Got Drowned", performed by unknown artist |
unknown |
"Roll
the Old Chariot Along", performed
by unknown artist |
1920s |
"Soon
I Will Be Done", performed by
Mahalia Jackson as "Trouble of the
World" |
1963 |
"Steal
Away to Jesus", performed by
Bernice Johnson Reagon |
1965 |
"Swing
Low, Sweet Chariot", performed
by Isadore Oglesby |
unknown |
"Take
My Hand, Precious Lord", performed
by Clara Ward |
1952 |
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