| Author | Topic: Add: Go Tell It On The Mountain | |
| Jon Freeman | Posted - 26 Jun 03 - 12:39 pm | |
1. In the time of David, some call him a king, And if a child is true born Lord Jesus will hear him sing: Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born. 2. When I was a seeker, I sought both night and day, I ask the Lord to help me, And he show me the way: Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born. 3. He made me a watchman Upon a city wall, And if I am a Christian I am the least of all: Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain, That Jesus Christ is born. Source: The Second Penquin Book of Christmas Carols, ed. Elizabeth Poston. Song database entry is here | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 26 Aug 03 - 06:52 am | |
Elizabeth Poston wrote in her notes: GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN from Religious [Folk] Songs of the Negro as sung on the Plantations, edited by Thomas P. Fenner, 1909. A song impressive in its dignity and faith, the tune reminiscent of the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic'. The rhythm of the refrain should be kept very steady.On the other hand, The Hymnal 1982 Companion, Vol. III A (1994, p. 191) says: This spiritual is obviously an example of black American sacred music of the nineteenth century, though it does not appear in a collection until the 1927 edition of the Hampton Institute's Religious Folk Songs of the Negro (Hampton, VA), compiled by Robert Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943).[underline added]Indeed, this spiritual is not contained in the first edition ("CABIN AND PLANTATION SONGS," edited by Thomas P. Fenner), which is appendixed to Hampton and its Students (1874, pp. 171ff.) [note in Rise Up Singing, p. 209, is wrong], but an AMS reprint (1973, p. 174) of the 1920 edition does have this spiritual. The 1909 edition [which I haven't seen], from which Poston says her version is taken, seems to be the earliest, though the 1920 edition lacks the first stanza ("In the time of David"); so does the version in Erskine Peters, ed., Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual (Greenwood, 1993, p. 351). The Hymnal 1982 (no. 99); Songs of Zion (1981, no. 75); The African American Heritage Hymnal (2001, no. 202) and others adopt another version from John W. Work's American Negro Songs (1940; Dover, 1998, p. 215), which is as follows: Go tell it on the mountain, | ||
| Mr Happy | Posted - 27 Aug 03 - 10:06 am | |
Go Tell It On The Mountain [Peter, Paul & Mary] Who's that yonder dressed in white, Let my people go. Must be the people of the Israelites Let my people go. CHORUS: Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hill and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain, Our Jesus Christ is born. (CHORUS) Who's that yonder dressed in red, Let my people go. Must be the people that Moses led Let my people go. (CHORUS) Who's that yonder dressed in black Let my people go. Must be the hypocrites turning back Let my people go. (CHORUS) | ||
| masato sakurai | Posted - 27 Aug 03 - 02:15 pm | |
The "let my people go" versions were often sung during the Civil Rights movement. More topical versions can be found in Guy and Candie Carawan, eds., Sing for Freedom (Oak, 1990, p. 205). | ||
| Mr Happy | Posted - 28 Aug 03 - 10:45 am | |
My post above version has an error in the last line of the chorus, it should be: CHORUS: Go tell it on the mountain, Over the hill and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountain, To let my people go | ||