Here is a link if you would like to hear the songs (Please take a
listen. You won’t regret it!!)
While reading the autobiography of
Anne Moody, especially during the movement phase of her life, I constantly ran
into the mentioning of freedom songs. These songs were commonly sung, as stated
in her book, during protests, at the commencement of mass meetings, and at
their ends. She would relate, at times, that the singing of these songs would
go on for a duration of hours on end. Seeing that she took time to mention
these songs, I concluded that they ran deeper in significance than just
something to get the crowd pumped up or to signal the beginning and end of a
meeting. They represented and spoke of a long history of struggle amongst
African Americans. They also spoke of hope for a better future and were a
source of strength for African-Americans and a way to lament their plight.
Freedom songs did not randomly come
about during the civil rights movement. They were adaptations of the sorrowful
songs sung by African-Americans during the time of slavery. These songs were
used as a coping mechanism that helped slaves endure the pain and suffering of
slavery. However, these songs were not always ones of sorrow; they were
oftentimes, songs of strategy, with lyrics that encoded the pathway to freedom
and whose decryption could only be achieved by slaves. One such song is
entitled Wade in the Water. The lyrics are as follows:
Chorus: Wade in
the Water, wade in the water children.
Wade in the
Water. God's gonna trouble the water.
Who are those
children all dressed in Red?
God's gonna
trouble the water.
Must be the ones
that Moses led.
God's gonna
trouble the water.
Chorus.
Who are those
children all dressed in White?
God's gonna
trouble the water.
Must be the ones
of the Israelites.
God's gonna
trouble the water.
Chorus.
Who are those
children all dressed in Blue?
God's gonna
trouble the water.
Must be the ones
that made it through.
God's gonna
trouble the water.
Chorus.
Harriet Tubman, a prominent
figure of the Underground Railroad, would use this song to signal to runaway
slaves to get off the trail and into the water so that slavecatchers’ dogs
couldn’t detect their scent. This method of escape is synonymous with the
Israelites’ journey to freedom through the Red Sea, which is why it is referred
to in the song. Slaves identified with the Israelites of the Bible, who were a
people oppressed by a corrupt and evil power just as they were themselves. The
similarities between the Israelites plight and their own assured them that God
was on their side and gave them hope for freedom.
The freedom
songs of the Civil Rights Movement are a direct result of the sorrowful songs
heard frequently from the plantations of slavery. In conclusion, freedom songs
are more than a nice harmony of lyric, beat, and rhythm . as stated by Martin
Luther King Jr., “the freedom
songs are the soul of the movement. They are more than just incantations of
clever phrases designed to invigorate a campaign; they are as old as the
history of the Negro in America. They are adaptations of the songs the slaves
sang — the sorrow songs, the shouts for joy, the battle hymns and the
anthems of our movement. I have heard people talk of their beat and rhythm, but
we in the movement are as inspired by their words. 'Woke Up This Morning
with My Mind Stayed on Freedom' is a sentence that needs no music to make
its point. We sing the freedom songs today for the same reason the slaves sang
them, because we too are in bondage and the songs add hope to our determination
that 'We shall overcome, Black and white together, We shall overcome
someday.
Here are some links if you would like to hear the songs (Please take a
listen. You won’t regret it!!)
Sources:
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