Go Tell It On the Mountain--Aretha Franklin.
Of
all of the announcement carols Go Tell It On the Mountain is
unusual for a number of reasons. It is
not European but rooted in the American Black Community and dated to
the era when the end of slavery was
being celebrated. It is not an
announcement by the Heavenly Hosts,
but an instruction to a whole people to spread the good
word. And because of its connections to
the Civil Rights Movement it doubles
as a Christmas Carol and a liberation anthem.
Go Tell it on the Mountain. |
It
has been dated to 1865 and may reflect the widely celebrated moment when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution that abolished slavery went into effect or even earlier to the Watch Night celebrations on New Year’s Eve 1863 when Lincoln’s war-time Emancipation
Proclamation went into effect.
Like earlier liberation spirituals from the
slavery era it couched liberation in Biblical
analogy. The song spread through ante-bellum Black Churches and was
widely popularized the Fisk University
Jubilee Singers who toured widely from the 1870’s.
During
the Civil Rights Movement of the ‘50’s and ‘60’s activist/singer Fannie Lou Hamer and perhaps others borrowed the
line to “Let my people go!” from the older spiritual
Go
Down Moses to substitute from the original line “That Jesus Christ is
Born!” Drawing on that inspiration Peter, Paul and Mary, who had been
active themselves in Southern Civil
Rights protests, recorded the song with the Exodus references in 1963
and it became a mid-level singles hit for
them in 1964.
Civil Rights dynamo and song leader Fannie Lou Hamer may have been the
first, or one of the first, to change he lyrics to "Let My People Go!"
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Today
Go Tell It On the Mountain is widely
sung as Christmas Carol in both Black and White churches and has been often
recorded on holiday albums. It is particularly popular with county music artists including Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, and even Toby Keith.
On the other hand the “Let My People” go versions remain popular
with Black performers. People who first hear one or the other are
sometimes surprised or shocked to discover the different use. In many Black churches, however, both versions
are combined, especially on Watch Night.
Aretha Franklin.
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Today
we will hear the song as a powerful spiritual performed by the great Aretha Franklin on a broadcast of the National Tree Lighting Ceremony with the National Cathedral Children's Choir in 1994.
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