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Day of Judgement
Traditional Old-Time, Spiritual;
ARTIST: taken from Slave Songs of the United States (1867): Allen, William Francis, 1830-1889, Charles Pickard Ware, 1840-1921,and Lucy McKim Garrison 1842-1877
YOUTUBE:
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s;
RECORDING INFO: Day of Judgement
Allen, William Francis, et.al (eds.) / Slave Songs of the United States, Dover, Sof (1995/1867), # 72 [1860s]
Odum, Howard- "Religious Folk-Songs Of The Southern Negroes"
OTHER NAMES:
SOURCES: Meade; Slave Songs of the United States (1867): Allen, William Francis, 1830-1889, Charles Pickard Ware, 1840-1921,and Lucy McKim Garrison 1842-1877
NOTES: "Day of Judgement" is a title of a spiritual taken from Slave Songs of the United States (1867): Allen, William Francis, 1830-1889, Charles Pickard Ware, 1840-1921,and Lucy McKim Garrison 1842-1877. For comparison one of the more interesting spiritual versions of Judgement Day was printed in the 1909 article "Religious Folk-Songs Of The Southern Negroes" by Howard Odum:
Judgement Day (My Lord What A Morning)- The American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education, Volume 3 July, 1909. No. 8; "Religious Folk-Songs Of The Southern Negroes" by Howard Odum; Fellow in Psychology, Clark University.
Just as the negro expects to talk and walk with God and Jesus, so he looks forward to seeing the angels in Heaven. He wants to see them with their white robes and hear them sing; he even says they mourn. "Bright angels hoverin' on de water by de light", are but a part of the angel band which he hopes to join. "Join de hebben wid de angels'' is his watchword and by it he sees in his child-like fancy all the beauties of ideal creatures.
I 'm gwine to keep a climbin' high, Till I meet dem angels in de sky. Dem pooty angels I shall see— Why doan de debbil let a me be? O when I git to heaven goin' sit an' tell, Three archangels gwine er ring dem bells. Two white angels come a walkin' down, Long white robes an' starry crown. What's dat yonder dat I see? Big tall angel comin' after me. The negro makes a terrible picture of the day of judgment. For him it means everything that could possibly happen at the end of the world. It is the destruction of the sinner and the glory of the righteous. Nor does he hesitate to affirm that the Christian in heaven will shout amen to the sinner's damnation. The sinner will see his mother and friends in heaven while he is doomed to hell. It serves as a warning theme for the song more than it indicates reality of thought. But here is a part of his picture:
My Lord what a morning when de stars begin to fall,
You 'll see de worl' on fire,
You 'll see de moon a bleed in' an'
De moon will turn to blood,
Den you 'll see de elements a meltin',
You 'll see de stars a fallin',
O yes, de stars in de elements a fallin',
An' de moon drips way in blood,
When God goin' call dem childuns from de distant lan',
Den you see de coffins bustin',
Den you see de bones a creepin',
Den you see po' sinner risin',
Den you hear de tombstones crackin',
An' you see de graves a bustin',
Hell an' seas gwine give up their daid,
Den you see de forked lightenin',
Den you hear de rollin' thunder,
Earth shall reel an' totter,
Hell shall be uncapped,
De dragon be loosed,
Don't you hear them sinners cryin'?
Such a scene vividly told of at a revival and sung to the associations of the moment is too much for the average negro; the sinner cries for mercy and turns to a Christian; the latter sings:
''Fare you well po' sinner" and
A mighty sea of glass mingled wid fier,
Good-bye, brother, I'm goin' higher.
72. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT- Slave Songs of the United States (1867): Allen, William Francis, 1830-1889, Charles Pickard Ware, 1840-1921,and Lucy McKim Garrison 1842-1877.
1. And de moon will turn to blood,
And de moon will turn to blood,
And de moon will turn to blood
In dat day--O yoy,* my soul!
And de moon will turn to blood in dat day.
2 And you'll se de stars a-fallin',
3 And de world will be on fire,
4 And you'll hear de saints a-singin:
5 And de Lord will say to de sheep,
6 For to go to Him right hand;
7 But de goats must go to de left,
* "A sort of prolonged wail."--Mrs. C. J. B.
“My Lord’s Coming Again”: Biblical Interpretation through Slave Songs
By Stuart Young
The Day of Judgment
The song, “The Day of Judgment,” has a notable repetitive texture, created by the repetition of the same clause three times at the beginning of each stanza. As the song progresses, it brings in apocalyptic discourse by describing specific events from the books of Revelation and Acts. The song concludes with specific imagery from Matthew’s version of Christ’s judgment.
The Day of Judgement
1. And de moon will turn to blood,
And de moon will turn to blood,
And de moon will turn to blood
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
And de moon will turn to blood in dat day.
Rev 6:12 the full moon became like blood…
Acts 2:20 The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
2. And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’ in dat day.
Rev 6: 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale…
Mark 13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
3. And de world will be on fire
And de world will be on fire
And de world will be on fire
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
And de world will be on fire in dat day.
5. And de Lord will say to de sheep.
And de Lord will say to de sheep.
And de Lord will say to de sheep.
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
And de Lord will say to de sheep in dat day.
6. For to go to Him right hand;
For to go to Him right hand;
For to go to Him right hand;
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
For to go to Him right hand in dat day.
7. But de goats must go to de left.
But de goats must go to de left.
But de goats must go to de left.
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
But de goats must go to de left in dat day
(Allen: 53).
Matt 25:31-32, 37 When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left…Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord…
After the repetition of the same clause three times at the beginning of each stanza, the song repeats “In dat day O-yoy, my soul!,” followed by a longer version of the clause than occurred at the beginning. Most of the imagery in this song comes from the book of Revelation, which directly states that the moon will turn to blood, the stars will fall from heaven, and the earth will be scorched. These events come from Revelation 6 and 8 where the seven seals are opened and the seven angels blow their trumpets. There are other catastrophic events in these chapters that this song does not site: for instance, Death and Hades kills a fourth of the earth’s inhabitants through famine, disease, pestilence, violence,and wild animals. This song does not pick up on the sea’s turning into blood, great earthquakes, or the darkening of the sun, moon, and stars.
The song states that the saints will be singing; however, the “saints” do not sing in the book of Revelation. Those who sing in Revelation are the 144,000 who are redeemed from the earth by Jesus. The 144,000 are later described as those who will dwell with God and Christ in the New Jerusalem. Also, the four creatures and the twenty-four elders sing at the throne of God in Revelation 5. Perhaps this suggests that the slaves identify with these heavenly figures.
This song progresses through apocalyptic imagery in Revelation to the dramatic parable in Matthew 25. The song recites how Jesus will separate the sheep on his right hand from the goats on his left. Although one can clearly infer from the title that this song takes place on judgment day, this song does not specifically state the criteria by which people will be judged or the consequences of Jesus’ judgment: the sheep are the righteous who will receive eternal life, and the goats are sinners who will receive eternal punishment.
An inner textual examination of the sensory-aesthetic texture shows a display of all three body zones. The zone of emotion-fused thought is present in stanza two, where the slaves describe the people who see the stars’ falling; this phrase is sung four times. The zone of self-expressive speech is evoked eight times in this song. The first four times occur in stanza four when the slaves hear the saints’ singing. The second set occurs in stanza five where Jesus speaks, issuing his judgment. The Lord’s words bring about a purposeful action on the part of the people in stanzas six and seven. This zone is evoked eight times as the sheep and goats “go” to their respective sides. Although the slaves do understand the judgment that will befall the earth, the body-zone emphasis is on the interaction between Christ and the people of the earth, represented by the sheep and the goats.
Rev 8:7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, which fell on the earth; and a third of the earth was burnt up, and a third of the trees were burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Rev 8:10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the fountains of water.
4. And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’
In dat day O-yoy, my soul!
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’ in dat day.
Rev 14:3 and they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and before the elders. No one could learn that song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who have been redeemed from the earth.
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