"Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" (or alternatively "Joshua Fought de Battle of Jericho", "Joshua Fit the Battle" or just Joshua and various other titles) is a well-known African-American
spiritual.
The lyrics allude to the
biblical
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
story of the
Battle of Jericho
The Battle of Jericho, as described in the Biblical Book of Joshua, was the first battle fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan. According to , the walls of Jericho fell after the Israelites marched around the city walls ...
, in which
Joshua
Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...
led the
Israelites
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
against
Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
(Joshua 6:15-21).
The song is believed to have been composed by
slave
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
s in the first half of the 19th century. Some references suggest that it was copyrighted by Jay Roberts in 1865. In 1882, the song was published in ''Jubilee Songs'' by and in ''A Collection of Revival Hymns and Plantation Melodies'' by . The first recorded version was by
Harrod's Jubilee Singers, on
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Early years
Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...
No. 12116 in 1922 (though some sources suggest 1924). The Online 78 Discography entry for this record credits Jay Roberts as the author. Later recordings include those by
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplishments and for his p ...
(1925),
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...
(1958),
Clara Ward
Clara Mae Ward (April 21, 1924 – January 16, 1973) was an American gospel singer who achieved great artistic and commercial success during the 1940s and 1950s, as leader of The Famous Ward Singers. A gifted singer and arranger, Ward adopted ...
,
Laurie London
Laurie London (born 19 January 1944) is an English singer, who achieved fame as a boy singer of the 1950s, for both his gospel and novelty songs recording in both English and German. He is best known for his hit single of the spiritual song "He's ...
,
Hugh Laurie
James Hugh Calum Laurie (; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and musician. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry. The two men acted together in a ...
(2011) and
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
(1960) among many others.
In 1930, Marshall Bartholomew created his arrangement of the song.
Composer and conductor
Morton Gould
Morton Gould (December 10, 1913February 21, 1996) was an American composer, conductor, arranger, and pianist.
Biography
Morton Gould was born in Richmond Hill, New York, United States. He was recognized early as a child prodigy with abilities ...
used the song as the basis for his 1941 composition for concert band, ''Jericho Rhapsody''.
Ralph Flanagan
Ralph Elias Flenniken (April 7, 1914 – December 30, 1995), known professionally as Ralph Flanagan, was an American big band leader, pianist, composer, and arranger for the orchestras of Hal McIntyre, Sammy Kaye, Blue Barron, Charlie Barnet, an ...
adapted it under the title "Joshua". Ralph Flanagan and His Orchestra recorded the spiritual in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on March 1, 1950. It was released by
RCA Victor Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
as catalog number 20-3724 (in USA) and by
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
on the
His Master's Voice
His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...
label as catalog numbers B 9938 and IP 604.
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
included the song in a medley on his album ''
101 Gang Songs
''101 Gang Songs'' is an LP recorded in December 1960 by Bing Crosby for his own company, Project Records and distributed by Warner Bros. (W 2R-1401) and the RCA Victor Record Club in 1961 with lyric sheets to help the listener join in with the si ...
'' (1961)
Sister Thea Bowman learned the song from her elders and recorded it in 1988 on the stereocassette ''Songs of My People''. In 2020 it was re-released for the 30th anniversary of her death as part of the digital albu
''Songs of My People: The Complete Collection''
Early published versions include some parts in dialect, such as "fit" for "fought". A rare, unpublished variation, "
srael_(name)_[Jacobfought_the_battle_of_Jericho",_has_evolved_and_has_been_heard_sung_in_the_later_twentieth_century.__In_this_instance,_"Jacob"_refers_to_the_people_of_Israel,_who_won_the_battle.__Though_this_version_is_almost_never_used,_the_two-
srael_(name)_[Jacobfought_the_battle_of_Jericho",_has_evolved_and_has_been_heard_sung_in_the_later_twentieth_century.__In_this_instance,_"Jacob"_refers_to_the_people_of_Israel,_who_won_the_battle.__Though_this_version_is_almost_never_used,_the_two-Syllable_">syllable
_
A_syllable_is_a_unit_of_organization_for_a_sequence_of_speech_sounds_typically_made_up_of_a_syllable_nucleus_(most_often_a_vowel)_with_optional_initial_and_final_margins_(typically,_consonants)._Syllables_are_often_considered_the_phonological_"bu_...
_name_'Jacob'_fits_more_naturally_into_the_song's_
srael_(name)_[Jacobfought_the_battle_of_Jericho",_has_evolved_and_has_been_heard_sung_in_the_later_twentieth_century.__In_this_instance,_"Jacob"_refers_to_the_people_of_Israel,_who_won_the_battle.__Though_this_version_is_almost_never_used,_the_two-Syllable_">syllable
_
A_syllable_is_a_unit_of_organization_for_a_sequence_of_speech_sounds_typically_made_up_of_a_syllable_nucleus_(most_often_a_vowel)_with_optional_initial_and_final_margins_(typically,_consonants)._Syllables_are_often_considered_the_phonological_"bu_...
_name_'Jacob'_fits_more_naturally_into_the_song's_Metre_(music)_">meter
_
The_metre_(British_spelling)_or_meter_(American_spelling;__see_spelling_differences)_(from_the_French_unit_,_from_the_Greek_noun_,_"measure"),_symbol_m,_is_the_primary_unit_of_length_in_the_International_System_of_Units_(SI),_though_its__prefi_...
_than_the_three-syllable_name_'Joshua'.
Like_those_of_many_other_spirituals,_the_song's_words_may_also_be_alluding_to_eventual_escape_from_slavery_–_in_the_case_of_this_song,_"And_the_walls_came_tumblin'_down."