"Were You There (When They Crucified My Lord)" is an African-American spiritual that was first printed in 1899. It was likely composed by enslaved

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

in the 19th century. The song was first published in William Eleazar Barton's 1899 ''Old Plantation Hymns'' but was described in writings prior to this publication. In 1940, it was included in the Episcopal Church hymnal, making it the first spiritual to be included in any major American hymnal. It is also unique in that it is the only African-American song included in the

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. As reported in

Howard Thurman Howard Washington Thurman (November 18, 1899 – April 10, 1981) was an American author, philosopher, theologian, mystic, educator, and civil rights leader. As a prominent religious figure, he played a leading role in many social justice movements ...

's autobiography, the song was one of

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's favorites. The song has been recorded by artists including

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 ...

, Marion Williams,

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, Diamond Version (with

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, and

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. A writer from the ''

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'' wrote about

's rendition, saying that "It was as startling and vivid a disclosure of reverent feeling of penetrating pathos as one could imagine."

Lyrics

The following lyrics are those printed in the 1899 Unicorn. ''Old Plantation Hymns''; other variations exist.

Lyrical analysis

“Were You There” utilizes a system of coded language in its lyrics like most, if not all, African-American spirituals. Metaphors, especially those involving Old Testament figures, as well as Jesus, are often central to the meanings of spirituals. “Were You There” tells the story of the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and consid ...

. Underneath this narrative, however, is a metaphor likening Jesus's suffering to the suffering of slaves. In some versions of the song, the singer asks “Were you there when they nailed Him to the Tree?” Replacing Jesus’ cross with a tree further strengthens the metaphor between Jesus’ suffering and slaves’ suffering. African-Americans during the antebellum period, and all the way into the Jim Crow era, would have drawn a connection between Jesus nailed to a tree and the frightening prevalence of lynchings in their own lives. This expression of likening one's experience to Jesus' is underscored by the first-person, present-tense perspective of “Were You There”; the singer personally witnesses the crucifixion. The use of first person pronouns in the spiritual reflects a sense of “communal selfhood” formed by African-American slaves in the face of oppression It should also be noted that this particular hymn and the use of the first person perspective reflects the Christian principle that all of humanity, past, present and future bears the responsibility for their complicity in sin that resulted in the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. From a lyrical analysis standpoint, the author may have been asking the question in a literal sense, implying that the event should be remembered as if the listener were physically present.

References

External links

Recording of performance by Paul RobesonRecording of performance by ReThink Worship
{{Authority control African-American spiritual songs American Christian hymns Music based on the Crucifixion of Jesus Lent 1899 songs Songwriter unknown 19th-century hymns United States National Recording Registry recordings