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"What Are They Doing in Heaven?" is a Christian
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn ...
written in 1901 by American
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...
minister
Charles Albert Tindley Charles Albert Tindley (July 7, 1851 – July 26, 1933) was an American Methodist minister and gospel music composer. His composition "I'll Overcome Someday" is credited as the basis for the U.S. Civil Rights anthem "We Shall Overcome". Anoth ...
. , it has become popular enough to have been included in 16
hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). Hymnals are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Chr ...
s. The song has sometimes been recorded under the titles "What Are They Doing?" and "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?". The question mark is often omitted. The song may also be known by its first line, "I am thinking of friends whom I used to know". The song consists of four verses and a
refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the v ...
, each four lines long. In both the verses and the refrain, the first three lines rhyme, and the fourth is "What are they doing now?" or some small variant of that. The author reflects on friends who were burdened in life by care, or by disease, or by poverty; and wonders what they might now be doing in
Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...
, without giving his answer. The first known recording of the song is the 1928 one by
Washington Phillips George Washington "Wash" Phillips (January 11, 1880 – September 20, 1954) was an American gospel and gospel blues singer and instrumentalist. The exact nature of the instrument or instruments he played is uncertain, being identified only as " ...
(18801954; vocals and
zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat ...
), in
gospel blues Gospel blues (or holy blues) is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music. It combines evangelistic lyrics with blues instrumentation, often blues guitar accompaniment. According to musician ...
style. Phillips' recording was used in the soundtrack of the 2005 film '' Elizabethtown''. The song has since been recorded many times in a wide variety of styles, including
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...
and bluegrass; sometimes attributed to Phillips or to " anonymous" or to "
traditional A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays ...
".


Recordings

* 1928Washington Phillips, 78rpm single
Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...
14404-D * 1934
Mitchell's Christian Singers Mitchell's Christian Singers were an American gospel music group who recorded prolifically between 1934 and 1940. Musical career Formed in the early 1930s in Kinston, North Carolina, the group initially featured William Brown (lead tenor), Julius ...
, 78rpm singles
Perfect Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection, completeness, excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film * Perfect (1985 film), ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * Perfect (2018 f ...
326,
Banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...
33433, Conqueror 8431, and Melotone 13400 * 1938 Golden Gate Quartet, 78rpm singles
Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...
7994 and Montgomery 7866 *
The Southernaires ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, radio broadcast * 1946
Pilgrim Travelers The Pilgrim Travelers were an American gospel group, popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Musical career Formed in 1936 in Houston, Texas, United States, they were influenced by another Texas-based quartet, the Soul Stirrers. They achiev ...
* 1948 The Lilly Brothers, 78rpm single Page 505 * 1948The Southern Harmonizers, 78 rpm single Specialty 301 * 1950The Mello-Tones, 78rpm single Columbia 39051 * 1950-53
Silvertone Singers The Swan Silvertones are an American gospel music group that first achieved popularity in the 1940s and 1950s under the leadership of Claude Jeter. Jeter formed the group in 1938 as the "Four Harmony Kings" while he was working as a coal miner in ...
* 1952
The Dixie Hummingbirds The Dixie Hummingbirds are an influential American gospel music group, spanning more than 80 years from the jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "hard gospel" quartet style of gospel's golden age in the 1940s and 1950s, to the eclec ...
,
45rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...
single Peacock Records 5-1594 * 1957Harry and Jeanie West on the album ''Favorite Gospel Songs'' * 1960
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics a ...
on the album ''Gospels in Rhythm'' * 1962
The Fairfield Four The Fairfield Four is an American gospel group that has existed for over 100 years, starting as a trio in the Fairfield Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1921. They were designated as National Heritage Fellows in 1989 by the National En ...
on the album ''The Bells Are Tolling'' * 1964
The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21, ...
on the album ''This Little Light'' * 196692
Marion Williams Marion Williams (August 29, 1927 – July 2, 1994) was an American gospel singer. Early years Marion Williams was born in Miami, Florida, to a religiously devout mother and musically inclined father. She left school when she was nine ...
* 1971The Downtown Sister New Heaven on the album ''Gospels And Spirituals'' * 1983
Slim & the Supreme Angels The Supreme Angels was an American traditional black gospel music group from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. The Supreme Angels were formed in 1953 by several young ministers. In the 1960s Reverend Howard "Slim" Hunt of Walnut Grove, Miss ...
on the album ''Glory to His Name'' * 1992 Tom Hanway on the album ''Tom Hanway and Blue Horizon'' * 1994Martin Simpson on the album ''A Closer Walk with Thee'' * 1995The Pfister Sisters on the album ''The Pfister Sisters'' * 1996Michelle Lanchester,
Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (born Bernice Johnson on October 4, 1942) is a song leader, composer, scholar, and social activist, who in the early 1960s was a founding member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Freedom Singers in ...
and Yasmeen on the album ''Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions'' * 1996 Little Jimmy Scott on the album ''Heaven'' * 2000Last Forever on the album ''Trainfare Home'' * 2000Margaret Allison and the
Angelic Gospel Singers The Angelic Gospel Singers were an American gospel group from Philadelphia founded and led by Margaret Wells Allison. The group continued through Allison's death in 2008; the group was called "the longest consistently selling female gospel group in ...
on the album ''Home in the Rock'' * 2002
Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen, Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassi ...
on the album '' Blue Country Heart'' * 2003 Bill Gaither feat. Gloria Gaither and
Babbie Mason Babbie Yvett Robie Wade Mason (born February 1, 1955) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, writer, and adjunct professor of songwriting at Point University and Lee University, and also a television talk-show host. Born to Georgie and Geo ...
on the album ''Heaven'' * 2003
The Immortal Lee County Killers The Immortal Lee County Killers (ILCK) were an American rock band from Auburn, Lee County, Alabama. Playing in the punk blues style, as well as garage punk, the band consisted of Chetley "Cheetah" Weise on vocals/guitar, plus assorted music ...
on the album ''Love Is a Charm of Powerful Trouble'' * 2003Mike "Sport" Murphy on the album ''Uncle'' * 2006 Riley Baugus on the album ''Long Steel Rail'' * 2006Joanne Blum on the album ''Even More Love'' * 2006Cabin Fever NW on the album ''The Door Is Always Open'' * 2006 Jessy Dixon on the album ''Get Away Jordan'' * 2006
Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American country music singer, songwriter and musician. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s and as a solo artist ...
on the album ''Voice of the Spirit, Gospel of the South'' * 2006
The Be Good Tanyas The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian folk music group formed in Vancouver in 1999. Their influences include folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they perform can be referred to as alt-country or Americana. History The Be Good ...
on the album '' Hello Love'' * 2006Boxcar Preachers on the album ''Auto-Body Experience'' * 2006Judy Cook on the album ''If You Sing Songs ...'' * 2006The Great Gospel Crew on the album ''The Greatest Gospel Music'' * 2007John Reischman and The Jaybirds on the album ''Stellar Jays'' * 2008
Murry Hammond Old 97's is an American rock band from Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-lar ...
on the album ''I Don't Know Where I'm Going but I'm on My Way'' * 2009 Jim Byrnes on the album ''My Walking Stick'' * 2009The Habit on the album ''The Habit'' * 2010
Buddy Greene Buddy Greene (born October 30, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, guitar player and harmonica player. Most of his recordings consist of gospel music with a distinctly Southern gospel Southern gospel music is a genre of Christian mus ...
on the album ''A Few More Years'' * 2011The Bright Wings Chorus on the album ' * 2011 Dead Rock West on the album ''Bright Morning Stars'' * 2013The Quiet American on the album ''Wild Bill Jones '' * 2013 Marcy Marxer on the album ''Things Are Coming My Way'' * 2013
Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). ...
on the album '' Les Revenants'' * 2013
Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer, actress, and civil rights activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers (she is the last surviving member of that band). Dur ...
on the album '' One True Vine'' * 2013
Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is a Canadian-American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In additio ...
feat.
Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the primary songwriter and frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. Known for his distinct falsetto voi ...
on the album ''New History Warfare, Vol. 3: To See More Light'' * 2014
Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...
and
Abigail Washburn Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu Force, and as a ...
on the album ''Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn''


References

American Christian hymns Blues songs Gospel songs Songs about death Hymns by Charles Albert Tindley 1901 songs Washington Phillips songs Columbia Records singles Pace Jubilee Singers songs 20th-century hymns