chillun ob de Israelite... Done found dat new hidin' place!
niggers a-turnin' back! Done found dat new hidin' place!
drug her thoo de twelve pearly gates! Done found dat new hidin' place!
talkin' 'bout de promised land— Done found dat new hidin' place!
Who dat .. yonder dressed in red?.... Must be de
God don't talk like a nateral man— ... Talk so a
Purtiest ting what ebber I done.... Was to
And when we get on Canaan's shore... We'll
chillun dat a Moses led!.. Done found dat new hidin' place!
sinner can a-understand— Done found dat new hidin' place!
git religion when I was young— Done found dat new hidin' place!
shout and sing forebber more— Done found dat new hidin' place!
Refrain.
Come along— Done found dat new hidin' place!
Ise so glaad 'm Done found dat new hidin' place!
There is indeed a wonderful power in some of these songs, and the charm undoubtedly lies in the fact that they are founded on Bible texts.
No one questions the remarkable hold the genuine negro music has upon the Anglo-Saxon race, as is evidenced by the success of the Jubilee singers years ago and of the Hampton students now. The negroes have simply used the weird African melodies as a fascinating vehicle for Bible truths.
Most students of English hymnology have observed a similar fact in their own religious poetry. One of the most powerful devotional hymns in the language—How Firm a Foundation, ye Saints of the Lord—is largely indebted for its perpetuity to the fact that almost every line is taken directly from the Bible.
To illustrate the power of this music upon the colored people themselves, I may be permitted to give this little bit of personal experience: