When the saints go marching in

When the saints go marching in. African American spiritual*, author unknown. 

This is a spiritual that has been sung in worship, at funerals, and at American Civil Rights meetings. It has been recorded by jazz musicians and other artists, and appropriated by popular culture for use at sporting events. 

Origins

Originating in the oral tradition of the African American community, its precise authorship is unknown, although it is believed to have been first sung in the early 1900s (regrettably some word and tunesmiths have usurped the artistic creations of anonymous musicians to claim ownership, usually for publication or royalties). At least two writers have been credited with creation of the text: R.E. Winsett (1876–1952) and Luther G. Presley (1887–1974).

Perhaps the earliest publication is Winsett’s arrangement in Soul Inspiring Songs (Chattanooga, Tennessee: 1929, no. 183) where Winsett acknowledges the song’s oral tradition with the credits for the text and tune as ‘Anon & R.E.W’, and ‘Arr. R.E. Winsett’ (see Example below). However, his intent to claim ownership is clear with the inscription ‘Owned by R.E. Winsett’. This appears to be a pattern with Winsett, who also claimed copyright for ‘I am weak, but thou art strong’* (‘Just a closer walk’). 

Presley published his version available in V.O. Stamps*’ Favorite Radio Songs (Dallas, 1937, no. 77), using different stanzas (‘I’m just a weary pilgrim,/ plodding through this world of sin’). Because both of these publications postdate numerous recordings from the 1920s, it is unlikely that either person was the creator. In the absence of a definitive manuscript or score, early recordings document the details of performance practice such as textual variants, tempo, and harmonization. The earliest available recording was made by the Paramount Jubilee Singers in 1923, an African American quartet who recorded for Paramount (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpuFgqlDP4c). 

Because spirituals evolve from oral tradition to printed page, the refrain’s text may be the only consistent element. Stanzas are fluid, with wordsmiths creating new verses as needed or desired. On this earliest recording, the Paramount Jubilee Singers sing the familiar refrain: 

When the saints go marching in,
When the saints go marching in,
I want to be in that number,
When the saints go marching in.

However, a transcription of the three stanzas reveals a surprising text that is generally unknown today: 

It’s Jesus Christ I want to find.
Pray Tell me where he is.
Then the Lord can ease my mind and heal my conscience clean.

Refrain... 

If you go down in yonder cove
And search upon the sea,
You’ll find him there for I am told with love he loves to give.

Refrain... 

I thank you friends for your advice.
I’ll find him if I can.
And if I do I will rejoice for Christ a friend to man.

Refrain...

This text weaves a narrative as dialogue between a seeker and believer. It is noteworthy that unlike later versions, there is no textual repetition in the stanzas. 

The melody is the familiar one sung today, with only a few pitch variants. This performance is markedly slower than current practice: it is set in four-part harmony, and is accompanied by a pump or reed organ. The singers use the call and response technique, a feature typical of many spirituals. 

By 1928, the standardization of the stanzas emerges. The Pace Jubilee Singers, an African American gospel recording group (1925-1929) founded by Charles Pace, recorded a version similar in style to the Paramount Jubilee Singers: stately tempo, chorale-style harmony, call and response. The following transcription shows that with the exception of the first stanza, each verse repeats its first line two or three times (See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVmbMeH2tO4). 

Refrain

My mother’s gone to glory.
I want to go there too.
I promised I could meet her
when the saints go marching in.

Refrain... 

O when they march around the throne,
O When they march around around the throne,
Lord, I want to be in that number,
when the saints go marching in. 

O when they Crown him Lord of All,
O when they Crown him Lord of All,
Lord, I want to be in that number,
when they Crown him Lord of All. 

O when they Cry a loud Amen,
O when they Cry a loud Amen,
Lord, I want to be in that number,
when they Cry a loud Amen

Refrain...

 In contrast to the Paramount Jubilee Singers’ narrative, these stanzas reflect a loose collection of apocryphal images from scripture which relate naturally to the refrain’s spirited image of triumphal saints streaming into heaven. In fact, most standardized stanzas continue this theme with scriptural allusions to Jude 14-15, Isaiah 13:10, Luke 23:45, Matthew 27:45, Revelation 21:23, Psalm 21:3 (Guenther, 2016, p. 450). In addition to the stanzas above, commonly published stanzas in hymnals or collections include: 

O when the sun refused to shine…

O when the new world is revealed...

O when the Lord in glory comes…

O when they gather ‘round the throne…

O when the moon turns into blood…

O when all knees bow at his name…

O when they sing the Saviour's praise…

And on the hallelujah day… 

Beyond inclusion in hymnals and sacred music collections, ‘When the saints go marching in’ has been exceedingly popular with recording artists in various milieu. Louis Armstrong’s (1901–1971) iconic recording from 1938 introduced this song to a wider audience and popularized it as a jazz standard. It is one of several works associated with funeral procession bands, most notably in New Orleans. Other prominent artists interpreting this spiritual include: Mahalia Jackson, B.B. King, Elvis Presley, and Bruce Springsteen. It has been performed by innumerable choirs, instrumental ensembles, and soloists with the settings performed being as varied as in earlier published renditions. 

Civil Rights Movement

During the modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States, spirituals were adapted and sung as protest songs, possibly the most well-known being ‘We shall overcome’*, popularized by Pete Seeger (Daw, 2016, p. 379). During the 1950s Montgomery bus boycott, protestors and other supporters frequently met in city churches to sing hymns and spirituals and to hear leaders such as Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.; for example, ‘When the saints go marching in’ was included in a list of hymns and spirituals sung at a meeting at Montgomery’s Hutchinson Street Church in March 1956:

 …congregants sang the spiritual ‘When the Saints Go Marching In’ (popularized by both Mahalia Jackson and Louis Armstrong), the hymns ‘Leaning on the Everlasting Arms’, ‘Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross’, and ‘What a Friend We Have in Jesus’, and closed with the spirituals ‘Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen’ and ‘Steal Away’, both having been employed by African-Americans during slavery (Darden, 2014, pp. 128-9).

Popular Culture

From its origin as a spiritual, ‘When the saints go marching in’ has inspired musicians and singers worldwide. Perhaps its most interesting incarnation is as a spirit song for athletic teams in both the United States and the United Kingdom. It seems a natural fit for the New Orleans Saints football team, given the spiritual’s association with the city and the team’s name. In the United Kingdom, the song is sung by football league fans in Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield, etc. A team’s name may be substituted for ‘saints’ such as Sheffield ‘Blades’ or Birmingham City ‘Blues’. It has also been popular with university teams. 

The spiritual is currently published in African American Heritage Hymnal (2001, no. 595), Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New (2000, no. 876), Anglican Hymns Old and New, Revised and Enlarged (2008, no. 581), Hymns for a Pilgrim People (2007, no. 475), Lead Me, Guide Me, Second Edition (2012, no. 729) and This Far by Faith: an African American Resource for Worship (1999, no. 180). Other versions appear in numerous popular convention collections.

Beverly Howard 

Further Reading and Sources

1. Robert Darden, Nothing but Love in God’s Water (University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2014).
2. Carl P. Daw Jr., Glory to God: A Companion (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016).
3. Eileen Guenther, In Their Own Words: Slave Life and the Power of Spirituals (St Louis: MorningStar Music Publishers, 2016).
4. R.E. Winsett, ed. Soul Inspiring Songs (Chattanooga, TN: R.E. Winsett, 1929). See https://hymnary.org/text/when_the_sun_refuses_to_shine. For facsimile edition, see https://archive.org/details/soulinspiringson09wins/page/184/mode/2up.
5. Virgil Stamps, ed., Favorite Radio Songs (Dallas: Stamps Baxter Music Co., 1937) 1937. See https://hymnary.org/hymnal/FRS1937.