http://www.hymnary.org/tune/lift_every_voice_johnson
Lyricist: James Weldon Johnson
Composer: J. Rosamond Johnson (1921)
VERSE ONE
Lift every voice and sing
Till earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty;
Let our rejoicing rise
high as the list'ning skies;
Let it resound loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song
full of the faith that the dark past has taught us;
Sing a song
full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun
of our new day begun,
Let us march on till victory is won.
VERSE TWO
Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the day that hope unborn had died.
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet,
Come to the place on which our fathers sighed?
We have come
over a way that with tears has been watered;
We have come,
treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered.
Out from the gloomy past
till now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our star is cast.
VERSE THREE
God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far on the way;
Thou who has by thy might
Led us into the light;
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet
stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee,
Least our hearts,
drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath the hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God,
True to our native land.
Hymnary.org
LIFT EVERY VOICE
John Rosamond Johnson (August 11, 1873 – November 11, 1954), most often referred to as J. Rosamond Johnson, was an American composer and singer during the Harlem Renaissance. Johnson is most notable as the composer of the hymn "Lift Every Voice and Sing" which has come to be known in the United States as the "Black National Anthem". His brother, the poet James Weldon Johnson, wrote the lyrics of the famous piece. It was first performed live by 500 Black American students from the segregated Stanton School (elementary/middle/junior high-level), Jacksonville, FL, in 1900. The song was published by the Edward B. Marks Music Company, formerly the Joseph W. Stern & Co., Manhattan, NY. Johnson was trained at the New England Conservatory and…
Meter: Irregular
Key: G Major or modal
Copyright: Public Domain
YOUTUBE:
https://youtu.be/eE5qnCKPLo0
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