"𝗪𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗜𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥" 𝗯𝘆 𝗝𝗨𝗗𝗬 𝗛𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗞𝗘

Judy Henske sings "Wade in the Water" in the classic film "Hootenanny Hoot" 1963
Written by... Traditional
Album: Judy Henske
Released on April 16, 1963
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The spiritual song “Wade in the Water” is also known as an African American jubilee song, meaning that it was created and first sung by enslaved Blacks.
The lyrics of the moving tune were first published in 1901 in New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers. The book was published by Frederick J. Work and his brother John Wesley Work Jr., a teacher at the HBCU Fisk University in Nashville who spent years collecting and promulgating songs of this nature. But the song’s roots go back way further than that.
Later, the Sunset Four Jubilee Singers made the first commercial recording of “Wade in the Water” in 1925. That version was released by Paramount Records.
Today, the song is associated with tunes from the Underground Railroad, a network that helped free slaves during the time of slavery. Famous abolitionist W.E.B. Du Bois called the genre of songs from which “Wade in the Water” comes, “Sorrow Songs.” He added that they were “African American’s “greatest gift” and the “singular spiritual heritage of the nation”
LYRICS
Wade in the water,
wade in the water, children,
wade in the water.
God’s gonna trouble the water.
See that host all dressed in white,
God’s gonna trouble the water.
The leader looks like the Israelite.
God’s gonna trouble the water.
See that band all dressed in red, …
Looks like the band that Moses led.
If you don’t believe I’ve been redeemed,
Just follow me down to Jordan’s stream.
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