Hymn of the Week: March 27, 2022

by Mary Chapman, Director of Music
The Episcopal Church of the Holy Communion, University City

Deep River – Lift Every Voice and Sing II #8

Words: Traditional
Music: Negro Spiritual; arr. Carl Haywood (b. 1949), from The Haywood Collection of Negro Spirituals,
Copyright © 1992

Deep river, my home is over Jordan,
Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.
Oh, don’t you want to go to that gospel feast,
That promised land, where all is peace?
Oh, deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.

During the pre-Civil War days, slave owners allowed up-tempo spirituals to be sung, as they were thought to encourage work to be continued. Deep River was not one of those songs; this song belongs to the category of quiet, slower spirituals, which reflected the despair that was felt and the hope of a better life. But to a better life of a campground??

The first meaning of “campground” implies camp meetings, a type of gathering during which many would learn about Christianity, share their sorrows and hopes, make music, and most importantly, feel a sense of freedom. In many areas, gatherings like these were illegal, but some slave owners permitted them because the themes of the meetings were overtly Christian. After the Civil War, gatherings like these continued, and were often referred to as “revivals,” which were very popular in rural America.

The second meaning of “campground” refers to Heaven, the ultimate place of rest, the promised land, where all is peace. To one whose life is devoid of freedom and dignity, the desire to leave and cross the River Jordan into freedom was the ultimate goal.

The River Jordan in the song is a metaphor for Ohio River, one of the physical borders between slave states and free states during the Civil War. If escaped slaves made it across the Ohio River into Ohio, they were free. Thus the freedom slaves would have felt during the camp meetings would have been translated into actual freedom.

This incredible, poignant song has been arranged by many composers. Here is a recording of Harry T. Burleigh’s arrangement of Deep River as sung by the famous singer William Warfield (1962):