Hymn Hystery: Mine Eyes Have Seen…John Brown’s Body?
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.
Those are the famous lyrics set to the old “Battle Hymn of the Republic” tune that was popular among the Union soldiers in the America Civil War. But this tune has the unusual distinction of being written for Christian use in the revivals of the 1750’s, then appropriated for secular army songs, and then turned back into a Christian marching song. Whew. And to think that so many people consider the possibility of Martin Luther’s “A Might Fortress” tune being derived from the bar scene to be scandalous. When the army got a hold of this old revivalist tune they turned it into a song called “John Brown’s Body.”
- John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave;
- John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave;
- John Brown’s body lies a-mouldering in the grave;
- His soul’s marching on!
A little morbid, for sure. The John Brown song was originally composed good-naturedly about a comrade-in-arms whom they loved to pick on (and probably make uncomfortably by singing about his death). When civilians heard it, they thought that the soldiers were singing about John Brown, the famous Kansas Abolitionist who was executed by the South for his raid on Harper’s Ferry. Shortly, the Union soldiers added more verses and the hymn became about the latter John Brown.
Near the end of the war, “Mine Eyes” became one of Abraham Lincoln’s favorite hymns. It is said that he cried when he heard the hymn. Perhaps instead of complaining of the origins of the tune, we should stand and be amazed at the power of Christian truth to overwhelm whatever it comes in contact with.
“…the power of Christian truth to overwhelm whatever it comes in contact with.”
even heavy metal? :-p
interesting background to the hymn… thanks.
lol, for lack of more detailed statement, I’d only suggest a distinction between judging a tune from it’s origin and judging a tune based on the medium. I.e., getting the tune to “Amazing Grace” from a brothel is not nec. bad (though in some situations it can be). But yet you could get what I consider a poor medium for conveying truth from a daycare. The issue to me isn’t origin, but compatibility.