Ingemar,

Below are the words I heard on the recording:



HAND OF GOD

Put your hand into the Hand of God;
Let Him lead you when the road is rough to trod.
If the going rough, kneel down and say a prayer.
Still-a** Hand of God is everywhere.

Put your hand into God loving Hand,
He'll forgive your sins and He will understand.
Though the world forget and there's no one to care,
Stillll' Hand of God is everywhere.

You may have faith in-a everything you've tried,
But remember, He's ever at your side.

Put your hand into God loving Hand,
When a hill too high for tired feet to trod.
Never give up hope, or give in to despair.
Still th' Hand of God is everywhere.


And here is what I would say she means, if it were in "standard" English:

Put your hand into the Hand of God;
Let Him lead you when the road is rough to tread.
If the going [gets] rough, kneel down and say a prayer.
Still *th' [the] Hand of God is everywhere.

Put your hand into God['s] loving Hand,
He'll forgive your sins and He will understand.
Though the world [should] forget and there's no one to care,
Still *th' Hand of God is everywhere.

[bridge, or could be used as refrain]
You may have faith in-a** everything you've tried,
But remember, He's ever at your side.

Put your hand into God['s]*** loving Hand,
When a hill too high for tired feet to tread.
Never give up hope, or give in to despair.
Still *th' Hand of God is everywhere.

-----

* In the last verse you can hear most clearly that she is singing the first sound of the word |the|. In her accent, it is somewhere between a |th| sound a |d| sound. In many spirituals, |the| is given as |de| and often the |de| is mispronounced, by people not familiar with African Amercian speech, as |dee| or |duh| to correspond with the standard English pronunciation |thee| and |thuh.| But actually, we can hear Mahalia teaching us the the |ee| and |uh| part of the word are not even needed and might often have been left out, with just the consonant indicated in a mouth full of a richer heritage.

** The addition of an extra syllable |-a| at the end of a word or |a-| at the beginning of a word is a common way in spirituals and black gospel of making a word more singable across a figure of rhythm or change in pitch, or of smoothing a text around any other musical feature of the tune. The |-uh| sound of it is as Mahalia gives us, and I am not sure there even IS a way to spell that sound phonetically, correctly-- you have to HEAR it as a sort of an accent. I do not know the African speech pattern that one grows out of, but that would likely be the reason for that sweet and full syllable to sound the way it does and for it to be a way of solving that singability problem.

*** The clipping off of consonants is again part of the accent, done in some place but not others for singability and/or emphasis.

-----


It's a beautiful song. The text is a composed one, I would say, more than an authentic, unadulterated spiritual; probably the tune as well. It's a short sermon, actually, as well as an encouragement.

In a church service it would have been the "special" song of the service that comes in the middle at the peak of worship time (maybe called something else; in some churches it's the "special" or the "offertory" or something else). The "special" is where someone has prepared something to present almost concert-style, that will speak to, and speak for, the prayers and feelings of the people gathered at worship. Done solo, chorally, or by a duo, trio, quartet or quintet), they are usually slow and devotional in text and tone, as this one is. They are meant to be done with power, and to invoke power.

A typical response to a "special" done as well as Mahalia does this one would be spontaneous outbursts of ejaculatory prayer; testifying phrases; phrases of praise to God; exclamations of the name of Jesus; speaking in tongues; keening; moaning; raising of hands; weeping; screaming; clapping; falling to the floor; dancing or swaying-- a Pentecostal (ecstatic) outpouring of physical response, prompted by a show-stopper like this song is. Not a secular acclaim for the singer, but a spiritual outpouring released by the perceived power and holiness of the singer.

These phenomena might be followed by people coming forward to the altar or kneeling rail to accept salvation for the first time; extended prayer by the pastor and others over these people; exhortations and pleadings for others to "come to Jesus;" congregants coming forward to join in the prayers over this "saving," and deliverance ministries of casting out demons.

Sometimes, alternatively, the "special" would be followed, instead, by a fast, upbeat piece celebrating the "saved" way of life of the congregation present.

Again, as with the McGee sermon you sent me-- these events would be far more likely to occur in a Pentecostal (AKA "holiness" or "sanctified") church (white or black) than in a mainline denominational church. There might be a "special" in the mainlines, but it would be less "free" in reception in what is generally a more "dignified" setting.

~Susan
(fellow student)