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by Jerome Weeks 15 Feb 2021 6:00 PM
Nearly a century in the life of one Black church song from spiritual to Sam Cooke to Bruce Springsteen. Plus a coded message against oppression.
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Image: shutterstock.com
The Black church standard, “O Mary Don’t You Weep,” undoubtedly began before the Civil War as a “slave song.” It would have been sung without instruments, possibly at secret church gatherings at a time when Southern slave owners were trying to control Christianity among Blacks. They wanted to emphasize only those Biblical passages that pushed obedience. And in the tales it cites, “Mary” has a coded message against oppression, a longing for justice.