Troubling the Water: The Power of Song, from the Underground Railroad to Rhythm and Blues

Wade in the water
Wade in the water children
Wade in the water
God said He’s gonna trouble the water

We are the sons and the daughters
We gotta stand up and make it loud
Just like our God told the Pharaoh
Let my people go

We are a new generation
From the ones who have gone before
He’s calling us out of bondage
Let my pеople go

“Every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains. Those songs still follow me, to deepen my hatred of slavery and quicken my sympathies for my brethren in bonds.” Frederick Douglass (1845).

E. Mark Windle 22 March 2024.

For over forty years now I’ve been immersed in a community that celebrates and explores Black music; placing emphasis on a history that remains largely unfamiliar to mainstream society. If there’s any common ground, it’s the assumption that the advent of jazz, R&B and soul represented a release from the constraints of the Church. Irony then, that Ramsey Lewis’ 1966 take on the spiritual Wade in the Water was among the first of countless vinyl record acquisitions as I set out on my journey of musical enlightenment. Wasn’t this stuff supposed to be all about the Devil’s music?

SPIRITUALS

Don’t be fooled by the popular misconception that Black America has always had a strong connection with the Church. Much to the frustration of white antebellum society, the reality was that Christianity was a slow burner. It took at least a hundred years and multiple institutional influences before any significant religious transition was evident. Scholars suggest that even then, the attraction lay in the Old and New Testament tales of struggle, hope and freedom – themes that paralleled the African American plight.

There should also be no surprise that when this ‘new’ religion was ultimately embraced, bible teachings and prayer were heavily complemented by music and song. Of course, these elements had always been an integral part of ritual celebration and worship of spirits and gods back in the homeland.

Pre-emancipation, countless original Christian spirituals were composed by enslaved communities, or existing hymns modified to speak to a different audience. Wade in the Water, one of the most recognisable of spirituals, was first recorded by the Sunset Four Jubilee Singers. At least a dozen other versions followed in what could be described as the golden age of Black gospel between 1925 and 1960. To date, well over 300 published versions of the song sit on the of register of BMI.

FISK JUBILEE SINGERS

But let’s backtrack. Nashville’s Fisk Jubilee Singers were the first to rescue slave songs from obscurity. In the late 1800s, and with direct access to oral history from free and formerly enslaved individuals, the student choir built a repertoire of around 40 spirituals and work songs, including Wade in the Water.

The purpose was to perform these across the US and overseas as a means of raising money for their financially struggling school. The upshot? Nashville got its Music City moniker from Queen Victoria (so the story goes), and its first historically Black university. Brothers John and Frederick Work brought things further into public consciousness in the early 20^th century, when the lyrics appeared in New Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University. If it wasn’t for the efforts of Fisk University, these spirituals may well not have been preserved in their original form, if at all.

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD

Other than providing a means of religious expression, spirituals were associated with escape from slavery. Opportunities for escape from plantations and farms which followed Native American raids or spontaneous internal uprisings were invariably ill-fated. The Underground Railroad provided a much more organised option for flight, by employing coordinated systems of passage.

The Appalachian Mountains offered indirect access to the northern free states and Canada. Mexico was a more logical destination for the enslaved on Texan or Louisiana soil. In any direction, journeys remained extremely perilous – especially for women and children, the weak and the elderly – but by the time of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, some 100,000 slaves sought passage through the Underground Railroad.

CODE

Part of its success was the use of code. ‘Passengers’ (escapees) rode the Underground Railroad under the instruction of guides, known as conductors. ‘Stations’ were safe places for rest, taking the form of cellars, churches and rendezvous points in marshland or woods. For communication, the use of code within song was also key. Folk songs and spirituals were regularly heard on the plantations, so would give no cause to raise suspicion.

Some biblical lyrics doubled as warnings to potential passengers. Others were instructions from guides to prepare for flight. Being “bound for the land of Canaan” referenced a flee attempt to Canada. In Sweet Chariot, “Swing low to carry me home” indicated the imminent use of escape routes to the south. Steal Away meant, well, just that.

Regarding Wade in the Water, the biblical narrative refers to Israelites crossing the River Jordan to the Promised Land. For Mama Moses, one of the Underground Railroad’s most notable conductors, it was code for escapees to enter streams, so that the slave hunter’s bloodhounds were diverted from the trail.

CIVIL RIGHTS

With the origins of Wade in the Water in slavery, and later the 1960s civil rights movement, crossover to a secular setting was inevitable. Call-and-response has a way of unifying people, whether for religious or political purposes. The Chambers Brothers frequently included the song in performances at music festivals and freedom marches. Prior to the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, and The Pilgrim Travellers fuelled the cause with their versions.

SECULAR CROSSOVER

The Staple Singers secured its status as a song of solidarity, when racial tensions were coming to a head in urban areas of the North. Wade in the Water had now transitioned to the popular music market and was given folk, jazz, and R&B interpretations. Instrumental versions were popular, doubtless a hang-over from gospel church renditions, and the song was easily adapted for the organ. Ramsey Lewis’ infectious piano and horn-driven version for the Chess label subsidiary, Cadet, took it to new heights. Political timeliness, shrewd marketing and dancefloor appeal ensured peak positions in the US R&B and pop charts and across Europe.

Marlena Shaw’s 1966 vocal version for the same record label was also popular at the time. Lyrical content was swapped from the spiritual narrative to one of an intense, seductive and stormy relationship. Shindig magazine reported this wasn’t well received in some parts: “The Ramsey Lewis version inspired vocalist Marlena Shaw to adapt the song’s lyrics for her ‘66 single… an updating which was put down by church people in the South who felt the lyrics were a little risqué “. Two years later, Big Mama Thornton presented another lyrical take. Her rousing version for Californian R&B label Arhoolie was also the first to take a dramatic switch in tempo.

LEGACY

Thanks then to the unknown composer and the conductors of the Underground Railroad and Nashville’s Fisk Singers. And to the activists who adopted Wade in the Water as a civil rights anthem. But let’s not forget the record-buying public either. Perhaps the ultimate recognition of the song’s lasting significance is inclusion in Celebrating Fisk! The 150^th Anniversary Album. The Fisk Jubilee Singers picked up the 2021 Best Roots Gospel Album Grammy Award for that one. Messages of hope and freedom from oppression clearly still resonate. Two centuries on, the enduring legacy of Wade in the Water is assured.

Author bio: E. Mark Windle is a freelance writer and author with interests in human rights and international culture. He has also been a ghostwriter for Story Terrace (UK), and Sheridan Hill / Real Life Stories LLC (USA).