Go Tell It On The Mountain
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Go tell it on the mountain,
Over the hills and ev’rywhere;
Go tell it on the mountain,
That Jesus Christ is born.
While shepherds kept their watching
O’er silent flocks by night,
Behold, throughout the heavens
There shone a holy light.
The shepherds feared and trembled
When, lo! above the earth
Rang out the angel chorus
That hailed our Savior’s birth.
Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born,
And brought us God’s salvation
That blessed Christmas morn.
Stanzas by John W. Work II (1872–1925)
AROUND the turn of the twentieth century every Christmas at Fisk University began with song. The Jubilee Singers, a nationally known choir based at the Nashville school, got up at five o’clock in the morning to stroll the campus singing Christmas songs. Among their favorites was this old spiritual.
The chorus had been around for generations, but John Work added the stanzas. Work had graduated from Fisk and returned to teach Latin and Greek there and to arrange music for the Jubilee Singers. Along with his brother Frederick, he was a major force in the collecting and arranging of American spirituals.
O Zion, messenger of good news, shout from the mountaintops! Shout it louder, O Jerusalem. Shout, and do not be afraid. Tell the towns of Judah, “Your God is coming!”
Isaiah 40:9
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