Go, Tell It On The Mountain

View all 9 comments. Mar 07, Jr Bacdayan rated it really liked it. The faith, the church, the temple, the mosque, the synagogue, they deny the world and wash themselves of anything in it that might stain the purity of their holy robes. The world, in turn, enchants and invalidates the faith till the faith is extinguished and the world is all that is left. A youth is faced with the choice: Go tell it on the Mountain encapsulates the journey that every young person born in the faith will have to take and the road he will tread whether that may be leading to spiritual maturity or secular awakening.

It tells the story of a black Christian family set in the tumultuous community of Harlem in the 30s. John and Roy are young boys filled with hatred for their father, a reverend, and his moralistic and authoritarian way of raising them. He abuses them physically, verbally, all in the noble pursuit of their salvation. But instead of teaching them to love his God, he fills them with hatred for his church, and his teachings. The novel chronicles their struggle with acceptance of the faith and acceptance of each other as a family. Gabriel is a representation of the Pharisee-like brand of Christianity that is about righteousness and judgment.

An outdated, ineffective, hypocritical way of living that is about accountability and feigned sinlessness. It is a practice that only pushes young people, like John and Roy, away from the church. Today Christianity is rapidly losing its young people, especially in Western societies. They who only see faults instead of merits, who only rebuke instead of encourage. It is no wonder that the Christian youth is a disappearing species with most of its church a sanctum of criticism and restrictions instead of a haven of acceptance and support.

It was his hatred and his intelligence that he cherished, the one feeding the other. He lived for the days when his father would be dying and he, John, would curse him on his deathbed. He knows that he is sinful; she knows that she is suffering. He wants to endure when he has no strength, she wants to resist and tries to but she knows she cannot. Humility is the doorway to faith, while pride is the mask of the pitchfork Christians who only ever humiliate their associations with their God. Baldwin contrasts the different attitudes of the father and son and like a possessed minister delivers a scathing and moving sermon to his congregation.

Christmas Song - Go Tell It On The Mountain Lyrics

Written in a deep evangelistic voice that preaches fire and brimstone, oddly reminiscent of the poetic Old English language of the original King James Bible, this is not just a spiritual coming of age story. Layered in between is a sociocultural deconstruction of the black individual in a time when she is still searching for her identity and the reflection he saw of himself through the mirror of the Christian religion is the image he dreamed to become.

It is not only a thoroughly enriching study but at its best a moving and utterly relatable parable. Of course people want to be virtuous, to be righteous, but they know that there will come a time when their shortcomings will catch up to them, that they will sin. We will commit sins against the law, against our religion if we have one, against our principles. But our redemption lies in knowing that at some point, at the beginning of our roads, we endeavored to take the proper path, and make the right decisions, that we decided to walk up the mountain and scream with our own voice regardless of what becomes of us, defiant, courageous, and hopeful-lest we forget.

View all 12 comments. Jun 02, Michael rated it it was amazing Shelves: Wow, what a read! Where each word feels like brick in the construction of a cathedral, yet still able to ignite your emotions and transport you into the spiritual ether. With rhythms and lyricism like a new Gospel and images and themes of the Old Testament. Perhaps he too faced the same challenge as the boy here: John grapples with a hatred of this father, a man can be grotesque in his self-righteousness and who often seeks to beat the sin out of him.

A man who favors his younger brother for being his biological son, despite his delinquent ways that are far from being God-fearing. A man who hates all whites, which he justifies from the horrors he experienced growing up in the South. John wants to be holier than his father, tough to admit as that carries the sin of pride. His hatred is beginning to sneak up on him in more visceral ways.

By this point, you might be getting the idea that this book is a ponderous morality tale. His mother Elizabeth who is still recovering from the tragic outcome of her first love's being falsely arrested and beaten by racist police, a set of do-gooder women who are considered saints, and a teenaged boy, Elisha, whose progress on the path toward becoming a minister is envied by John. But John is the star of this show.

There is so much life in his ambivalence. In Central Park the snow had not yet melted on his favorite hill. He did not know why, but there arose within him an exultation and sense of power, and he ran up the hill like an engine, or a madman, willing to throw himself headlong into the city that glowed before him. It was the roar of the damned that filled Broadway, where motor cars and buses and the hurrying people disputed every inch with death. But he did not long for the narrow way, where all his people walked; where the houses did not rise, piercing, as it seemed, the unchanging clouds, but huddled, flat, ignoble, close to the filthy ground, where the streets and the hallways and the rooms were dark, and where the unconquerable odor was of dust, and sweat, and urine, and homemade gin.

If you are already planning to read the book, the following incandescent excerpt might be considered a spoiler; if you are on the fence, it might be the final encouragement needed. How can fiction of fantasy and magical realism compete with such realistic transformative experience as this: That heart that breath, without which was not anything made which was made.

Tears came into his eyes again, making the avenue shiver, causing the houses to shake—his heart swelled, lifted up, faltered, and was dumb. Out of joy strength came, strength that was fashioned to bear sorrow: Oct 05, da AL rated it it was amazing Shelves: Audiobook narrator does it wonderful justice View all 6 comments.

Oct 01, Paul rated it it was amazing Shelves: This novel is partially autobiographical and tells the story of a day in the life of 14 year old John Grimes and his preacher stepfather Gabriel , his mother and his aunt with plenty of flashbacks to build the scene. It is centred on the life of the Pentecostal Church and its role in the African-American community.

Baldwin was also the son of a preacher and this is written with great passion and eloquence. Although Baldwin was sceptical about religion, he really does capture the sheer physicality of worship and the atmosphere of a gospel meeting. There are vivid descriptions of hellfire and damnation sermons which emphasize human sin, the need for repentance and the danger of hell. They are exactly the sort of thing I recall from my childhood. Even though he does that Baldwin does give clues about the future.

But when he reached the summit he paused; he stood on the crest of the hill, hands clasped beneath his chin, looking down. Then he, John, felt like a giant who might crumble this city with his anger. As many others have said the novel is drenched in the King James Bible and the Blues. The character of Gabriel Grimes is mesmerizing in a horrific sort of way.

His treatment of the women in his life contrasted with his religious life is stark. There is a strong sense of the importance of women in the community and in reality holding things together. That leads me to one of my few niggles; I wanted it to be longer! View all 8 comments. A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. Then the ironic voice, terrified, it seemed, of no depth, no darkness, demanded of John, scornfully, if he believed that he was cursed.

I thought it would be a coming-to-age book of sorts focused fully on John but it is more like a group of interconnected stories showing the impact religion has on people. With John, it resulted in repression of and feeling guilt at his natural instincts. Gabriel, his father, too felt guilt over his own sexual affairs but each time he does so he makes himself believe that God has forgiven him even though he happened to ruin a few lives on the way — the hypocrisy.

Go Tell It on the Mountain

Guilt, denial, fear and hypocrisy. They both tried to take hold of their own lives to go after their dreams only to find themselves brought down the world … or God, whatever you like — like is often the fate of so many rebellious underdogs …. You know come to think of it, this is second book which I have reviewed in a row which is sad. And whenever I'm depressed I turn to religion I mean where else will you find so many things to laugh at? Today we have something serious to talk about - And that is this illusion that religions are against homosexuality, nothing is far from truth. The problem is that people lay too much importance on the 'word' - as if the 'word' is everything, I mean are you really naive enough to believe that spoonfuls which Mary Popkins gave to the children were, in fact, of sugar?

Same aplies to rellgion. Now you can't suppose that saints or religious folks could have told those ancient or medieval folks that homosexuality is good, or later would have simply killed them.

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No, you have to learn to read between the lines - just think about it, religions always ask women to keep their bodies covered, seperate the people of two sexes on pretext of morality, tradition and war, the very monasteries are full of men who have nothing except books to keep then busy and are against abortion, also people of opposite sex are often addressed as 'brothers' and 'sisters' - I mean what kind of sexuality does it promote?

I tell you, you know people by their action not by their words. It says so in scriptures too - "you shall know a tree by fruits it bears". I tell you relgion is all about repressed sexuality. And then so many religious heads had multiple wives; tell me, how come no one suggested that they have a better chance at sexual satisfaction if they had tried someone of opposite sex for a change?

You don't believe me? But talking about Christianity - and mind you, I have always liked Christ, because he is one of few religious figures who chose to let themselves die rather than kill or asking others to die or kill on their behalf.

Moreover, for last couple of years, I have been a true Christian, I know it may not agree with some of other things I keep on saying but it is true, I have been instinctively following Christ's message - love thy neighbor. I mean, yes, she is not Christian enough to reciprocate I know, how infidel right! And if you only get high on word, than remember ultimate dictum of morality across all religions 'Do not do unto others what you don't want done unto yourself'. It is impossible to follow this rule in heterosexuality due to simple physical reason of different sex organs.

It is, in fact, a living adevtesiment of homosexual sex Anyway, as I was saying, I read gospels and you know there is this particular part that I want to bring to your notice I'm not going to draw conclusions, all interpretations you might draw will be your own. I'm just going to state facts. So, it is the last supper time, Jesus has just announced, that it is his farewell party, to his apostles, all of whom coincidentally happen to be men, who drank from same cup mind you, I'm not suggesting anything and all heavily drunk and sad about Christ's departure and And, and, and they have a whole night to themselves.

View all 5 comments. James Baldwin's body of writing and published work includes essays, plays, poetry, and six novels, of which Go Tell It on the Mountain was the first It is a semi-autobiographical look at life in 's Harlem, especially for African-Americans. It focuses on their struggles for equality -economically, socially, and culturally- in this great melting pot of a city where racial prejudice was as much a part of life as it was in the South. Baldwin uses the voice of one of his characters to mak James Baldwin's body of writing and published work includes essays, plays, poetry, and six novels, of which Go Tell It on the Mountain was the first Baldwin uses the voice of one of his characters to make this point.

There was only this difference: The story is told through the voice of 14 year old John Grimes, with long back stories of his aunt Florence, his step-father Gabriel, and his mother Elizabeth. Religion is a major theme of the book, both the good and bad influences it had, as it did also with a young James Baldwin in Harlem. The position of this novel as a classic in modern American literature is secure. Both Modern Library and Time Magazine list it in their " best novels of the 20th century". May 16, Raul Bimenyimana rated it really liked it.

Like the previous Baldwin books I've read, this book is charged with a deep sense of longing and discovery. At the centre of the story is John, an awkward fourteen year old African American boy who grapples with the uncertainty of his place in the world. Set in the first half of the 20th century, mostly in New York and with parts in America's South, Baldwin narrates with great eloquence of the struggle of life and the role of Faith in it.

I believe great books, like this one, disrobe us, in the w Like the previous Baldwin books I've read, this book is charged with a deep sense of longing and discovery. I believe great books, like this one, disrobe us, in the way that Baldwin himself once said: It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive.

View all 10 comments. Sep 27, Christy rated it really liked it Shelves: James Baldwin's Go Tell It on the Mountain , an autobiographical novel first published in , is a beautifully written exploration of religious experience in African American life, both North and South. The primary narrative covers less than 24 hours and is focused by the central character's 14th birthday and religious conversion experience. The book is divided into three sections: Baldwin's use of religion in this novel reveals the ways in which religious experience and ideology can make a life in this oppressive world even worse.

The adults we meet in the novel have all sinned and fallen short, sometimes as a direct result of their social position and inability to carry on a fully human life in the face of racial prejudice and oppression, but there is no acknowledgment of these racial and class difficulties in their religious beliefs or practices. Their God holds them to the same high standard that middle-class or upper-class whites are held to.

How much harder to obey strictures against theft when you cannot get and hold a job, when you cannot go into any store you like, when you cannot buy what you need? How much harder to obey strictures that insist that sex is only for marriage when marriages collapse because of these financial strains--or cannot even begin because of them? Religion thus serves to make hard lives even harder by providing internal oppression to complement the external oppression they face, even while it provides an emotional and social outlet in the services, music, and transcendent experiences.

Baldwin does not make one explicit argument about religion or about the African American experience. He is not writing a political novel in the way that Richard Wright's Native Son is a political novel Baldwin in fact was quite critical of Wright's Native Son , arguing that it lacked realistic characterization and was too broad and heavy-handed ; instead, Baldwin provides an examination of the black experience through religion and shows the different ways that religion fits into a larger sense of what it meant to be black in this America by focusing on a few individuals and their experiences, showing, further, how it feels to live these lives.

In the end, John's religious experience is not the end of the story, but the beginning. Baldwin leaves the reader with an ambiguous vision of John's future. Will he be able to use this religious experience to help raise himself up, become a better person, escape the oppression of racism?

Or will he fall into sin, as humans do?

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But it is even more complex than that: Will he use religion to become a better person or will he merely, as others have done before him, use religion to bolster his ego? When John's conversion follows the hypocrisy and flaws of his father, a preacher, even religion isn't enough to guarantee John's future. Feb 21, Matt rated it it was amazing Shelves: Reading this, years ago, I was struck by something I didn't think I'd be struck with.

I was reaised religious, not in anything close to the kind of religiostity he describes- visceral, pummeling, hyperintense- but pretty far-reaching and existential in my own right, if I do say so myself. Anyway, I was throttled by the sheer force and passion and earnestness of the writing here. I've been on that threshing floor, and even as I feel self-conscious about making that claim, I'm not going Reading this, years ago, I was struck by something I didn't think I'd be struck with.

I've been on that threshing floor, and even as I feel self-conscious about making that claim, I'm not going to not say it just because I don't want to sound rediculous. I can't help it. I haven't even considered trying to re-open the thing because I don't want to take another glimpse at those depths again.

Christmas Song - Go Tell It On The Mountain Lyrics | MetroLyrics

Though, now that I come to think of it, I really probably should This insight, or shock, opened up a whole slew of convictions I am not black, harlem-raised, gay, pentcostal, or whatever. I share pretty much none of James Baldwin's social characteristics but I saw myself and my own inner life at least my inner life at one time, recations, mediations, fear and trembling, etc in this book. If we are truly prisoners of context- social conditioning, capitalism, etc.

I should have been glazed by this book. It should have been totally foreign to me, a relic or a historical curiosity or what-have-you. It was an epiphany, so to speak. Therefore I must conclude the very boring and old fashioned and perhaps even logically wrong argument that all literature at least, great literature is universally human and humanly universal, if that makes any sense. We interpret everything through our own cultural lens, no doubt, and we express everything through same but the bedrock foundation, or motivating core, or whatever is something apart but central I hope I'm making sense with this.

Anyway that's what books are for, right? Connecting through time with a complete stranger who will remain so, in a literal sense, no matter what you do. I might have even misinterpreted it. Baldwin might have been going for or accomplished something utterly different than what I took away from it, but somehow I doubt it. If I missed the boat, why would I still be here writing this about a book I read several years ago? It's strange and wonderful to connect like this. It's something that you hunt for the rest of your reading days. I truly believe that LIFE has been served in this, in the sense of a candle being relit or given more oxygen.

Vitality of imagination and memory and intellect and such promoted. And I've moved on. Other artists who have recorded the song chiefly on either Christmas-themed music albums or collections of spirituals or folk songs include:. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. December Learn how and when to remove this template message. Even small amounts help, and they also let us know you're behind us and support what we do. Click the Donate button below to be taken to a secure giving site. Or you can make your tax-deductible contribution by sending a check to Hymnary. Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.

He majored in history and Latin at Fisk University B. Work and his brother, Frederick Jerome , were leading figures in the preservation, performance and study of African-American spirituals. While shepherds kept their watching Title: Go, Tell It on the Mountain Adapter: African-American spiritual Refrain First Line: Go, tell it on the mountain Liturgical Use: Closing Songs Isaiah The song may date back to earlier sources, but evidently the original text was lost. Later, his arrangement for use in choral concerts by the Fisk Jubilee Singers helped to popularize the spiritual.

The refrain theme comes from Old Testament passages in which praise to God for his acts of deliverance was often shouted, both literally and metaphorically, from the mountaintops Isa. While the three stanzas tell the essence of the Christmas story, the refrain underscores the missionary impetus of the Christian church: The "go, tell," which initially applied to the singers caroling on the university campus, is a signal for us to leave the comfortable confines of Christian worship and "go, tell" the message of Christ's redemption to the whole world. Because of the spiritual's oral tradition, variants in text and melody exist.

A textual variant for "Go, Tell It" is an Easter version with the following refrain text: Go, tell it on the mountain, Over the hills and everywhere; Go, tell it on the mountain That Jesus lives again. Christmas morning; a Christmas candlelight service; "carols from many lands" service; the refrain could be used by itself as a chorus on Christmas Day, or it could be combined with the Easter refrain version see above and used during worship services that focus on missions. The book American Negro Songs and Spirituals: Work , states that "These verses were supplied by John Work Sr.

Moses has to go up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments and to see the Promised Land. In the Gospel, Jesus is transfigured on a mountain, an event signifying the full embodiment of the divine nature and holiness of Christ. Who may stand in his holy place?

When Christ was transfigured, he had with him Peter, James and John. Work to replace verses that got lost from the original, but some also attribute the text to his brother, Frederick J. Once it first started to appear in song books, however, not much has changed about the text or the tune.

Hymnals and most church settings keep the text much the same, with three stanzas and a chorus. Some performance artists have taken liberties with the text to make it more their own, such as Peter, Paul and Mary in the s, who changed the words to include Exodus and Civil Rights language to show their support for the Civil Rights Movement. There are a number of different styles this hymn could be arranged to.

One of the most common is gospel, particularly with a choir supporting a soloist. The challenge with a gospel flavored version is keeping it accessible for the congregation to sing along. Jeanine Noyes offers a fun, catch version with a fairly accessible gospel feel. If your church has a soloist, he or she can improvise while the congregation repeats the chorus. Another popular style for this hymn is bluegrass.

This works particularly well for a praise band with a mandolin or banjo player, but acoustic guitar works as well. Needtobreathe, a Christian folk-rock band, has a particularly good version of the hymn that includes a bridge: Hallelujah, hallelujah, the Savior of the World. It could also be used during Epiphany to remind us that now that Christ has been revealed to us, we must also make him known among the nations.

The refrain of the hymn references many passages in Isaiah that echo the call to proclaim good news from the mountain.