Go Tell It on the Mountain (song)

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Go Tell It on the Mountain is an African-American spiritual dating back to at least 1865 that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyric celebrates the Nativity: "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born."

In 1963, Peter Yarrow, Noel "Paul" Stookey, and Mary Travers, along with their musical director, Milt Okun, adapted and rewrote Go Tell It on the Mountain as Tell It on the Mountain, their lyrics referring specifically to Exodus and employing the line "Let my people go," but implicitly referring to the Civil Rights struggle of the early '60s. The song was recorded by Yarrow, Stookey and Travers on their Peter, Paul and Mary album In the Wind and was also a moderate hit single for them. Civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer used this rewritten version of the song as an anthem during the mid-1960s.

Other artists, besides Peter, Paul and Mary, who have recorded the song (chiefly on either Christmas-themed music albums or collections of spirituals or folk songs) include:

• Bob Marley
• Mahalia Jackson
• Fred Hammond
• Kirk Franklin
• Candi Staton
• Simon & Garfunkel
• Frank Sinatra & Bing Crosby
• James Taylor
• Cece Winans
• Anne Murray
• Vanessa L. Williams
• Jewel
• Dustin Kensrue
• Bruce Cockburn
• Little Big Town
• John Rutter and the Cambridge Singers

[edit] Traditional lyrics

Refrain:

Go, tell it on the mountain,

Over the hills and everywhere

Go, tell it on the mountain,

That Jesus Christ is born.

While shepherds kept their watching

Over silent flocks by night

Behold throughout the heavens

There shone a holy light.

Refrain

The shepherds feared and trembled,

When lo! above the earth,

Rang out the angels chorus

That hailed the Savior's birth.

Refrain

And lo! When they had heard it,

They all bowed down to pray,

Then travelled on together,

To where the Baby lay.

Refrain

Down in a lowly manger

The humble Christ was born

And God sent us salvation

That blessed Christmas morn.

Refrain

I too am like a shepherd,

My flock of days to guard,

Each day finds time for praying,

From this I won't retard.

Refrain