24. March 2011 02:18
Despite not containing actual words, Blind Willie Johnson’s ‘Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground Upon Which Our Lord was Laid’, is the most powerfully eloquent Good Friday lamentation I have ever heard. It made a huge impression on me when I first heard it, Johnson’s restrained moans and hums feel so universal; if this is the voice of Jesus, He is telling us that He has plumbed the depths of human experience and knows exactly what we all go through. We are not alone, and although it is Friday now, Sunday is coming. Perhaps I read a lot into this song but, while desolate, it seems to tremor with expectation.
You can listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNj2BXW852g
Texas blues man Blind Willie Johnson is a revered figure of depression era gospel music. He was also an evangelist, preaching and singing on street corners to anyone who’d listen. 1930’s America wasn’t the easiest place to be a poor black man, and if you read about Johnson’s life you’d see why he sang the blues and why he clung to his faith. He died in poverty and squalor.
And yet, without wishing to detract from the real sadness of his life, I love what happened next. Johnson’s recordings influenced decades of musicians, from Led Zeppelin to Bob Dylan and, many decades after his death, ‘Dark was the Night’ was included on the Voyager Spacecraft Interstellar Mission. It has left our solar system to beamed out across the stars.
Alice Marwick