History of Hymns: 'He's Got the Whole World in His Hands'

“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”
Traditional Spiritual
Songs of Zion, 85

He’s got the whole world in His hands,
He’s got the big, round world in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands.

Some African American spirituals transcend cultures, social circumstances, and performance contexts. “He’s got the whole world in his hands” is a spiritual that has found a place in recital halls, Civil Rights protests, folk/pop concerts, and worship services. This flexibility is due to the song’s inclusive theme and the ease with which the text may be modified.

The earliest known publication containing this spiritual is Spirituals Triumphant Old and New (1927), collected and arranged by Edward Hammond Boatner (1898–1981). Boatner credits his father, Dr. Daniel Webster Boatner (?1854– ) ,an itinerate Methodist minister born to his enslaved grandparents, for his interest in spirituals. He heard them being sung at his father’s prayer meetings from an early age. This indicates that the spiritual was available for several decades before Boatner notated it in his collection, though perhaps its roots stem from after the Civil War.

The first third of the twentieth century began an era of concertized arrangements of spirituals building on those by African Canadian Nathaniel Dett (1882–1943), followed by solo arrangements by brothers James Weldon (1871–1938) and John Rosamund Johnson (1873–1954), and Harry T. Burleigh (1866–1949). Boatner published Spirituals Triumphant during his years as director of the National Baptist Convention Choir (1925–1931), gaining experience from Lucie Eddie Campbell (1885–1963), the reigning musical visionary of the National Baptist Convention, USA. He had expanded his knowledge of publishing from Willa Townsend (1880–1947), who, with her husband Arthur, had prepared the widely used Gospel Pearls (1921).

“He’s got the whole world” (No. 68) has the hallmarks of the spiritual in this arrangement ascribed to Boatner in the collection. The six stanzas are stated simply and include a listing of family members (mother, father), reminiscent of earlier spirituals:

He’s got the whole world in His hand . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got all the power in His hand . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got my mother in His hand . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got my father in His hand . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got the fishes of the sea in His hand . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got the whole church in His hand . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hand.

Boatner’s straightforward hexatonic (six-tone scale, F through D) melody and simple harmonic arrangement also have the feel of less complicated versions in the style of Nathaniel Dett. The stanza, “He’s got all the power in his hand”—implied in later versions but not explicit—is a concept found in numerous spirituals.

Songs of Zion (1981) offers a melody-only version with stanzas that differ significantly from Boatner’s:

He’s got the whole world in His hands,
He’s got the big, round world in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands,
He’s got the whole world in His hands.

He’s got the wind and the rain in His hands . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hands.

He’s got the little bitty baby in His hands . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hands.

He’s got you and me, sister, in His hands . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hands.

He’s got you and me, brother, in His hands . . .
He’s got the whole world in His hands.

The singular “hand” in Boatner’s version is replaced by the plural “hands.” The family sequence is “sister” and “brother”—a more inclusive reference than “father” and “mother”—which potentially signifies anyone beyond relatives related by blood. The initial measure in Boatner’s version (mi-sol-mi-sol) is replaced by a simpler melodic incipit (sol-sol-mi-sol). Most hymnals today retain this later melodic version of the first measure. The African American Heritage Hymnal (2001) restores Boatner’s singular “hand” and includes the following stanzas:

He's got the whole world in His hand . . .
He's got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got the sun and the moon in His hand . . .
He's got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got the wind and the rain in His hand . . .
He's got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got the little bitty baby in His hand . . .
He's got the whole world in His hand.

He’s got you and me, brother, in His hands,
He’s got you and me, sister, in His hands,
He’s got ev’rybody here in His hand,
He's got the whole world in His hand.

The focus has shifted to a fuller creation account with less emphasis on the family relationships found in the earlier spiritual version.

Notated versions of the spiritual tell only part of its history, however. Recording artists account for the increased flexibility in lyrics. African American contralto Marian Anderson (1897–1993) recorded the spiritual in 1952 in a concert arrangement by American composer Hamilton Forrest (1901–1963). It was released under the RCA Victor Red Seal label that year as Marian Anderson Sings Eleven Great Spirituals (LRM 7006). The following is a live television performance in 1953 (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRGZrv0Hl6k) in which she adds distinctive elements to the text. See especially the third stanza below:

He’s got the whole world in his hands,
He’s got the big round world in his hands,
He’s got the wide world in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the wind and rain in his hands,
He’s got the moon and the stars in his hands,
He’s got the wind and rain in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the lying man right in his hands,
He’s got the gambling man right in his hands,
He’s got the crap-shooting man in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got the little bits-a baby in his hands . . .
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got you and me, brother in his hands,
He’s got you and me, sister in his hands,
He’s got you and me, brother in his hands,
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

He’s got everybody in here right his hands . . .
He’s got the whole world in his hands.

Anderson performed the spiritual again at the Lincoln Memorial in the 1963 March on Washington when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech. It became one of the signature songs of her career: “This spiritual reminds us not to lose sight of the fact that we have our times of extremity and that there is a Being who can help us at such a time. . . It is all there in that spiritual. I chose it not alone because I thought the audience would like it, but because it had a cry, an appeal, a meaning to me. It is much more than a number on a concert program” (Jones, 2003, n.p.).

Other singers popularized the song in various styles, including English singer Laurie London (b. 1944), whose recording became an international folk/pop hit in 1957–1958 (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wRljaRwc04). The gospel/blues rendition by Mahalia Jackson (1911–1972) addresses God in the second person, “You’ve got the whole world in your hands,” and inserts a blues riff (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEH7jyt1eoo). Jackson’s church gospel version explores its improvisational possibilities (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkbHHQtT_Ho). Activist and folk singer Odetta Holmes (1930–2008) offers an upbeat gospel version in this 1993 live performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZjuSinqLc4).

Additional YouTube searches reveal performances ranging from the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Salvation Army to the African Children’s Choir. The spiritual appears in numerous films and is a favorite of choral music publishers.

SOURCES:

C. Michael Hawn, “Edward Hammond Boatner,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology.
Canterbury Press, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/e/edward-hammond-boatner (accessed November 17, 2022).

Randye Jones, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”—Marian Anderson: https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/HesGotTheWholeWorld.pdf (accessed November 16, 2022).