History of Hymns: 'I'm So Glad Jesus Lifted Me'

The repetitive text and possible call—response structure indicate that the song was easily preserved in oral tradition before finally appearing in a notated form. The three stanzas in the two earliest collections available to this author are as follows:

1. I’m so glad, Jesus lifted me . . .
   Singing Glory! Hallelujah!
   Jesus lifted me.
2. Satan had me bound, Jesus lifted me . . .
   Singing Glory! Hallelujah!
   Jesus lifted me.
3. When I was in trouble, Jesus lifted me . . .
   Singing Glory! Hallelujah!
   Jesus lifted me.

The stanzas are replete with the language of spiritual conversion common to nineteenth- and early twentieth-century revivals, thus easily traversing ethnic contexts.

“I’m So Glad Jesus Lifted Me” appears to be part of a family of “I’m so glad” spirituals and gospel songs. Interestingly, it does not appear in Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual: A Documentary Collection (1993), an anthology that includes the texts of four entries with the incipit (opening line), “I’m so glad.” They include:

“I’m so glad done just got out of that Egypt land,” collected from Befo’ De War Spirituals: Words and Melodies (Boston, 1933), edited by E.A. McIlhenny.

“I’m so glad, I’m so glad, I’m so glad there’s nobody dying there” found in The Story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers with Their Songs (Boston, 1881), edited by J.B.T. Marsh.

“I’m so glad, I’m so glad, I’m so glad I’ve been in the grave and rose again” in American Negro Spirituals (New York, 1926), edited by Jack Snyder.

“I’m so glad the angels brought the tidings down” in The Story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers with Their Songs (Boston, 1881).

To these, we add two others:

“I’m so glad, I’m so glad, that I’ve got to judgment in the morning” in Folksongs of the American Negro (Nashville, 1907), edited by Fisk University musician Frederick Jerome Work.

Finally, “I’m so glad trouble don’t last alway” is included in Edward Boatner’s Spirituals Triumphant Old and New (Nashville, 1927). While the melody is not the same as the “Jesus lifted me” variant, the layout of the text is the most similar to this version:

I’m so glad troubles don’t last alway,
I’m so glad troubles don’t last alway,
I’m so glad troubles don’t last alway,
Oh, my Lord, Oh, my Lord,
What shall I do?

The first six versions from the “I’m so glad” family come from sources that place them firmly in the Black tradition and contain references identifiable with spirituals. In contrast, the “Jesus lifted me” variant focuses more on the spiritual condition and the joy of being freed from the bonds of Satan—a theme commonly found in nineteenth-century white gospel songs. This is the only member of the “I’m so glad” family to persist in current hymnals. The other six variants strike tones of deliverance, defiance, and eschatological longing that resonate more fully with the circumstances of enslaved African Americans. Arthur C. Jones, the founder of the Spirituals Project, referring to “troubles don’t last alway,” places this variation in the following context:

“I’m so glad trouble don’t last alway” and “I’m so glad Jesus lifted me” appear to be the closest siblings because of their similar call—response structures and almost identical lengths. Furthermore, stanza 3 of “Jesus lifted me”—“When I was in trouble, Jesus lifted me”—bears a slight resemblance to the first stanza of its sibling. It is possible that “I’m so glad Jesus lifted me” is a gospel song version of “I’m so glad troubles don’t last alway.” The other songs in the “I’m so glad” family appear to be distant cousins.

Most hymnals provide undesignated standard diatonic harmonizations. Some include arrangements with more chromaticism, syncopation, and moving bass lines by prominent African American composers, including Evelyn Simpson-Currenton (b. 1953) in African American Heritage Hymnal (2001), Hezekiah Brinson Jr. (b. 1958) in Lift Every Voice and Sing II (1993), and Richard Smallwood (b. 1948) in Chalice Hymnal (1995).

SOURCES

Arthur C. Jones, Wade in the Water: The Wisdom of the Spirituals (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1993).

Eileen Guenther, In Their Own Words: Slave Life and the Power of Spirituals (St. Louis: MorningStar Music Publishers, 2016).

Erskine Peters, ed., Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual: A Documentary Collection (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1993).

Marilyn Kay Stulken, With One Voice: Reference Companion (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2000).