Develop a Discipleship System
History of Hymns: 'When the Saints Go Marching In'
By C. Michael Hawn
“When the Saints Go Marching In”
African American Spiritual
O when the saints go marching in;
O when the saints go marching in;
O, Lord, I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in.
Early Recordings
“When the Saints Go Marching In” is a song deeply rooted in the African American community, with a rich history that transcends cultural boundaries. Like many folk-related songs, it has a parallel life in the White tradition. Some collections designate it as an African American Spiritual. Though the song’s origins may be untraceable, its prominence was solidified when Louis Armstrong (1901–1971) included it on the recording Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday (Decca, 1938). This jazz rendition, featuring Armstrong singing only the refrain and playing the trumpet, marked a significant moment in the song's journey.
The first known recording, however, was a 78-rpm single titled “When All the Saints Come Marching In” by the Paramount Jubilee Singers (Paramount, 1923). This early twentieth-century mixed gospel quartet version accompanied by a pump organ was rereleased on the album Black Vocal Groups, Vol. 2 (Document Records, 1995). Despite the stated title, the text sung by the quartet is “When the saints go marching in” throughout the recording. The stanzas, alternating with the refrain, reveal a sinner’s search for Christ:
1. It’s Jesus Christ I want to find.
Pray, tell me where he is.
Then the Lord can ease my mind
and heal my conscience clean.
2. If you go down in yonder cove
And search upon the sea,
You'll find him there, for I am told
with love he loves to give.
3. I thank you friends for your advice.
I'll find him if I can.
And if I do, I will rejoice
for Christ a friend to man.
(Transcription by Howard, Canterbury Dictionary)
A distinctive element of this recording is the use of a 'flattened third' on the second line of the refrain on the word 'go,' making it the highest pitch of the refrain. This musical technique, commonly found in blues music, adds a unique and soulful quality to the song.
The version recorded by the Pace Jubilee Singers appeared in 1928 on a 78-rpm (Victor 21582) with a recording of “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel” on the flip side. It was reissued on the album Pace Jubilee Singers, Vol. 2 (Document Records, 1998). This African American group, founded by composer and publisher Charles Henry Pace (1886–1963), recorded numerous single records of spirituals between 1926 and 1929 arranged by Pace and gospel songs by Pace and Methodist pastor Charles Albert Tindley (1851–1933). The Pace Jubilee Singers’ performances signaled what became the more standard version.
Print Variations
Printed versions around the turn of the twentieth century had similar opening lines, including “When the Saints Are Marching In” (1896) with words by Katharine E. Purvis (1842–1907), an educator and political activist. Composer and choral leader James Milton Black (1856–1938), known primarily for the gospel song “When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder,” composed the music. Musicologist James Fuld notes, “The written history of this Negro spiritual commences with the deposit, on June 17, 1896, . . . by J.M. Black,” though no copy of the first version is extant (Fuld, 1966, p. 641). However, it appeared the same year in Ira D. Sankey’s Sacred Songs, No. 1 (New York, 1896, no. 114). Besides the signature line, little else in the music or the words resembles today’s song.
A second song with a similar title, “When the saints march in for crowning,” appeared in a convention collection, TheSilver Trumpet (Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, 1908), with words by Harriet E. Jones (1823–1915) and music by James D. Vaughan (1864–1941). Once again, no similarity exists between this song and the one known today except for the opening line of the refrain.
Perhaps the earliest print version of the song known today was in Spirituals Triumphant: Old and New (Nashville, 1927), a collection prepared by the versatile musician Edward Hammond Boatner (1898–1981) for the National Baptist Convention, USA, an African American denomination. This two-page score provides four stanzas for the refrain:
- O when the saints . . .
- O when they crown him Lord of all . . .
- O when the sun refuse to shine . . .
- O when the moon runs down in blood . . .
The traditional refrain recalls verses in Revelation. The phrase, “I want to be in that number,” may refer to Revelation 5:11: “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (KJV). Stanza 2 quotes “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” by Edward Perronet (1721–1792) and captures the spirit of Revelation 5:13: “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (KJV). Stanzas 3 and 4 have an apocalyptic tone based on Matthew 24:29–31, echoing the spiritual, “My Lord, what a morning (mourning).”
A distinctive feature of the melody is the high “F” on “go” in the second line. The rendition by the Paramount Jubilee Singers cited above ascended to an E-flat, a minor third, rather than a perfect fourth, giving the melody a “blues note.” The melody appearing in hymnals today is much more restrained.
The second page of the score has four solo stanzas that designate the saints already in heaven: “loving brother,” “loving sister,” “loving father,” “loving mother.” The singer “promised I would meet [them], / When the saints go marching in.” Listing family members is a familiar folksong trope in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The Green Pastures Spirituals (Chicago,1930), arranged by noted African American composer and conductor Hall Johnson (1888–1970), was a collection of twenty-five spirituals that appeared in a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by the same name written by Marc Connelly, a White playwriter, in 1930. (Fuld, 1966, p. 642) The Green Pastures had the first all-Black Broadway cast. A film version was released in 1936. “When the Saints” appears early as the second musical number in the play’s first act. Johnson’s arrangement, under the title “When de Saints Come Marchin’ In,” appears to have been influenced by Boatner’s publication in text and melody.
The refrain known today has been matched to various stanzas by numerous authors. Gospel song composer Luther G. Presley (1887–1974) composed stanzas in 1937 beginning with the following well-known adaptation:
I’m just a weary pilgrim,
Plodding thru this world of sin;
Getting ready for that city
When the saints go marching in.
Virgil O. Stamps (1892–1940) included it in Favorite Radio Songs (Dallas, 1937), one of the many Stamps-Baxter collections.
R.E. [Robert Emmett] Winsett (1876–1952), known for claiming credit and copyrighting several well-known spirituals, attached his name to the song, adapted the text in various places, and claimed copyright.
Baptist musician and composer B.B. [Baylus Benjamin] McKinney (1886–1952) composed and arranged a version. His text— “Words Adapted and Written by B.B. McK.”—was copyrighted in 1931 by Robert H. Coleman for his gospel collections. McKinney expands on Boatner’s list of family members. The first stanza fulfills the needs of a revival meeting:
I had a loving brother,
Death released him from sin,
And I promised I would meet him,
When the saints go marching in.
Successive stanzas address a “precious sister,” “Christ-like father,” “sweet mother,” and a “living Savior.” The refrain is familiar with the added “Lord, I want to be in that number” in the third line. The naming of family members successively is a familiar trope of folk songs and spirituals in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. McKinney’s version preserves the rise to the perfect fourth in the refrain.
Current African American hymnals, including the African American Heritage Hymnal (2001), Lead Me, Guide Me, 2ndEd. (2012), and This Far By Faith (1999) use the more restrained, well-known melody. Rather than a refrain with solo stanzas, the refrain appears in a stanza form. For example, the Lutheran hymnal This Far By Faith incorporates the following stanzas:
2. Oh, when the Lord in glory comes,
Oh, when the Lord in glory comes,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When the Lord in glory comes.
3. Oh, when the new world is revealed,
Oh, when the new world is revealed,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When the new world is revealed.
4. Oh, when they gather ‘round the throne,
Oh, when they gather ‘round the throne,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When they gather ‘round the throne.
5. Oh, when they crown him King of kings,
Oh, when they crown him King of kings,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When they crown him King of kings.
The African American Heritage Hymnal includes stanzas found in Boatner’s collection:
2. O when the sun refused to shine,
O when the sun refused to shine,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When the sun refused to shine.
3. O when they crown him Lord of all,
O when they crown him Lord of all,
O Lord, I want to be in that number
When they crown him Lord of all.
The 'Saints' Beyond the Church
Though the song is primarily associated with the Dixieland sounds of Louis Armstrong, Black and White performers alike have recorded numerous renditions of “When the Saints.” Among the most popular are a lively Black gospel version by Mahalia Jackson, a gospel quartet arrangement featuring Elvis Presley, a medley by Johnny Cash, a reflective arrangement by Bruce Springsteen, and an upbeat White gospel version by the Gaithers, to name a few.
Numerous university and professional sports teams have modified it for use as an anthem in their competitions, especially in the U.K. and USA. An extensive list is available here.
SOURCES
Edward Hammond Boatner, Spirituals Triumphant: Old and New (Nashville: National Baptist Convention, USA, 1927).
James J. Fuld, The Book of World-Famous Music, Classical, Popular, and Folk (New York: Crown Publishers, 1966).
Beverly Howard, “When the saints go marching in,” The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, http://www.hymnology.co.uk/w/when-the-saints-go-marching-in (accessed September 27, 2024).
Hall Johnson, The Green Pastures Spirituals (New York: Carl Fischer, Inc., 1930).
C. Michael Hawn is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Church Music at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. He resides in Richmond, Virginia.
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