Oh Mary Don't You Weep

This week's theme song, Oh Mary Don't You Weep, made me think a lot about religion and the impact it has on people and their lives. I never grew up with religion of my own, and as a child I had never thought about the concept of religion or devotion even though I had grown up with biblical references and religious people all around me. It wasn't until I got older, into my teenage years, when I began to understand religion more than a simple term being thrown around, and finally as an actual belief and practice with the power to change a person's entire outlook on their world.
It seems almost like a fairytale to me, because I love hearing about religion and I love learning about religion but I don't know what is like to experience religion. And that is a gap between my head and my heart that I'm not sure what to do about, because the thought of pursuing religion has not settled in with me yet.

But when I see practices of religion, I am intrigued. I am enraptured in trying to understand what it must feel like to have such complete devotion to a divine entity that is not there, in front of you to touch, but that something that is intangible yet all so powerful. It boggles my mind! Like a paradox or a riddle I can't get to solving because I don't put my pencil down on it. But even amidst my personal contemplations about religion and what it can mean to a person, I still am able to become so moved by the voices of Gospel singers when they deliver their hymns. The sentiments and power I get out of listening to song is the closest glimpse I have to experiencing the divine.

Lomax words it perfectly:
"Anyone who has visited a rural Negro church, where the congregation sings from the heart instead of out of hymn-books, cannot fail to have been touched by the fire, the solemn dignity, the grand simplicity of the Negro spirituals."

It describes what I feel so perfectly when I hear the voices of Gospel singers. They sing from the heart and the soul-- and every time they do I am touched by their spirit even as a stranger to their religion and customs. I love the way the can completely change the way I feel about the song just from the style they sing in. I love Swan Silvertones' jazzy, bluesy rendition that makes me fill with upbeat joy, then Leadybelly's version sounds like a campfire singalong song with his jaunty vocals and instrument (same with Pete Seeger's cheerful country banjo tune), and Inez Andrews who translate her deep love and devotion straight through her hearty, strong voice. Though I enjoyed listening to Swan Silvertone most, Inez Andrews and the Andrewnettes take my breath away the most. She begins her song with the line "I'm just so glad that the Lord love me" and it makes me wonder how she must experience her world with such a strong foundation of love and support from God.

For one thing, I hope that whatever I say, I do not make it sound offensive-- because that is by no means anything I mean. The song Oh Mary Don't You Weep is a slave song that is imbued with hope and resistance and culture and history-- it is full of healing power and is a symbol of liberation that goes way back into time. The significance of the song is that it can bridge the gap between the past and the present, telling the story of pain and freedom that is understood through all ages.