Songs of Zion ‎#210

210. Lift Every Voice and Sing

1 Lift ev'ry voice and sing,
'Til earth and heaven ring,
Ring with the harmonies of liberty,
Let our rejoicing rise,
High as the list'ning skies,
Let it resound, loud as the rolling sea.
Sing a song full of the faith
that the dark past has taught us,
Sing a song, full of the hope
that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun
Of our new day begun,
Let us march on, til victory is won.

2 Stony the road we trod,
Bitter the chast'ning rod,
Felt in the days when hope unborn died;
Yet with a steady beat,
Have not our weary feet
Come to the place for which our fathers sighed?
We have come over a way
that with tears has been watered,
We have come, treading our path
through the blood of the slaughtered.
Out from the gloomy past,
'Til now we stand at last
Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

3 God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
Thou who hast brought us thus far on the way,
Thou who hast by Thy might,
Led us into the light,
Keep us forever in the path, we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places,
our God, where we met Thee,
Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine
of the world, we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath Thy hand,
May we forever stand,
True to our God, true to our native land.

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: Lift ev'ry voice and sing
• Title: Lift Every Voice and Sing
• Author: James Weldon Johnson, 1871-1938
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1981
• Topic: Songs for Special Occasions
• Copyright: © 1927 Edward B. Marks Music Corporation
• Notes: Now Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: [Lift ev'ry voice and sing]
• Composer: J. Rosamond Johnson, 1873-1954
• Arranger: Verolga Nix, 1933-
• Key: A♭ Major
• Copyright: © 1927 Edward B. Marks Music Corporation; Arr. © Edward B. Marks Music Corparation
• Notes: Now Public Domain