Oh, Freedom

"Oh, Freedom" is a post-Civil War African-American freedom song. It is often associated with the Civil Rights Movement, with Odetta, who recorded it as part of the "Spiritual Trilogy", on her Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues album,[1] and with Joan Baez, who performed the song at the 1963 March on Washington.[2] Baez has since performed the song live numerous times, both during her concerts and at other events. The song was first recorded in 1931 by the E. R. Nance Family as "Sweet Freedom".

Some versions of the fourth verse contain the line "No more tommin'," where the word tommin is a derogatory term denoting some black men's extreme submissiveness towards a white person or white people. The word seems to have been derived from Harriet Beecher Stowe's fictitious character Uncle Tom in Uncle Tom's Cabin. These words are not part in the traditional verses, but a later addition, itself part of folk tradition in the US, in which extra verses are added to traditional songs to highlight different personal feelings, agendas, or lyrical invention.

Lyrics

“Oh Freedom”

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

No more weepin',no more weepin',no more weepin'over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

No more weeping, no more weeping, no more weeping over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

There'll be singin', there'll be singin', there'll be singin' over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

There'll be glory, there'll be glory, there'll be glory over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me

And before I'd be a slave I'll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

In the 1964 presidential campaign, civil rights activists opposing the candidacy of Barry Goldwater changed the words to "And before I'd be a slave, I'll see Barry in his grave and go fight for my rights and be free."

References

Hawn, C. Michael. "History of Hymns: 'O Freedom' and 'Freedom is Coming'". Discipleship Ministries: The United Methodist Church. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
Trescott, Jacqueline (August 14, 2011). "Music of the Movement: 'Oh Freedom'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 18 March 2019.

Civil Rights Movement (1950s and 1960s)

Notable
events
(timeline)

Prior to 1954	Journey of Reconciliation Murder of Harry and Harriette Moore Sweatt v. Painter (1950) McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950) Baton Rouge bus boycott
1954–1959	Brown v. Board of Education Bolling v. Sharpe Briggs v. Elliott Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County Gebhart v. Belton Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company Emmett Till Montgomery bus boycott Browder v. Gayle Tallahassee bus boycott Mansfield school desegregation 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom "Give Us the Ballot" Royal Ice Cream sit-in Little Rock Nine National Guard blockade Civil Rights Act of 1957 Katz Drug Store sit-in Kissing Case Biloxi wade-ins
1960–1963	New Year's Day March Greensboro sit-ins Nashville sit-ins Sit-in movement Greenville Eight Civil Rights Act of 1960 Ax Handle Saturday Gomillion v. Lightfoot Boynton v. Virginia Rock Hill sit-ins Robert F. Kennedy's Law Day Address Freedom Rides attacks Garner v. Louisiana Albany Movement Cambridge movement University of Chicago sit-ins "Second Emancipation Proclamation" Meredith enrollment, Ole Miss riot "Segregation now, segregation forever" Stand in the Schoolhouse Door 1963 Birmingham campaign Letter from Birmingham Jail Children's Crusade Birmingham riot 16th Street Baptist Church bombing John F. Kennedy's speech to the nation on Civil Rights Detroit Walk to Freedom March on Washington "I Have a Dream" Big Six St. Augustine movement
1964–1968	Twenty-fourth Amendment Chester school protests Bloody Tuesday Freedom Summer workers' murders Civil Rights Act of 1964 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches "How Long, Not Long" Voting Rights Act of 1965 Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections March Against Fear White House Conference on Civil Rights Chicago Freedom Movement/Chicago open housing movement Memphis sanitation strike King assassination funeral riots Poor People's Campaign Civil Rights Act of 1968 Fair Housing Act Green v. County School Board of New Kent County

Activist
groups

Activists

Influences

Related

Honoring

Noted
historians

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