“When the Saints Go Marching In” ( Rus. When the saints tread , also When the saints march ) is a folk American song of the spirituals genre. Since the second quarter of the XX century, the song was recorded by many artists of different genres, it also became the standard in the jazz repertoire.
Authorship
Authorship not established. It is possible that the melody belongs to Edward Boutner, who published it in the songbook Spirituals Triumphant - Old and New, published in 1927 in Nashville . The song is often mistakenly attributed to James Milton Black, who in 1896 composed a song called “When the Saints Are Marching In,” which is confused with the real song. In addition, various variations of the name add confusion to the source of the song: for example, there were such titles as “When the Saints March in for Crowning” (1898), “When All the Saints Come Marching In” (1923) and “When the Saints Go Marching Home ”(1927).
The text “When the Saints Go Marching In” is associated with the oral tradition of spirituals of the Negro population of the South USA , and therefore it is no longer possible to identify the author of the text.
Contents
Regardless of the version of the text, the song expresses the hope of being reckoned among the chosen ones and entering heaven on the Day of Judgment . The text usually refers to the Apocalypse , mentioning the eclipse of the sun or the trumpet of the archangel Gabriel , and includes the refrain : “Oh, when the saints come, Lord, how I want to be among them when the saints step in” ( Eng. Oh when the saints go marching in, Lord, how I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in ).
Versions
The song was born as part of the New Orleans ritual of Negro burial, when slow songs were performed first, and after the burial, their quick versions. It was in a quick version of the Dixieland style that the song “When the Saints Go Marching In” was recorded and made popular in the 1930s by Louis Armstrong . Nevertheless, there is no “canonical” version of the song, as it was recorded by many artists in different arrangements ( Mahalia Jackson , Harry Belafonte , Judy Garland , Jerry Lee Lewis and others). The lyrics have been modified more than once. For example, Bill Haley wrote the song “The Saint of Rock'n'Roll” based on it. There are also versions of the song in other languages.