"King Jesus Is The Rock", A 1925 Example Of The Black Gospel Song "Lead Me To The Rock That Is Higher Than I"

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part series on the Gospel song "Lead Me To The Rock That Is Higher Than I".

Part I presents an example of this song entitled "King Jesus
Is The Rock" from the 1925 book The Negro And His Songs edited by Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson (University Of North Carolina Press).

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/02/maria-providence-hear-my-cry-oh-lord.html. Part II showcases two examples of this song entitled "Hear My Cry Oh Lord" by Jamaican-Canadian vocalist Marvia Providence. Biographical information about Marvia Providence, song lyrics, and selected comments from one of these example's discussion threads are also included in that post.

The content of this post is presented for historical, cultural, and religious purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composer/s of this early Black Gospel song and thanks to Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson, the editors of the book The Negro And His Songs for archiving this song.

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FEATURED SONG: KING JESUS IS THE ROCK
From https://archive.org/stream/negrohissongsstu00odum/negrohissongsstu00odum_djvu.txt

Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

THE NEGRO AND HIS SONGS
A STUDY OF TYPICAL NEGRO SONGS
IN THE SOUTH
BY HOWARD W. ODUM, Ph.D.
KENAN PROFESSOR OP SOCIOLOGY ANDT>IRECTOR OF THE
SCHOOL OP PUBLIC WELFARE, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA
AND GUY B. JOHNSON, A.M.
INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH IN SOCIAL SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, CHAPEL HILL
THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA PRESS...
1925

[page 92, 93 Examples of Religious Songs]

"The Negroes sometimes call the following song the
"riddle song," because the leader asks, "Who is the
Rock?" while the answer comes back, "King Jesus
is the Rock."

Lead me to the Rock, lead me to the Rock,
Lead me to the Rock, that is higher an' higher.
Oh, lead me to the Rock,
Yes, lead me to the Rock that is higher an' higher.

King Jesus is the Rock, yes, King Jesus is the Rock,
King Jesus is the Rock that is higher an' higher.
Oh, King Jesus is the Rock,
Yes, King Jesus is the Rock that is higher an' higher.

Standing on the Rock, yes, standing on the Rock,
Standing on the Rock that is higher an' higher.
Oh, standing on the Rock,
Yes, standing on the Rock that is higher an' higher."
-end of quote-

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THE BIBLICAL SOURCE FOR THIS SONG
Psalm 61:2, English Standard Version
"from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I"

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This concludes Part I of this series.

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