A 1988 Song "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" That Is A Gospelized Version Of Two Spirituals: "Lord I'm Out Here..." & "Fix Me"

gospelvinyl, March 1, 2019

lead: Dorothy Wheeler, track B2 on I'll Never Turn Back Again (Faith 1525)

Atlanta, GA gospel
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I'll Never Turn Back Again is the album name.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases the 1988 recording "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" sung by Rev. R.L. White, Jr. & Mount Ephraim Baptist Church Choir with lead singer, Dorothy Wheeler. 

This song is a gospelized Spiritual that actually combines two Spirituals: "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" and "Fix Me".  It's possible that there are earlier Gospel songs tha combine these two Spirituals, but I'm not aware of them.

"Gospelized Spiritual" is my term for a Spiritual that is performed in a Gospel style.

A YouTube video of "Fix Me" is included in this post along with some lyrics for that song.

My partial transcription of Rev. R.L. White, Jr. & Mount Ephraim Baptist Church Choir's rendition of "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" is also included in this post.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Rev. R.L. White, Jr. & Mount Ephraim Baptist Church Choir and lead singer, Dorothy Wheeler for their musical legacy. Thanks also to Alfred Street Baptist Church Male Choir for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these sound files on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2021/10/fisk-jubilee-singers-lord-im-out-here.html for the closely related pancocojams post entitled "Fisk Jubilee Singers - "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" (two sound files, information, & partial lyrics)". That post provides information about the Fisk Jubilee Singers who sung "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" in the United States and in Europe in the late 19th century.

Some Jamaican Apostolic choirs sing versions of "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" that combine that Spiritual with the "Fix Me" Spiritual. A pancocojams post that showcased videos of several of these choirs singing this song during church choir collection marches will be published ASAP and that link will be added here.
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LYRICS - LORD, I'M OUT HERE ON YOUR WORD [partial lyrics)* 
(as sung by Rev. R.L. White, Jr. & Mount Ephraim Baptist Church Choir)

Well, I’m out here on Your word
I’m out here on Your word
If I should die right on the battlefield
I’m out here on Your word.

I’m out here on your word
Oh yes
I’m out here on your word.
If I should die right on the battlefield
I’m out here on Your word.

I’m out here on Your word
Oh yes I am
I’m out here on your word.
If I should die right on the battlefield
I’m out here on Your word.

Well, I’m out here on Your word.
I’m out here on your word.
If I should die right on the battlefield
I’m out here on Your word.

Well, I can’t talk till you fix me right
I can’t walk till you fix me right
I can't sing til you fix me right
Fix me, Jesus!
You know how.
I’m out here on Your word.
I’m out here on Your word
I’m out here on Your word
If I should die right on the battlefield
I’m out here on Your word.

Fix me Jesus!
Fix me Lord.
Fix me Jesus!
You know how.

Fix my eyes so I can see, Lord
Fix my voice so I can talk right
Fix my hands so I can ? right.
Fix me!
Fix me!"...
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This is my partial transcription from this YouTube sound file. The question mark means that I wasn't sure of that word. I stopped transcribing around 1:47 in this sound file because the words were difficult for me to decipher. However, most of the words that I could understand appeared to follow the "Fix me!" / "fix my__ so I can __ right" pattern.

Additions and corrections are welcome.

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WHAT DOES 'OUT HERE ON YOUR WORD' MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS SONG?

The words "out here" means "being out in the world"

In the context of this Gospel song, "out here" can mean living  speaking, singing, etc. and , perhaps particularly proselytizing

"On your word" is a seldom used colloquial phrase. In the religious sense, "on your word" means based on my faith in Your Word". "Your" in that song means Jesus and "word" means what Jesus said (His teachings). 

The line "trusting in your holy word" that is found in the African American Gospel song "We've Come This Far By Faith" is another way of saying "on Your word" in its religious context. 

*The compositon date for the song "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" is unknown and the composers are unknown. However, the song was sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers when the toured the United States and Europe in the late 19th century.

In non-religious contexts, the phrase "at your word" has the similar meaning. Here's information about that phrase from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/take-someone-at-his-or-her-word :

"take someone at his or her word
Also, take someone's word for. Accept what someone says on trust, as in Since he said he'd agree to any of my ideas, I'll take him at his word, or She said she wanted to help out and I took her word for it. This idiom appeared in Miles Coverdale's translation of the Bible: “He said ... he is my brother. And the men took him shortly at his word” (I Kings 22:33). It is still so used. [1535]"

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SHOWCASE SONG #2: Fix Me Jesus - ASBC Male Chorus

  

majcpw, May 25, 2008

Alfred Street Baptist Church Male Chorus at their 43rd anniversary program "There's A Meeting Here Tonight, A Presentation About the History of the Negro Spiritual", presented on March 18th, 2007. The ASBC Drama and Liturgical Dance Ministries augmented the ASBC Male Chorus. The program featured traditional negro spirituals interspersed with historical narration and interpretive dance. This particular video is the Altar Call from the program and althrough it can stand by itself, it makes more sense when viewed after any of the videos that precede it, which can be found at the following playlist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8j4et...

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LYRICS- FIX ME
From https://hymnary.org/text/fix_me_for_my_long_white_robe
"Representative Text

Refrain:

Oh, fix me; Oh, fix me;
Oh, fix me. Fix me, Jesus, fix me.

1 Fix me for my long, white robe;
Fix me, Jesus, fix me.
Fix me for my starry crown;
Fix me, Jesus, fix me. [Refrain]

2 Fix me for my journey home;
Fix me, Jesus, fix me.
Fix me for my dying bed;
Fix me, Jesus, fix me. [Refrain]

Source: One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism: an African American ecumenical hymnal #143"
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"Refrain" means the same thing as the word "chorus".

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WHAT DOES THE PHRASE "FIX ME" MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS AFRICAN AMERICAN SPIRITUAL

In the context of the African American Spiritual "Fix Me", those words mean "heal me", "make me whole."

From https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-fix-me-jesus

History of Hymns: "Fix Me, Jesus"

Fix Me, Jesus

African-American Spiritual

The United Methodist Hymnal, No. 655.

[article published Feb. 9, 2017, no author cited]

..." This spiritual begins with the refrain, followed by two stanzas. ...The refrain is a plea to Jesus to repair one’s soul...

William Farley Smith, who arranged the setting of “Fix Me, Jesus” in The United Methodist Hymnal, suggests that the glides [Oh] should be performed as “moaning prayers” (Young, 336). “Fix me” is a cry to Jesus for healing.

Richard Newman in his collection of spirituals, Go Down, Moses: Celebrating the African-American Spiritual, provides this variant refrain:

O, fix me, Jesus, fix me right.
Fix me right, fix me right;
O, fix me, Jesus, fix me right,
Fix me so I can stand.

Newman offers this insight: “‘Fix Me, Jesus’ is a powerful African-American image, both poetically and religiously. However oppressed and cast down, the slaves sang songs of faith, confident that Jesus could ‘fix me so I can stand’” (Newman, 41)”…

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Fisk Jubilee Singers - "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" (two sound files, information, & partial lyrics)

Fisk Jubilee Singers - Topic, May 23, 2015

Provided to YouTube by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

 Lord, I'm Out Here on Your Word · Fisk Jubilee Singers

 ℗ 2004 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / 1955 Folkways Records

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases two sound files of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' rendition of "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word". The first sound file is from the 1955 Folkways Record and the second sound file is from the 2003 Bright Mansions album. *

Information about the Fisk Jubilee Singers is presented in this post along with my partial transcription of  the Fisk Jubilee Singers singing this song. This post also provides some information about what "out here on your word" means in the context of this Spiritual. 
 
The content of this post is presented for religious, historical, cultural, and aesthetic purposes. 

 All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the Fisk Jubilee Singers for their musical legacy. Thanks to all those associated with these recordings. Thanks also to all those quoted in this post.
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* For clarification purposes, "Fisk Jubilee SIngers" is the name that was used by the original group of students from Fisk University in 1871. Subsequent groups of students from that university have sung and are currently singing under that name. As such, the 1955 Folkways Record featured one group of Fisk University students and the 2002 Bright Mansions album features another group of Fisk Univesity students, both of whom were recorded as the "Fisk Jubilee Singers". However, neither of these records were of the original late 19th century group of Fisk Jubilee Singers.   

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INFORMATION ABOUT FISK JUBILEE SINGERS
Excerpt #1
From http://fiskjubileesingers.org/the-music/
"Our Music

The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an American a cappella ensemble that performs Negro spirituals originally sung by slaves prior to the Civil War. The first group of Singers arranged the music and took it on the road beginning in 1871 introducing the public to a new genre that remains a vibrant musical tradition today.

On November 16, 1871, a group of unknown singers — all but two former slaves and many still in their teens — arrived at Oberlin College in Ohio to perform before a national convention of ministers. After a few standard ballads the chorus sang spirituals and other songs associated with slavery. It was one of the first public performances of the secret music African Americans sang in the fields and behind closed doors for generations."
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Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisk_Jubilee_Singers for more history of the Fisk Jubilee Singers

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LORD, I'M OUT HERE ON YOUR WORD (partial transcription)* 

(unknown composers, sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, late 19th century)  

Lord, I’m out here on Your word
Lord, I’m out here on Your Word
If I die on the battlefield
Lord, I’m out here on Your word

Glad I got my religion in time.
Glad I got my religion in time
If I die on the battlefield
Glad I got my religion in time.

.041 to 1:31 ????

Lord, I’m out here on Your word
Lord, I’m out here on Your word
If I die on the battlefield
Lord, I’m out here on Your Word

Glad I got my religion in time.
Glad I got my religion in time
If I die on the battlefield
Glad I got my religion in time.

2:09 to 3:01 ??? 

Glad I got my religion in time.
Glad I got my religion in time
If I die on the battlefield
Glad I got my religion in time.

Lord, I’m out here on Your word
Lord, I’m out here on Your Word
If I die on the battlefield
Lord, I’m out here on Your Word
-snip-
This is my partial transcription from the recording for the 1955 Folkways Records album (given as sound file #1 above).

The question marks mean that I was unable to decipher those words. I think that the same words are sung during those two interludes.

Additions and corrections are very welcome.

Note that http://interlyrics.com/song-lyrics/1539655-201391/Lord,-I'm-Out-Here-on-Your-Word only gives the "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" and the Glad I got my religion it time" verses without attempting to transcribe those interludes that are also sung in that song. For that reason, that website's transcription of  the Fisk Jubilee Singer's rendition of "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" is also only a partial transcription.

It appears to me that the 2003 Bright Mansion album's recording of  the Fisk Jubilee Singers'  rendition of "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" has the same words as are found in the 1955 Folkways Records.

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WHAT DOES 'OUT HERE ON YOUR WORD' MEAN IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS SONG?
The words "out here" means "out in the world" (living, speaking, singing, doing certain actions)

"On your word" is a seldom used colloquial phrase. In the religious sense, "on your word" means based on my faith in Your Word". "Your" in that song means Jesus and "word" means what Jesus said (His teachings).   

The line "trusting in your holy word" that is found in the African American Gospel song "We've Come This Far By Faith" is another way of saying "on Your word" in its religious context. 

*The compositon date for the song "Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" is unknown and the composers are unknown. However, the song was sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers when the toured the United States and Europe in the late 19th century.

In non-religious contexts, the phrase "at your word" has the similar meaning. Here's information about that phrase from https://www.dictionary.com/browse/take-someone-at-his-or-her-word :

"take someone at his or her word
Also, take someone's word for. Accept what someone says on trust, as in Since he said he'd agree to any of my ideas, I'll take him at his word, or She said she wanted to help out and I took her word for it. This idiom appeared in Miles Coverdale's translation of the Bible: “He said ... he is my brother. And the men took him shortly at his word” (I Kings 22:33). It is still so used. [1535]

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SOUND FILE #2 : Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word

Fisk Jubilee Singers, Mar 1, 2018

Provided to YouTube by Curb Records Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word · Fisk Jubilee Singers In Bright Mansions ℗ Curb Records, Inc. Released on: 2003-01-28 Artist: Fisk Jubilee Singers

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A REVIEW OF THE FISK JUBILEE SINGERS' ALBUM "IN BRIGHT MANSIONS" [released 2003]
From https://www.allmusic.com/album/in-bright-mansions-mw0000230612?1634457700486 In Bright Mansions Review by John Bush  
"The Fisk Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville TN have dazzled thousands of concert-goers since their inception in 1871, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars for an African-American school that desperately needed a benefactor, and gaining fans from midwest America to the Netherlands. Except for a few poorly distributed albums in recent years, though, the group hadn't been released in several decades, and regardless, they've certainly never been better heard than on Curb's lavish 2003 production, In Bright Mansions. Digitally recorded with seven microphones in a mid-19th century Nashville church (that now houses a studio), the album is among the best ways to appreciate dynamic jubilee singing. Most of the arrangements are at least a half-century old, though a few songs have new arrangements from director Paul T. Kwami (a native Ghanaian who joined the group in 1995). Fortunately for neophytes, the group includes their performances of many classics of the form: "Were You There," "There Is a Balm in Gilead," "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," and an eerily powerful "Wade in the Water." Those with a yen for history can check out the lengthy, informative liner notes detailing the group's history, but the music is the key, and it's gorgeous."...
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John Bush, the author of this review wrote that "Most of the arrangements are at least a half-century old, though a few songs have new arrangements". The "In Bright Mansion album's arrangement for "Lord, I'm Out u Here On Your Word" is the same as the arrangement for that song in the 1955 Folkways Record (given as sound file #1 above).

It's possible that the 1955 recording of the Fisk Jubilee Singers' rendition of 'Lord, I'm Out Here On Your Word" has a different arrangement than that which the original Fisk University Singers used. I am assuming that that song-and all the other songs on these two records- were sung by the original Fisk Jubilee Singers.
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Additional Note: I rewrote my initial editorial note about that review later on 10/17/2021 to correct my misundertanding of the reviewer's statement "Digitally recorded with seven microphones in a mid-19th century Nashville church... At first I thought he meant that the record itself was from the mid-19th century, but realized that couldn't have been the casem in part, since there were no such thing as "digiital recording" back then, and in part because the Fisk Jubilee Singers wasn't formed until 1871. Then I thought that the reviewer meant "the mid-20th century" and was therefore referring to the Fisk Jubilee Singers' Folkways record that was released in 1955. But the reviewer wrote that the album was "digitally recorded". It wasn't until a couple of hours later that I realized that the reviewer meant that the church where the album was recorded was built in the mid 19th century. Duh!        

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