While the lyrics of his songs were usually religious, his music drew from both sacred and blues traditions. It is characterized by his slide guitar accompaniment and tenor voice, and his frequent use of a lower-register 'growl' or false bass voice.
According to his death certificate, Johnson was born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas. (Earlier, Temple, Texas had been suggested as his birthplace.) When he was five, he told his father he wanted to be a preacher and then made a cigar box guitar for himself. His mother died when he was young, and his father remarried soon after her death.
Johnson was not born blind. Although it is not certain how he lost his sight, his alleged widow Angeline Johnson told Samuel Charters that when Willie was seven his father beat his stepmother after catching her going out with another man; and that she in spite blinded young Willie by throwing lye in his face.
Johnson made 30 commercial recording studio record sides (29 songs) in five separate sessions for Columbia Records from 1927–1930. On some of these recordings Johnson uses a fast rhythmic picking style, while on others he plays slide guitar. According to a reputed one-time acquaintance, Blind Willie McTell (1898–1959), Johnson played with a brass ring; but the bluesman Tom Shaw, interviewed by Guido van Rijn in 1972, says that he used a knife. However, in enlargement, the only known photograph of Johnson seems to show that there is an actual bottleneck on the little finger of his left hand. While his other fingers are apparently fretting the strings, his little finger is extended straight—which also suggests there is a slide on it as well.
It is believed that Johnson married at least twice. He was married to Willie B. Harris. Her recollection of their initial meeting was recounted in the liner notes for Yazoo Records's album Praise God I'm Satisfied. He was later alleged to have been married to a woman named Angeline. Johnson was also said to be married to a sister of blues artist L. C. Robinson.[citation needed] No marriage certificates have yet been discovered. As Angeline Johnson often sang and performed with him,[citation needed] the first person to attempt to research his biography, Samuel Charters, made the mistake of assuming it was Angeline who had sung on several of Johnson's records. However, later research showed that it was Willie B. Harris.
Johnson remained poor until the end of his life, preaching and singing in the streets of several Texas cities including Beaumont. A city directory shows that in 1945, a Rev. W. J. Johnson, undoubtedly Blind Willie, operated the House of Prayer at 1440 Forrest Street, Beaumont, Texas. This is the same address listed on Johnson's death certificate. In 1945, his home burned to the ground. With nowhere else to go, Johnson lived in the burned ruins of his home, sleeping on a wet bed in the August/September Texas heat. He lived like this until he contracted malarial fever, and died on September 18, 1945. (The death certificate reports the cause of death as malarial fever, with syphilis and blindness as contributing factors.) In an interview, Angeline said that she tried to take him to a hospital, which refused to admit him because he was blind. Other sources report that the refusal was due to his being black.[citation needed]
According to his death certificate, he was buried in Blanchette Cemetery, Beaumont. The location of that cemetery had been forgotten until it was rediscovered in 2009. His exact gravesite remains unknown; but in 2010, the researchers who had identified the cemetery erected a monument there in his honor.
His father would often leave him on street corners to sing for money. Tradition has it that he was arrested for nearly starting a riot at a New Orleans courthouse with a powerful rendition of "If I Had My Way I'd Tear the Building Down", a song about Samson and Delilah. According to Samuel Charters, however, he was simply arrested while singing for tips in front of the Customs House by a police officer who misconstrued the title lyric and mistook it for incitement. Timothy Beal argued that the officer did not, in fact, misconstrue the meaning of the song, but that "the ancient story suddenly sounded dangerously contemporary" to him.
Several of Blind Willie Johnson's songs have been interpreted by other musicians, including "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed", "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine", "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground", "John the Revelator", "You'll Need Somebody on Your Bond", "Motherless Children" and "Soul of a Man".
"Dark Was the Night" is one of the music tracks on the Voyager Golden Record, copies of which were placed in 1977 on both the unmanned Voyager Project space probes. It is the penultimate track, preceding only the Cavatina from Beethoven's String Quartet Op. 130: the blind musician and the deaf one side by side. The astronomer Timothy Ferris, who worked with Carl Sagan in selecting those tracks, has said:
"Johnson's song concerns a situation he faced many times, nightfall with no place to sleep. Since humans appeared on Earth, the shroud of night has yet to fall without touching a man or woman in the same plight."
In 2012, Voyager 1 left the solar system and entered interstellar space, the first manmade spacecraft so to do. Voyager 2 is expected to do the same around 2016.
Ry Cooder's slide guitar title song and soundtrack music of the Wim Wenders film Paris, Texas (1984) was based on "Dark Was the Night".
"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" was played in the TV series The West Wing (season 5) episode 13, The Warfare of Genghis Khan. "It's Nobody's Fault but Mine" was played in the TV series The Walking Dead (season 5) episode 4 Slabtown.
Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed
Blind Willie Johnson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't want nobody to moan
All I want my friends to do
Come and fold my dying arms
Whoa Whoa well so I can die easy
Whoa Whoa well so I can die easy
Whoa Whoa well so I can die easy
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Meet me Jesus, meet me
Won't you meet me in the middle of the air
And if these wings should fail me Lord
Won't you meet me with another pair
Whoa whoa well won't you meet me Jesus
Whoa whoa well won't you meet me Jesus
Whoa whoa well won't you meet me Jesus
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
I'm goin' on down to the river
Stick my sword up in the sand
Gonna shout my trouble's over Lord
I've done made it to the Promised Land
Whoa whoa well I've done crossed over
Whoa whoa well I've done crossed over
Whoa whoa well I've done crossed over
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Ever since I been acquainted with Jesus
We haven't been a minute apart
He placed a receiver in my hands
True religion in my heart
Whoa whoa well I can ring up my Jesus
Whoa whoa well I can ring up my Jesus
Whoa whoa well I can ring up Jesus
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Goin' on down to the river
Stick my sword up in the sand
Gonna shout my trouble's over
I've done made it to the Promised Land
Whoa whoa well I've done crossed over
Whoa whoa well I've done crossed over
Whoa whoa Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Blind Willie Johnson's song "Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed" is a gospel blues song that is both somber and hopeful in its tone. The opening stanza sets the scene as the singer acknowledges that they are nearing the end of their life and does not want people mourning their death. Instead, they want their friends to come to their side and help them prepare to die peacefully. The three repetitions of "Whoa Whoa well so I can die easy" emphasize the singer's desire for a peaceful death that is unencumbered by the sorrows of others.
In the second stanza, the singer calls upon Jesus, asking him to meet them in the middle of the air. The use of "these wings" suggests that the singer is imagining themselves as an angel, ready to fly up to heaven. They acknowledge that even if their wings (or their physical body) should fail them, they have faith that Jesus will provide them with another pair of wings to help them on their journey.
The third stanza is the most triumphant, as the singer declares that they are going to the river to stick their sword in the sand. This is a reference to Joshua 4:13, where the Israelites use twelve stones from the river Jordan to build a memorial to God's power. The singer is declaring that they have triumphed over their troubles, and through their faith in Jesus they have made it to the Promised Land.
The final stanza repeats the message of the first, with the singer again declaring that they have crossed over to the other side and are ready to meet Jesus. The repetition of "Whoa whoa" and "Jesus gonna make up my dying bed" further emphasizes the singer's faith in a peaceful and loving death.
Line by Line Meaning
Now in the time of dying
As I prepare for my death
I don't want nobody to moan
I don't want anyone to mourn for me
All I want my friends to do
I want my friends to come and do
Come and fold my dying arms
Help me fold my arms as I pass away
Whoa Whoa well so I can die easy
So that my passing can be peaceful and without struggle
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
It is through Jesus that I will die with comfort and ease
Meet me Jesus, meet me
I am calling out to Jesus
Won't you meet me in the middle of the air
Please meet me as I pass from this world to the next
And if these wings should fail me Lord
If I am unable to ascend to heaven on my own
Won't you meet me with another pair
Please provide me with the means to reach you
Whoa whoa well won't you meet me Jesus
I am calling upon Jesus to come to me
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Jesus will provide me with comfort and peace as I pass away
I'm goin' on down to the river
I am going down to the river to cleanse myself
Stick my sword up in the sand
I will lay down my burdens and my weapons
Gonna shout my trouble's over Lord
I will declare that my suffering has come to an end
I've done made it to the Promised Land
I have reached heaven and eternal life
Whoa whoa well I've done crossed over
I have passed from this life to the next
Whoa whoa Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Jesus will provide me with comfort and peace in death
Ever since I been acquainted with Jesus
Since I became familiar with Jesus
We haven't been a minute apart
I have been close to him at all times
He placed a receiver in my hands
He gave me the ability to communicate with him
True religion in my heart
He instilled true faith in my heart
Whoa whoa well I can ring up my Jesus
I can call upon Jesus
Jesus gonna make up my dying bed
Jesus will provide me with comfort and peace as I pass away
Lyrics © ALPHA MUSIC, INC.
Written by: WILLIE JOHNSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
josep carreras belmonte
since me and Jesus got married
haven't been a minute apart
with the receiver in my hand
and religion in my heart.
I can ring 'im up easy
ahhhh, oh well
ring 'im up easy
go make up my...
mmmmm
weeping that he ain't lost
they despised the Amen
hanging on the Cross
hanging there in misery
ahhhhhhh
oh well
hanging there in misery
go make up my
mmmmmmm
mmmmmmm
Jesus gon' make up my...
they despised the Amen
made poor Martha moan
Jesus said to his deciples
come and carry my mother along
dying will be easy
ahhhhh
dying will be easy
dying will be easy
Jesus gon' make up my...
I'm dead and buried
somebody said that I was lost
when it get down to Jordan
have to bear my body across
done gone over
ahhh
oh well
done gone over
make up my...
Julio Estrada
These blues are the reason that Led Zeppelin, the greatest band ever, existed. It's always good to hear their roots.
Larry DuVall
we are lucky that the british liked these blues only way they got popular back in this country very little on the radio in 1940s -50s
Chacho Zermatt
@Dennis ummm. That’s a hard NO.
Dennis
Dont even need Led Zep. You can just listen to this.
AzizR
@Hank so edgy and cool
Hank
@Blood Bought Ministries both arent real. Whats your problem ?
sunlitweb
What persistence Willie needed to keep going when there were no special laws for African Americans or the disabled. He was often discriminated against and was poor all his life in Texas. After his house burned down in August of 1945 he had nowhere else to sleep for two months but in the ruins on a wet bed. He contracted malarial fever. The hospital refused to help him and he finally died at 48 years old. He paid a huge price for his race, disability and career. More than we can imagine.
gary melnyk
@mark alan Truly Mark. This piece has been with me all my adult life. It changed my life. 😊
Anthony Messineo
So true brother 💜
Nils Linus Weber
Yet he believed in Jesus Christ and never complained.