"I sing God's music because it makes me feel free," Jackson once said about her choice of gospel, adding, "It gives me hope. With the blues, when you finish, you still have the blues."
Jackson grew up in the "Black Pearl" section of the Carrollton neighbourhood of uptown New Orleans, Louisiana, and began singing in a Baptist church. In 1927 she moved to Chicago, Illinois, where she sang with The Johnson Brothers, one of the earliest professional gospel groups.
The Johnson Brothers broke up in the mid-1930s, and Jackson began her solo career, recording for Decca in 1937. The result, "God's Gonna Separate the Wheat from the Tares", was only a moderate success, but Jackson became a popular concert draw. She didn't record again untill 1946, when she signed with Apollo Records, releasing several singles that are now highly regarded, though sales were sluggish at the time. "Move On up a Little Higher" (1948) became a huge success, however, and stores could not stock enough of it to meet demand. Jackson rocketed to fame in the U.S. and soon afterwards in Europe. "I Can Put My Trust in Jesus" won a prize from the French Academy, and "Silent Night" was one of the best-selling singles in the history of Norway. She began a radio series on CBS and signed to Columbia Records in 1954. With her mainstream success came an inevitable backlash from gospel purists who felt she had watered down her sound for popular accessibility.
Jackson's career in the late 1950s and early 1960s continued to rise when she recorded with Percy Faith, and performed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. She also sang at the funeral of her friend Martin Luther King, Jr. The late 1960s saw a downturn in her popular success. She ended her career with a concert in Germany in 1971; when she returned, she made one of her final television appearances on The Flip Wilson Show.
Jackson died in Chicago on 27th January 1972 of heart failure and diabetes at the age of sixty. She was buried in Providence Memorial Park in Metairie, Louisiana. She was posthumously inducted into the Gospel Music Association's Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1978.
Go Tell It On The Mountain
Mahalia Jackson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born
While shepherds kept their watching
Over silent flocks by night
Behold throughout the heavens
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born
The shepherds feared and trembled
When lo! above the earth
Rang out the angels chorus
That hailed the Savior's birth
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born
Down in a lowly manger
The humble Christ was born
And God sent us salvation
That blessèd Christmas morn
Go, tell it on the mountain
Over the hills and everywhere
Go, tell it on the mountain
That Jesus Christ is born
Mahalia Jackson's song "Go Tell It On the Mountain" is a classic gospel song that celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. The song starts by emphasizing the need to spread the word of Christ's birth, telling listeners to go and tell the news everywhere, over mountains and hills. This a call to arms to all believers to share the story of how Christ came into the world.
The song then shifts to the shepherds who were watching over their flocks by night. The bright shining star catches their attention, and they are amazed by the heavenly sight they behold. The stunning sight is a miracle, paired with an angel's chorus that hails the Savior's birth, and the shepherds are filled with fear and trembling.
The song ends by celebrating the humble birth of Christ in a manger, portraying this as God's gift of salvation to humanity. The lyrics to the song are straightforward but deeply moving, urging believers to share the message of salvation everywhere they go.
Line by Line Meaning
Go, tell it on the mountain
Spread the message far and wide
Over the hills and everywhere
To every corner of the earth
Go, tell it on the mountain
Spread the message far and wide
That Jesus Christ is born
The Savior has arrived
While shepherds kept their watching
As the shepherds were tending their sheep
Over silent flocks by night
In the stillness of the night
Behold throughout the heavens
An amazing sight in the sky
There shone a holy light
A light of divine origin
The shepherds feared and trembled
The shepherds were filled with awe and dread
When lo! above the earth
Suddenly, in the sky above
Rang out the angels chorus
The angels sang in unison
That hailed the Savior's birth
Celebrating the birth of the Messiah
Down in a lowly manger
In a simple stable
The humble Christ was born
The Messiah was born in modest surroundings
And God sent us salvation
The birth of Jesus brought us redemption
That blessèd Christmas morn
On that holy morning
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Traditional
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@swedishgleecluboflakecount791
Her version is the only version of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" I knew until college. The song was the last song just before the reading of the Christmas story on side 8 of my parent's Merry Christmas Reader's Digest Collectors Edition. You have no idea how disappointed I was that first time I sang the standard hymnal version. This is still the true one for me.
Sing it, Mahalia!
@leemcdaniel5072
I felt the same way after hearing the great Mahalia Jackson sing this song as a young child. No other version remotely measured up.
@ceeceetracey9839
Facts
@akalvig
My parents had this on one of their Christmas music record albums and I would wait until no one was at home and then play it and sing it in as soulful a way as a white Roman Catholic girl could! LOVE Mahalia Jackson!!
@marknewms2610
good for you! try singing the whole silent night albumn, I think you can. have some water available. merry x-mas
@akalvig
Thanks
@kevinmichael4976
Me too. And i am not a bit religical.
@alexmccleary2108
Omg me too!! Her voice moves me to tears….
@kevinwoplin9322
You cant fake real devotion...you knew Miss Jackson was real deal
@writerteacher1
I listen to Mahalia Jackson every Sunday morning getting ready for church. Nice feeling.