This Little Light of Mine
- This Little Light of Mine
"This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel children's song written by Harry Dixon Loes (1895-1965) in about 1920. Loes, who studied at the Moody Bible Institute and the American Conservatory of Music, was a musical composer, and teacher, who wrote, and co-wrote, several other gospel songs. The song has since entered the folk tradition, first being collected by John Lomax in 1939. Often thought of as a Negro spiritual, it does not, however, appear in any collection of jubilee or plantation songs from the nineteenth century.
The song takes its theme from Mathew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heaven:" :"This little light o' mine, I'm goin' let it shine,":"This little light o' mine, I'm goin' let it shine,":"This little light o' mine, I'm goin' let it shine,":"Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine."
It is usually published with a set of hand movements to be used for the instruction of children.
Under the influence of Zilphia Horton, Fannie Lou Hamer and others it eventually became a Civil Rights anthem in the 1950s and 1960s. The Seekers recorded it for their second UK album, "Hide & Seekers" (also known as "The Four & Only Seekers") in 1964. Over time it also became a very popular children's song, recorded and performed by the likes of Raffi in the 1980s.
With lyrics in Swedish, the song was recorded as "Det lilla ljus" by Carola Häggkvist.
A recording of the song by Paul Robeson can be heard in Sidney Lumet's 1983 film Daniel. A portion of the song can be heard in the movie "Black Snake Moan", sung by Christina Ricci.
External links
* [http://www.negrospirituals.com/news-song/this_little_light_of_mine.htm Spiritual lyrics]
* [http://folkmusic.about.com/od/toptens/tp/CivilRightsSong.htm Top 10 Civil Rights songs]
* [http://www.instantchoir.com/thislittlelight/index.html This Little Light of Mine for choir.]
* [http://lottelehmann.org/llf/lehmann/bibliography/Tributefolder/SecLLTribRec.html/RaginSings.mp3 recording] by Derek Lee Ragin of "This Little Light of Mine"
* [http://memory.loc.gov/afc/afcss39/264/2648b1.mp3 "This Little Light of Mine"] Doris McMurray, Goree Farm, Huntsville, TX: John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip.
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