Unit 3: Emergence of Modern America
"Steal Away"
by Bob Tam
Song:
traditional hymn
Sound recording:
“Steal Away” performed on the following:
- Cantus Deep River (arr. Harry T. Burleigh)
- Every Tone a Testimony Smithsonian/Folkway Recordings SFW CD 47003
- An Evening with Forbes Robinson Musical Heritage Society MHS 3243
Song Background:
Slaves developed African American spirituals initially as an expression of Christian faith and belief in the promise of a better life after the brutality of servitude on plantations. The parallel between the Israelites’ captivity and the slaves’ bondage in the American south was transparently obvious in songs such as “Go Down, Moses.”
Into the nineteenth century, however, some of the spirituals took on another layer of significance as they became a means of communication. Plantation owners were well aware of the Underground Railroad operated by northern abolitionists, southern sympathizers, and former slaves. Laws forbade slaves to learn to read and write, and public meetings were not allowed. Illiterate slaves had little chance to plan any resistance to their dismal conditions. Singing became not just an expression of faith in life after death, but a means to organize for freedom.
“Wade in the Water” and “Follow the Drinking Gourd” were spirituals that gave actual instructions to runaways. “Steal away to Jesus” literally means to follow the teachings of Christ, but it doesn’t take too much imagination to understand it as a call to meeting. Listeners would sneak off to the woods to learn to read, plan an escape, or organize an uprising. Nat Turner used this song to call out his followers in 1831 in Southampton, Virginia, when he led a short-lived revolt resulting in the deaths of 55 white people and the eventual execution of up to 200 slaves.
Discussion Questions:
- What are some meanings of the word “steal”? Steal can mean to take something that belongs to someone else. It also means to do something secretly.
- What are the different ways the Lord calls out to the singer of the song? Thunder and lightning call the singer; the trumpet within the soul is inspired, if not created, by God.
- In the song why would the Lord call out to the listener and why wouldn’t the listener have “long to stay here”? The lord summons the listener to be faithful in order to receive the blessing of a good life in heaven after death on earth. Our human sojourn is short in the big scheme of things; hence the slaves could more easily tolerate their suffering realizing it was ephemeral.
- How might a revolutionary like Nat Turner have used this song? Turner could have used this song as a signal to gather his confederates in secret in the woods to plot his uprising. Such an endeavor would take planning that the illiterate slaves could only accomplish by meeting together physically.
Activity: figurative language in song and story
This activity explores the idea that literature often operates at multiple levels of meaning. Metaphor, allegory, and allusion all depend on understanding at least two degrees of interpretation, and the enslaved people’s spirituals with their obvious double meanings can illuminate this function of fiction and poetry.
- The teacher leads a discussion about multiple meanings in the song “Steal Away” as evidenced in vocabulary (steal, here) and message (religion and escape).
- In small groups students discuss multiple meanings in the spiritual “Go Down Moses” (VAT 3.82 – 3.85) and compare the literal and implied messages in both songs. (Steal Away is literally about giving one’s devotion to Jesus while “Go Down Moses” implores the leader of the Israelites to convince the Egyptian pharoah to free their enslaved nation. Both songs show faith in God to eventually alleviate the burden of an oppressed people.Both songs could be used to secretly summon slaves to a meeting although “Go Down Moses” has a more revolutionary message. “Steal Away” advocates forbearance rather than a call to action. (Many other spirituals contained hidden messages, the most famous being “Follow the Drinking Gourd.” Others are “Wade in the Water,” “Ride the Chariot,” and “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”)
- Students create a short poem with religious subject matter that could have a second level of meaning. As an option the poem could be set to music by using a known spiritual tune or a student melody composed on Garage Band or a similar music authoring program.