Bosom of Abraham (song)
traditional African-American spiritual
"Rock O' My Soul", also known as "Rock My Soul", "Bosom of Abraham" or "Rocka My Soul", is a traditional African American spiritual. It was first documented by William Francis Allen, in the 1867 collection Slave Songs of the United States. Allen attributed the origin of the song to the state of Virginia and documented the following lyrics:
One of the earliest recorded version was made in 1937 by the Heavenly Gospel Singers. Notable artists who have recorded the song include the Jordanaires, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Donegan, Peter Paul & Mary and Elvis Presley.
Alvin Ailey made "Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham" the music for the triumphant finale of his internationally known choreography Revelations, which was born out of the choreographer's "blood memories" of his childhood in rural Texas and attending the Baptist Church with his mother. It was also performed as a tribute at his 1989 funeral at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Israeli dancer and choreographer Nadav Zelner used "Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham" as music for a clip for his student dance troupe.
References
External links
Library of Congress, recording of Rich Brown singing "Rocky My Soul" unaccompanied. Recorded by John Lomax, 1940.
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This entry incorporates text from “Bosom of Abraham (song)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.