Save the People

 

1 When will you save the people?

O God of mercy, when?

Not states and corporations!

But children, women, men!

Flowers of your heart, O God, are they;

Let them not pass, like weeds, away,

Their heritage a sunless day;

God, save the people!

 Since shortly after Easter, I've been writing about the different songs in the musical "Godspell." As with many of the songs, this one is taken from an Episcopal hymn. 

The words to the original song were written as a poem titled "The People's Anthem" by Ebenezer Elliott, shortly before his death. Elliot lived from 1781-1849 in Yorkshire county, spending most of his life in Sheffield, working in the iron trade. Many of his poems were published in the Sheffield newspapers. He was actually quite political and was referred to as the Corn Law Rhymer, because of his work to repeal the Corn Laws, which caused hardship and starvation among the poor. (You can read more about his interesting life here.)

All that makes sense when you study these lyrics and note lines such as "not states and corporations" or the ones below.

2 Shall crime breed crime forever,

Strength aiding still the strong?

Is it your will, Creator,

That we shall toil for wrong?

"No," say your mountains; "no," your skies;

The clouded sun shall brightly rise,

And song be heard instead of sighs;

God, save the people!

3 When will you save the people?

O God of mercy, when?

The people, Lord, the people,

But children, women, men!

God, save the people; yours we are,

Your children, as your angels fair,

From vice, oppression, and despair;

God, save the people!

I couldn't find anyone on YouTube singing the original version. For his musical "Godspell," Stephen Schwartz changed a few words and wrote new music for it, which I'm sure is much catchier than the one from nearly two hundred years ago. The words, in both versions, are still as meaningful.

Lord, have mercy on us and when our lives are difficult, grant us strength and the faith to greet each day. Amen

In case you didn’t catch all the highlights above, which were links to my resources, here they are:

               Video for the song “God Save the People” from the movie “Godspell” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rw1j8QvtZZc

               The original words to the hymn “When Wilt Thou Save the People” – https://hymnary.org/text/when_wilt_thou_save_the_people

               Biography of Ebenezer Elliot – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Elliott

               My source for the inspiration behind all the songs in “Godspell” – https://www.godspell.com/godspell-lyric-sources/