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"Roll, Jordan, Roll" (Roud 6697), also "Roll, Jordan", is a spiritual written by Charles Wesley in the 18th century which became well-known among slaves in the United States during the 19th century. Appropriated as a coded message for escape, by the end of the American Civil War it had become known through much of the eastern United States. In the 20th century it helped inspire blues, and it remains a staple in gospel music. ==History== The tune known as "Roll, Jordan, Roll" was written by the English Methodist preacher Charles Wesley in the 18th century. It was introduced to the United States by the early 19th century, in states such as Kentucky and Virginia, as part of the Second Great Awakening, and often sung at camp meetings. From there, it was introduced to Black slaves by a planter or missionary, in an attempt to Christianize the slaves and eliminate their faith in traditional religions; this was hoped to make the slaves more docile, and thus easier to control. The song soon became popular with the slaves. According to Ann Powers of NPR, it became a "primary example of slaves' claiming and subverting a Christian message to express their own needs and send their own messages". The River Jordan of the song became a coded message for escape, calling to mind the Mississippi or Ohio Rivers, both of which led to the slave-free northern United States and thus freedom. The American war journalist Charles Carleton Coffin, who heard a performance of the song in Blythewood, South Carolina, in 1863, described "Roll, Jordan, Roll" as already having become a favourite song, with many versions to be found. A year later, a version was published in ''Slave Songs of the United States'' (compiled by abolitionists William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison, and Charles Pickard Ware). The editors, who positioned the song "in a place of honor" as the first entry in the book, noted that the song could be found from South Carolina down to Florida, and described it as "one of the best known and noblest" of Black spirituals. By 1920 over fifty publications had reproduced or referenced the song. "Roll, Jordan, Roll" influenced a variety of songs. The refrain of Stephen Foster's "Camptown Races", for instance, is considerably similar to the spiritual, and the melodies likewise have parallels. By the early 20th century, Stephen Calt writes, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" had influenced the creation of a new genre, blues, though likely through an undocumented secular version of the song. He finds compositional similarities in "Roll, Jordan, Roll" and all blues songs. Early blues songs, such as "Bad-luck Blues" (1927) and "Cool Drink of Water" (1928), used a similar structure to that of "Roll, Jordan, Roll". "Roll, Jordan, Roll", meanwhile, became a standard of the Fisk Jubilee Singers and has remained a staple of gospel music. The song was adapted, together with several other Black spirituals, by Nicholas Britell for the 2013 film ''12 Years a Slave'', Steve McQueen's adaptation of the memoir by Solomon Northup. Britell, in an interview with ''The Hollywood Reporter'', stated that he felt compelled to rearrange the song because "it was very important to create a world that was very unique", and the original lyrics were already well known. Powers found that the film's use of "Roll, Jordan, Roll" served as a counterpoint to "Run, Nigger, Run", a song of warning appropriated by the White overseer John Tibeats (portrayed by Paul Dano): where "Run, Nigger, Run" is used as a "taunt" to break the slaves' spirits, "Roll, Jordan, Roll" serves to reaffirm the character Northup's desire to not just survive, but live. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Roll, Jordan, Roll」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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