WMS - Kumbaya my Lord

Topic: Religious Uses
"Come by Here" began as a religious song, and "Kumbaya" evolved into one. Long before it was ensconced in hymnals by the Methodists in 1989 [1] and Presbyterians in 1990, [2] adolescents had included it in their worship services in camps. Andrea Spurrell reported it was a "chapel song" at Mint Brook in 1973. [3] The girls’ camp session was sponsored by the Anglican Diocese of Central Newfoundland.

"Kumbaya" held a special attraction for adolescents. In the 1950s, Arnold Gesell led a team that had been interviewing groups of children and their parents every year since they were young. They found most began developing abstract cognitive patterns around the age of eleven or twelve. Among other things, this brought an improved ability to listen. Many music educators considered this fundamental to the ability to sing well. [4] Before this time, children who were singing in groups were each singing individually. Around age twelve, the Gesell Institute found, a boy or girl [5] "especially enjoys singing in harmony." [6] This coincided with a new interest in religion [7] that led them to join the church choir. [8]

A youth group in Miêdzywodzie, Poland, sang "Kumbaya" in a Roman Catholic mass in 2013 for a group who were leaving on a mission. It incorporated many elements youth in this country included in their services.

Performers
Vocal soloist: young woman
Vocal group: congregation
Instrumental accompaniment: two guitars, with steel strings

Rhythm accompaniment: drum with head about 8-12" across, played with the hands. Only the head was visible in the video.

Notes on Lyrics
Language: English

Pronunciation: first syllable was "koom." Accent on the second syllable, "ba."

Pronoun: someone

Format: verse-burden.  Two repetitions of "kumbaya," a verse in English, one repetition of "kumbaya," another verse in English, then two repetitions of "kumbaya."

Line repetition pattern: AAAB
Line pattern: statement-refrain
Verses: "someone’s crying" and "yes we need you."

Notes on Music
Melody: 1-3-5 with elements of Seeker’s tune
Basic Structure: group or solo statement, group refrain

Solo-Group Dynamics: a woman started the verses, and sang the statements. As soon as they heard "kum," the congregation joined, otherwise they only sand the refrains. When the youth were in the back, they were not sure if they were to continue moving, until they hear the woman start the next repetition.

Singing Style: the congregation sang all the "kumbaya" refrains in unison. The range of voices gave it a denser sound.

Notes on Performance
Two young men and six young women dressed in tie-dyed or large-print caftans sang as they walked down the central aisle of a modern church with narrow wooden bench seats. They carried single candles, which they must have placed on the altar platform. They moved their arms as they walked back along the side aisles, and continued at the rear where the musicians were sitting. The lead singer stood to one side.

The community of Miêdzywodzie was small: Wikipedia said 681 in 2014. [9] The only Roman Catholic church was the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Mary. The priests or their aides, and maybe the men leaving for service stood on the altar platform dressed in white gowns. They walked about during the singing conduction their own business. It was not clear from Google’s translation of the YouTube comments if the volunteers were missionaries or military men.

Notes on Movement
Congregation is standing. As the youth moved down the center aisle they stepped on diagonals so they appeared to move from side to side as they moved forward; some may have been exaggerating the affect with their hips. On the last "Lord" of the first repetition, they turned in place.

On their way back along the side aisles, they used movements one associates with Hawaiian dancers. They moved both arms to one side where they pulled them back and forth from the elbows with the undulating hands extended. This was repeated on the other side, and the general pattern repeated. When they were in a line at the back, they continued, but held their arms upward and moved them to the front diagonals.

On the very last "Lord," they turned in place.

Audience Perceptions
It sounded like members of the congregation were the ones doing the singing. A woman, presumably the solist, said something at the beginning that may have cued them.

Viewers’ Perceptions
The choreography and use of "Kumbaya" was not possible until Vatican II allowed changes in the liturgy. The only comments were from someone who preferred the older rituals. He or she wrote:

"I invite you also to familiarize yourself with the Traditional Catholic Mass, which in the fullest and most dignified way of painting us the power and power of our God in the One Trinity (type in you tuba Latin Mass).

"It is the liturgy of St. Padre Pio, St. Pius V, St. Pius X, Ignatius Loyola, John Mary Jordan from the Cross, and many other holy men and women, for example." [10]

Even more than the use of laymen singing "Kumbaya," the self-identified Apologetic objected to the movement.

"Dear WMS, is it really a good way of worshiping Our Lord present in the Blessed Sacrament. Let’s see what it says about Rome: ‘If the proposal of religious dance in the West would indeed be accepted, it would be necessary to take care that its place was outside the liturgy, in such places of assembly, which do not have a strictly liturgical destiny.’ Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship 1975." [11]

Availability
YouTube: Mass, Miêdzywodzie, Poland. 5 April 2013. Uploaded by Magdalena Kania, 5 May 2013.

End Notes
Translations by Google Translate.

1. "Kum Ba Yah (Come By Here)." The United Methodist Hymnal. Edited by Carlton R. Young, et al. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1989. 491.

2. "Kum ba Yah." The Presbyterian Hymnal. Edited for Presbyterian Church (U. S. A.). Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1990.

3. Andrea Christine Spurrell. "Singing traditions at Mint Brook girls camp." November, 1973. Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Folklore and Language Archive, 1974. 28. Description of collection on Ralph Vaughan Williams Memorial Library website for RN11924. Information verified by Pauline Cox and Nicole Penny, Memorial University.

4. Karl Wilson Gehrkens. Music in the Grade Schools. Boston: C. C. Birchard, 1934. 89-90.

5. Gesell consistently used the male pronoun to refer to both boys and girls, and boys alone. In places like this, one wishes he or his editors had found a way to distinguish between the groups.

6. Arnold Gesell, Frances L. Ilg, and Louise Bates Ames. Youth: The Years from Ten to Sixteen. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1956. 133.

7. Gesell. 137.

8. Gesell. 103, 138.

9. Wikipedia. "Miêdzywodzie."

10. Blog Apologetyczny. YouTube. Comment, 2014. The person used a painting of Christ on the cross for his/her picture.

11. Blog Apologetyczny. YouTube. Separate comment, 2014.