A major part of Temple services was the music performed by the choir and joined in by the congregation. While much of the music came from hymnals, the Temple also used popular songs and standards which were familiar to most people in attendance.<\/p>\n
This songbook of music sung during Peoples Temple services in Redwood Valley was probably printed in this form \u2013 with only the lyrics and without music \u2013 for the benefit of the choir. While undated, it was likely from the early 1970s. One song, for example \u2013 Richie Havens\u2019 \u201cFreedom\u201d \u2013 was recorded in August 1969 at Woodstock, but did not become well-known until release of the movie soundtrack the following year. Similarly, \u201cJoe Hill\u201d \u2013 while composed in the 1930s and covered by Joan Baez in the 1960s \u2013 did not come to wider attention (likely including members of Peoples Temple) until the 1971 release of the movie by the same name.<\/p>\n
There are a number of traditional hymns in this collection (\u201cA Mighty Fortress Is Our God,\u201d \u201cBlest Be the Tie That Binds,\u201d \u201cThe Church\u2019s One Foundation\u201d), and \u201cDeep River,\u201d an African-American spiritual, can be found in several hymnals of the period. In addition, these sheets include songs born in or resurrected by the Civil Rights era (\u201cLift every voice and sing,\u201d which became known at \u201cThe Civil Rights National Anthem\u201d, \u201cI Shall Not Be Moved,\u201d and \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d), as well as songs written or revived the overlapping protest movements of the 1960s (\u201cJoe Hill,\u201d and \u201cBlowin\u2019 In the Wind\u201d). <\/p>\n
Other songs which reflect the roots and aspirations of the Temple include:<\/p>\n
A couple of songs may be original compositions. \u201cBrotherhood is our religion\u201d (#8) is a phrase which was the unofficial motto of the Temple during its Indianapolis days. \u201cWhen I stand for truth\u201d (#25) describe several characteristics of the Temple \u2013 marching for peace, feeding hungry children \u2013 and these lyrics cannot be found as a separate song elsewhere. <\/p>\n
As the Temple grew more political \u2013 and simultaneously less overtly religious \u2013 its members began to change the lyrics, especially of hymns, to reflect new fealty to their leader, Jim Jones. For the most part, however, this songbook appears to retain the original lyrics, with at least one notable exception. The song \u201cThe Church\u2019s One Foundation,\u201d written in the 1860s, opens with the lines, \u201cThe Church\u2019s One Foundation\/is Jesus Christ our Lord.\u201d In this songbook, the second line has been changed to \u201cis the Father, our God.\u201d The lyric could refer to the Christian God; it could also reflect a transition to the Temple\u2019s Father and eventual god, Jim Jones. <\/p>\n
This songbook was provided by Don Beck, and the managers of this website are grateful to him for his contribution.<\/p>\n
The Peoples Temple Songbook (Lyrics)<\/strong> A major part of Temple services was the music performed by the choir and joined in by the congregation. While much of the music came from hymnals, the Temple also used popular songs and standards which were familiar to most people in attendance. This songbook of music sung during Peoples Temple services in Redwood Valley […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":14108,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18793","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18793"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18793\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112881,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18793\/revisions\/112881"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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