{"id":35342,"date":"2013-07-25T04:53:37","date_gmt":"2013-07-25T04:53:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alternativejonestown.com\/?page_id=35342"},"modified":"2013-10-20T18:01:48","modified_gmt":"2013-10-20T18:01:48","slug":"music","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/?page_id=35342","title":{"rendered":"Why did Peoples Temple alter the words in some of the hymns they sang?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a number of examples of songs that Peoples Temple changed, many of them documented in the article \u201cMusic as an Expression of Freedom in the Political Theology of Jim Jones and Peoples Temple\u201d<\/a> by John Brackett on this site. Whether for religious or political purposes \u2013 and the mushy boundary between them \u2013\u00a0 alterations of a song\u2019s words and underlying message was a common practice that was always encouraged and well-received.<\/p>\n

While in the States, the reasons were often found in the evolving theology of the Temple: as the congregation came to see Jim Jones as their true Father \u2013 rather than\u00a0 a Christian God \u2013 people modified the words of traditional church hymns accordingly. There were other reasons as well, though, as when Jim Jones modifies the second verse in the hymn, \u201cO, the Blood of Jesus\u201d from \u201cOh, the word of Jesus, it cleanses white as snow\u201d to \u201cblack to glow.\u201d \u201cWe\u2019re changing it because black isn\u2019t bad<\/em>, darling,\u201d Jones exclaims. \u201cBlack is beautiful!\u201d<\/p>\n

There are several tapes in which Jones himself suggests alternate lyrics to a hymn, even as they’re starting to sing it, although oftentimes other members of the Temple \u2013 notably Dianne Wilkinson and Loretta Cordell, but also Jack Arnold, Marceline Jones, Anita Kelley, Debbie Evans, Joyce Beam, Melvin Johnson, and Shirley Hicks \u2013 made the alterations. \u201cThere was no official group to [rework] lyrics,\u201d Don Beck, a former Temple member writes. \u201cWhoever had an idea would work it out alone or others to change words to a song.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changed lyrics appear on the Temple\u2019s only recorded album, He\u2019s Able<\/em>, as well. As Brackett<\/a> writes, \u201cA seemingly innocuous alteration to the text of \u2018Simple Song of Freedom\u2019 is present as the singer changes the line \u2018Hey there, mister black<\/em> man, can you hear me?\u2019 to \u2018Hey there, mister rich<\/em> man, can you hear me?\u2019 (emphasis added by Brackett). This single change \u2026 is filled with meaning, as it reflects a desire on the part of Jones and Peoples Temple to rise above divisions based on skin color and focus instead on overcoming divisions based on socio-economic factors.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the Temple had relocated most of its members to Guyana, there was no more need for changing religious hymns \u2013 since religion was no longer part of daily life \u2013 but the musical performances shows that the practice of changing lyrics continued. Joe Cocker\u2019s song, \u201cYou Are So Beautiful To Me\u201d became \u201cGuyana Is So Beautiful To Me\u201d to reflect their loyalty to their new home. The song by Dion, \u201cAbraham, Martin and John,\u201d which mourns the assassinations of three American political leaders, also undergoes a transformation to lament the deaths of slain black and foreign leaders \u2013 Malcolm X, Che Guevara, Steven Biko \u2013 as well as of Guyana\u2019s national hero, Cuffy. Marthea Hicks sings the song on several occasions and may have been the one to change the lyrics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are a number of examples of songs that Peoples Temple changed, many of them documented in the article \u201cMusic as an Expression of Freedom in the Political Theology of Jim Jones and Peoples Temple\u201d by John Brackett on this site. Whether for religious or political purposes \u2013 and the mushy boundary between them \u2013\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"parent":35361,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-35342","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35342","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\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=35342"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42709,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35342\/revisions\/42709"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/35361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jonestown.sdsu.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=35342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}