We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder

African American slaves in the United States created a vibrant culture of resistance and dissent, despite attempts by slaveowners to indoctrinate them into passivity. Slaves were not permitted to speak while working in the fields, but were permitted to sing and chant in order to alleviate tedium and to impose a rhythm on repetitive motions. This generated two distinctive African American slave musical forms, the spiritual (sung music usually telling a story) and the field holler (sung or chanted music usually involving repetition of the leader's line). and definitely no later than 1825, and was composed by American slaves taken from the area now known as Liberia. The striving nature of this "climb" toward God is depicted as a series of tests, and draws heavily on the New Testament tradition of the Christian as warrior—in this case, overcoming the slave-owner. The traditional lyrics hold out hope that the slave can rise up and escape slavery, and the nature of the call-and-response asks both the singing respondents and the listener for greater sacrifice to reach the next level. The spiritual implies that God's promise to the Biblical patriarch Jacob will also lead the slave to freedom. The song became one of the first African American spirituals to become popular among white Christians. ==Important recordings==

Paul Robeson sang and later recorded an a cappella version, and the American labor movement used the song in the 1930s (sometimes altering the lyrics to reflect the industry being organized). Noted American folk singer Pete Seeger began singing the song some time in the 1930s or 1940s, and in the mid to late 1960s added a new verse ("We are dancing Sarah's circle") to reflect, as he saw it, a more feminist, less hierarchical, less restrictive, and more joyful meaning. These lyrics were publicly sung at least as early as 1969. Folk singer Arlo Guthrie recorded Seeger's version in 1996, with Seeger assisting with music and vocals, for Guthrie's two-record set, More Together Again. In 2006, rock musician Bruce Springsteen recorded Seeger's version of ''Jacob's Ladder for his album We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions''. Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon recorded an a cappella version of the song for her 1987 album River of Life: Harmony One (Flying Fish Records). It was later included on the soundtrack of the 1990 PBS miniseries The Civil War, which was directed by Ken Burns. Stephen Holden of The New York Times called it a "powerful rendition", while Jimmy Wolfe, host on WGTB radio in Washington, D.C., called Reagon's recording "a gem". Scott Alarik of The Boston Globe said Reagon's version is a "...passionate understanding of the pain the courage that fueled American spirituals. If there are still listeners who perceive this tune as a campfire singalong, or who have until now failed to feel the misery, longing and pride that pulses through such songs of slavery, they can't miss the point here." ==Lyrics==

''We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder'' is sung as a call-and-response. The first two lines ("We are / climbing") are call-and-response, while the third line ("Jacob's ladder") is sung together. The first three lines are repeated, followed by a new call-and-response seventh line ("Soldier"), and then an eighth line ("of the cross") sung together. As a folk song, lyrics to ''We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder'' varied widely, but one 1907 version listed the lyrics (with response in parentheses) as: ==References==