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Here is the definitive
authorised version of the words:
I danced in the morning
When the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon
And the stars and the sun,
And I came down from heaven
And I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem
I had my birth.
Dance, then, wherever you may be,
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he,
And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,
And I'll lead you all in the Dance, said he
I danced for the scribe
And the pharisee,
But they would not dance
And they wouldn't follow me.
I danced for the fishermen,
For James and John -
They came with me
And the Dance went on.
Chorus
I danced on the Sabbath
And I cured the lame;
The holy people
Said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped
And they hung me on high,
And they left me there
On a Cross to die.
Chorus
I danced on a Friday
When the sky turned black -
It's hard to dance
With the devil on your back.
They buried my body
And they thought I'd gone,
But I am the Dance,
And I still go on.
Chorus
They cut me down
And I leapt up high;
I am the life
That'll never, never die;
I'll live in you
If you'll live in me -
I am the Lord
Of the Dance, said he.
Chorus
Copyright 1963 Stainer &
Bell Ltd. London, England |
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Sydney
Carter wrote...
"I see Christ as the incarnation of the piper who is
calling us. He dances that shape and pattern which is at the
heart of our reality. By Christ I mean not only Jesus; in
other times and places, other planets, there may be other
Lords of the Dance. But Jesus is the one I know of first and
best. I sing of the dancing pattern in the life and words
of Jesus.
Whether Jesus ever leaped in Galilee to the rhythm of a pipe
or drum I do not know. We are told that David danced (and
as an act of worship too), so it is not impossible. The fact
that many Christians have regarded dancing as a bit ungodly
(in a church, at any rate) does not mean that Jesus did.
The Shakers didn't. This sect flourished in the United States
in the nineteenth century, but the first Shakers came from
Manchester in England, where they were sometimes called the
"Shaking Quakers". They hived off to America in
1774, under the leadership of Mother Anne. They established
celibate communities - men at one end, women at the other;
though they met for work and worship. Dancing, for them, was
a spiritual activity. They also made furniture of a functional,
lyrical simplicity. Even the cloaks and bonnets that the women
wore were distinctly stylish, in a sober and forbidding way.
Their hymns were odd, but sometimes of great beauty: from
one of these (Simple Gifts) I adapted this melody.
I could have written another for the words of 'Lord of the
Dance' (some people have), but this was so appropriate that
it seemed a waste of time to do so. Also, I wanted to salute
the Shakers.
Sometimes, for a change I sing the whole song in the present
tense. 'I dance in the morning when the world is begun...'.
It's worth a try".
From Green Print
for Song, Stainer & Bell (1974)
and Lord of the Dance and other
Songs and Poems, Stainer & Bell (2002)
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