The Story Behind the Song
Few things in life could be more heart-breaking than losing a child to death. Even more tragic would be losing both one’s child and one’s wife due to a hard labor and delivery. But from that crucible of pain, the “Father of Gospel Music” brought forth a moving hymn which reminds us that, even in the painful times, our Lord walks us through the valley of the shadow, hand in hand.
Thomas A. Dorsey (1899-1993) was the son of a Baptist preacher and his organist wife. From a young age he showed musical talent in both the church music and jazz arenas. While still a teen, he left his native Georgia to go north to study at Chicago College of Composition and Arranging. Young Thomas, AKA “Georgia Tom,” played piano for record companies and music publishers, composed and arranged jazz music, and toured with the “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey. Dorsey also kept his interest in sacred music, composing his first gospel song, “If I Don’t Get There,” in 1921.
During the Roaring Twenties, Dorsey was active in both the jazz and gospel music worlds, but in the early ‘30s he turned his attention solely to gospel. In 1932, Dorsey was in St. Louis on a gospel music tour when he learned that his wife, Nettie, had died giving birth, and that their infant son followed her shortly thereafter. He later wrote of the bitterness of that time: “I felt that God had done me an injustice. I didn’t want to serve Him anymore or write gospel songs. I just wanted to go back to that jazz world I once knew so well.”
But a wise friend suggested he sit at the piano, and as he did so, Dorsey began to play an old hymn, “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone.” The lyrics must have resounded in his wounded soul:
Must Jesus bear the cross alone, And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone, And there’s a cross for me.
The consecrated cross I’ll bear Till death shall set me free;
And then go home my crown to wear, For there’s a crown for me.
The straight-laced 19th-century hymn tune to which “Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone” is sung (Maitland), in the skillful hands of Thomas Dorsey, morphed into the blues-flavored tune Precious Lord. According to NPR, “Precious Lord, Take My Hand” is the most-recorded gospel song ever, having been sung by such disparate artists as Mahalia Jackson, Elvis Presley, Pat Boone, Merle Haggard, Jimmy Durante, Little Richard, Randy Travis, Gladys Knight, Faith Hill and Tennessee Ernie Ford. It’s been translated into more than 40 languages.
Why would this song have such a wide appeal, speaking to people of different generations, social backgrounds, and nationalities? Its message is truly universal. Every single person who’s ever lived could, at some point in their life, say, “I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.” We’ve all looked for the beacon in the storm, the guiding light in the darkest night, the outstretched hand to lead us safely home.
Thomas Dorsey knew whose hand that was. He knew the God who said: “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. …For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you’” (Isaiah 41:10, 13).
That same powerful God who spoke through the prophet and who spoke to the gospel composer stands ready to take your hand as well. “Put your hand in the nail-scarred hand” and follow Jesus as He leads you through this life and, when the time is right, your precious Lord will lead you home.
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Anastasia Music 