Children, Go Where I Send Thee facts for kids

"Children, Go Where I Send Thee" is a traditional African-American spiritual song. It is also known by names like "The Holy Baby" or "Born in Bethlehem." This song has a special "cumulative" structure. This means each verse adds a new line, building on the ones before it. Each new line usually includes a number and a reference from the Bible. Today, many people know it as a Christmas carol.

What Are the Lyrics Like?

The song builds up verse by verse. It starts with "one" and goes up to "twelve." Each number is linked to a Bible story or idea. This makes the song easy to learn and fun to sing along to.

1. Children, go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
    I'm gonna send thee one by one:
    One for the little bitty baby.
Born, born
Born in Bethlehem.

2. Children, go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
    I'm gonna send thee two by two:
    Two for Paul and Silas,
    One for the little bitty baby.
Born, born
Born in Bethlehem.

3. Children, go where I send thee
How shall I send thee?
    I'm gonna send thee three by three:
    Three for the Hebrew children,
    Two for Paul and Silas,
    One for the little bitty baby.
Born, born
Born in Bethlehem.

4. Four for the four that stood at the door...
5. Five for the gospel preachers...
6. Six for the six that never got fixed...
7. Seven for the seven that never got to heaven...
8. Eight for the eight that stood at the gate...
9. Nine for the nine all dressed so fine...
10. Ten for the ten commandments...
11. Eleven for the eleven deriders...
12. Twelve for the twelve Apostles...

Where Did the Song Come From?

The exact start of "Children, Go Where I Send Thee" is not fully known. However, it is very similar to an old English folk song called "The Twelve Apostles." Both songs are listed in the Roud Folk Song Index as #133. They both build up to 12 references, often from the Bible. "The Twelve Apostles" was written down in the mid-1800s, but it's probably much older. Another possible older song is the traditional Yiddish Passover song "Echad Mi Yodea," first recorded in the 1500s.

In 1908, a composer named Percy Grainger made the first known sound recordings of "The Twelve Apostles." He used an early record player called a phonogram. From 1908 to 1917, a person who studied folk songs, Cecil Sharp, wrote down many versions of "The Twelve Apostles" in Appalachia. This showed the song had spread to the American South.

In 1934, folk song experts John Avery Lomax and Alan Lomax recorded a version of the song in Atlanta, Georgia. This was the earliest known recording of the tune in North America. An unknown group of African-American convicts sang it. This recording showed how the song was starting to change from its English roots. For example, the way they sang together was different. Also, the words began to sound more like "Children, Go Where I Send Thee."

The song became even more different from its English ancestor in 1937. That's when The Golden Gate Quartet made a popular recording of it. Their version had new words and a new style. For example, the lines for numbers three and two became: "Three was the Hebrew children; two was Paul and Silas." These Bible figures were imprisoned. For many spirituals, these stories were like a symbol for the challenges faced by African Americans. With its strong rhythm, this version became a truly American folk song.

The Golden Gate Quartet helped make the song famous. But many other groups were singing it too. The Golden Gate Quartet actually learned the song from another group called the Heavenly Gospel Singers.

Popular Recordings and Other Versions

Many artists have recorded or adapted "Children, Go Where I Send Thee." Here are some important ones:

• In 1936, Blues musicians Dennis Crampton & Robert Summers made the first known commercial recording.
• The Weavers recorded the song in 1951.
• Ruth Crawford Seeger included the song in her 1953 book American Folksongs for Christmas. This helped make it a well-known Christmas carol across the country.
• Nina Simone recorded a version on her 1959 album The Amazing Nina Simone.
• Langston Hughes chose the song as the final number for his 1961 play Black Nativity: A Gospel Song-Play.
• Johnny Cash sang a version on his 1971 album Man In Black: Live in Denmark. He was joined by The Carter Family, The Statler Brothers, and Carl Perkins.
• Ralph Stanley recorded it on his 1975 album Let Me Rest On A Peaceful Mountain.
• The Fairfield Four have recorded several versions of the song.
• Woody Guthrie rewrote the lyrics in 1949. His version, called "Come When I Call You," was about the difficulties of war after World War II. It was not published until the late 1990s. The Klezmatics recorded Guthrie’s version in 2006.
• Kenny Rogers recorded a version with Home Free on his 2015 Christmas album.

Many other artists have also recorded this song. Some of them include Joe and Eddie, Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Natalie Merchant, The Kingston Trio, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Peter, Paul and Mary, Ricky Skaggs, Mandisa, Mahalia Jackson, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Audra McDonald, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Odetta, Hall and Oates, Neil Diamond, and Clara Ward.