Where You There When They Crucified My Lord? Included in almost every major hymnal of the last thirty years, “Were You There” is one of the most prominent and popular of the African-American spirituals. Yet, like most spirituals, the origins of “Were You There” are impossible to trace, borne not from the pen of an individual but out of the communal slave experience. The series of questions that forms the basis of the song is obviously not meant to be taken literally; none of us were physically present at the passion of Christ. Rather, the questions call the community to bring the past to the present, to bring these historic events to bear on the now and make them part of our story today. Below you can hear the great Johnny Cash perform this song.
