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Were You There?

by John Hamilton

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Week 15: Were You There?

In general, the world pays scant attention to Good Friday. Oh, there will be a story here and there in the paper. But for most it will be just another Friday.

That said, Good Friday has been responsible for a good deal of media, from the reprehensible (Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”) to the sublime (Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion.)

But this spiritual, “Were You There?” gets to the heart of Good Friday unlike anything else. The day is almost certainly historically accurate: Jesus was crucified by the Romans. The reason for this is a jump ball. Personally, I come down on the side of the political: Jesus was crucified by the Romans as a threat to law and order. Period, full stop.

And the Gospel accounts have every reason to be accurate: one did not hang around during a crucifixion if one were a friend of the crucified. The Romans were ruthless and indiscriminate.

So the spiritual asks: Were You There, knowing you were not, but sending you off into your imagination to recreate the scene. And yes, it would cause one to tremble, I would imagine.

It’s just three words, but so, so powerful. It is a call to witness. Knowing we will so often fail, but urging us on — to look at the injustice that still, today, surrounds us.

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released April 7, 2023
John hamilton, piano

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John Hamilton Richmond, Massachusetts

Vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and multi-genre songwriter, living in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

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