Hymn Reflection : Jesus Loves the Little Children

Today’s hymn reflection is one of the most unique “how we got the song” stories you will ever read. With Lebanon Road’s Vacation Bible School (click for a hilarious video) coming up next week (and you are invited, of course!), I wanted to share the history of this long-time children’s favorite.

First, we need to realize that today, we only sing the chorus of a song that originally had three verses. When I worked in Haleyville, we had a singing group of the elementary students who would sing for some of our shut-ins and others. I taught them two of the verses and they thought it was really cool to sing verses with the famous chorus. But where those verses–and the chorus–originated is truly remarkable.

George Frederick Root was destined to become a composer and song-writer, since he was named for George Frederick Handel. In fact, Root was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970, some 75 years after his death. In his time, he prided himself on writing serious compositions, but it was a song he wrote for Union troops in the Civil War that we still sing…sort of.

When the Civil War broke out, Root was motivated to use his gift to rally northern troops. However, the type of music he was writing bothered him. Robert Morgan writes of Root, “As a serious, classical composer, he was embarrassed at the simple martial music coming from his pen, so he signed them with the name ‘Wurzel,’ the German word for ‘Root'” (Then Sings My Soul, page 237).

One piece written during this time, though, touched many men who were prisoners of war. The name of the song was “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” and Root’s words spoke about the hope that would be coming to those trapped in prisons. In writing a short piece about this song, the Civil War Trust penned, “In Andersonville, rumors that Union troops were on their way to liberate the prisoners circulated constantly. Hope of liberation, of escape, release, or prisoner exchange was often the only thing that stood between prisoners and total despair.”

When Root died, his obituary was printed in the New York Times, and it included the lyrics to several songs, including “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” The obituary, which can be seen here, ended with a notation that Root’s musical legacy was living on, because one of his sons was teaching music in Chicago.

When the Civil War ended, the theme of the song was no longer contemporary. However, the melody remained very popular. A friend, minister, and sometimes co-writer of Root’s, Clare Herbert Woodson, changed the three verses about prisoners of war to three verses about the love of Jesus. He changed the chorus, too, and today in Vacation Bible Schools and home devotionals, “Jesus Loves the Little Children” is one of the most popular songs on earth.

If you have never heard the original Civil War song “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp” here is a video of it. You will easily recognize the melody in the chorus.

When I “reflect” on this song, there is great irony. The US Civil War was fought, in part, over a deeply divisive racial issue. While many issues led to the war, slavery was one of the obvious dividing points of our nation, as Africans were treated as nothing more then property. While “Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!” did not address that issue at all, its writing was tied to the slavery issue by association.

Now, when we sing this simple little song, we are reminded that Jesus does not see as we do. While it may not be truly “pc” to sing “red and yellow, black and white” any longer, it instills in our minds again that Jesus cares not for skin color; He simply loves. We should be the same.

Lyrics

If you have never heard the verses of “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” you are really missing out. They are wonderful, but never sung. I could not find a video that contained them, but here are the full lyrics:

Jesus calls the children dear,
“Come to me and never fear,
For I love the little children of the world;
I will take you by the hand,
Lead you to the better land,
For I love the little children of the world.”

Jesus is the Shepherd true,

And He’ll always stand by you,
For He loves the little children of the world;
He’s a Savior great and strong,
And He’ll shield you from the wrong,
For He loves the little children of the world.

I am coming, Lord, to Thee,
And Your soldier I will be,
For You love the little children of the world;
And Your cross I’ll always bear,
And for You I’ll do and dare,
For You love the little children of the world.

Jesus loves the little children,

All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Picture from my hymnal collection

Oddly, finding this song is older hymnals was a futile search. I do not know why, but I suspect it is because there were very few children’s songs included in older hymnals. Thankfully, more modern song books contain at least a few of these children’s favorites. Here is one.

Fun Video

In 2009, a little boy named Mark led this song at a devotional at Lads to Leaders, but the crowd wasn’t singing exactly what he wanted. Enjoy this!

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Photo credit: Pratham Books on Creative Commons

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