"Lord of the Dance" is a hymn written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1963.

The song follows the idea of the traditional English carol "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day", which tells the gospel story in the first-person voice of Jesus with the device of portraying his life as a dance.

Author's perspective

thumb|A statue of [[Nataraja (pictured), a form of the Hindu god Shiva, partially inspired the song.]]

In writing the lyrics to "Lord of the Dance", Carter was inspired partly by Jesus, but also by a statue of the Hindu deity Shiva as Nataraja (Shiva's dancing pose) which sat on his desk.

Carter wrote:

Reception

Verse 3 of the hymn, which includes the line that "[t]he Holy People said it was a shame", has been analysed as implying collective Jewish responsibility for the death of Jesus.

This analysis however contradicts Sydney’s own interpretation of his work. As Sydney writes that his hymn doesn’t disclude the possibility of ‘other lords of the dance’ in other times and places, it is a song that does not disclude the value of other religions and faiths. Even the lord of that dance at its centre, speaks to a spiritual concept that is deeper, deeper than the Christian religion which as Sydney himself writes, is the perspective he wrote in because it was the one he knows, not because it was the only valid perspective. Therefore, to argue that the ‘holy people said it was a shame’ refers to the Jews, is to take a Hymn that Sydney himself has said was profoundly metaphorical and to make it specific and literal. This destroys its meaning. ‘The holy people said it was a shame’ can be seen as another of the songs powerful metaphors, that applies beyond the songs specific context.

Separately, the idea of a ‘collective Jewish responsibility for the death of Jesus’ is an antisemitic theological trope, which is not agreed upon by all Christians or Christian theologians and is a highly disputed topic within Christianity itself.

Notable recordings

  • Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick, on the album But Two Came By (1968)
  • The McCalmans, on the album Singers Three (1969)
  • The Corries, on the live album The Corries In Concert (1969)
  • Donovan, on the album HMS Donovan (1971)
  • The Dubliners, on the album Now (1975)
  • Champions of Europe, "Stand Free", on the album Gothenburg (1983)
  • The Bach Choir, on the album Family Carols (1991)
  • Charlie Zahm, on his album The Celtic Balladeer (1999)
  • Blackmore's Night, on the album Winter Carols (2007)
  • Salisbury Cathedral Choir, on the album Great Hymns from Salisbury (2013)
  • New World, on "B" side of the single "Kara Kara" (1971)

References

  • "Lord of the Dance" and "Simple Gifts"
  • Lyrics to "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day"
  • Songs of America - Simple Gifts - Shaker Hymn, 1:40, Cibertracker Imperium. Includes clips of dance.
  • I Danced in the Morning (LORD OF THE DANCE), 3:55, First Plymouth Church Lincoln Nebraska