"Healing River" by Lloyd Kauffman
Description
Sung in July 2014 at Christ Church Cathedral in Waterford, Ireland.
Available on the Healing River album www.oasischorale.org/recordings/
Sheet music at https://lillychapelpress.com/music.php?pid=106
"Oh, healing river, send down your water,
Send down your water upon this land.
Oh, healing river, send down your water
And wash the blood from off the sand.
This land is parching, this land is thirsting.
No seed is growing on the barren ground.
Oh, healing river, send down your water.
Oh, healing river, send your water down.
From thirsting ashes,
Let new life awake.
Let freedom flourish,
Let hope arise.
Healing, cleansing,
Healing, cooling,
Healing, freeing.
Oh, Healing river, send down your waters
And heal the land."
The Historic Faith · Hymn Companion
"Healing River" by Lloyd Kauffman
Words by Fran MinkoffMusic by Fred HellermanWritten 1964Tune HEALING RIVER
Oh, healing river, send down your water,
Send down your water upon this land.
Oh, healing river, send down your water,
And wash the blood from off the sand.
Story Behind the Song
“O Healing River” was written in 1964, with words by Fran Minkoff and music by Fred Hellerman of The Weavers. The song belongs to the civil-rights-era stream of American protest and peace songs, praying for cleansing, renewal, freedom, and healing in a bloodstained and barren land. It later entered several ecumenical hymnals as a hymn of justice, peace, and social healing.
Scripture
Found In
The United Methodist Hymnal, The Presbyterian Hymnal, Hymnal: A Worship Book, Voices Together