"Ezekiel Saw the Wheel", often given as "Ezekiel Saw de Wheel" is an African American spiritual. The song's music and text has no known author, but originated among enslaved African-Americans on Plantation complexes in the Southern United States sometime in the early 19th century. The lyrics to the song are based on Chapter I of the Book of Ezekiel. These lyrics were published in the poetry anthology American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century: Volume One, Freneau to Whitman.[1] The song was part of the original repertoire of the Fisk Jubilee Singers when they began performing in the early 1870s, and was utilized on the vaudeville and concert stage during the latter part of 19th century. By 1900 the song was well known among white audiences throughout the United States as well as among black ones.[2]
^Hollander, John (2016). "Folk Songs and Spirituals". American Poetry: The Nineteenth Century: Volume One, Freneau to Whitman. Taylor & Francis. ISBN9781135922818.
^Collier, James Lincoln (1997). Jazz: An American Saga. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN9780805041217.
^Long, Siobhán Dowling; Sawyer, John F.A. (2015). The Bible in Music: A Dictionary of Songs, Works, and More. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 81. ISBN9780810884526.
