(Jordan’s river I’m bound to cross)

Jordan River I’m bound to cross.
Jordan River I’m bound to cross,
I’ve got one more river to cross.

Mother will be waiting.
Mother can’t help me to cross.
Mother will be waiting, she can’t help me to cross.
Mother will be waiting, she can’t help me to cross,
(I’ve got) one more river to cross.

(Father will be waiting,
Father, can’t help me to cross).

Father will be waiting, he can’t help me to cross.
Father will be waiting, he can’t help me to cross,
(I’ve got) one more river to cross.

(Jesus will be waiting,
Jesus gonna help me to cross).

Jesus will be waiting,
He’s gonna help me to cross.

Jesus will be waiting,
He’s gonna help me to cross.

One more river,
One more river.

Hallelujah, thank You Jesus,
Made it over the river.

(I’ve got) one more river to cross.

—–

Originally from here.

The American theologian James Cone suggests that there are two basic meanings of the Jordan River as a symbol in African American spirituals. First, the Jordan represented death—a death that was typically seen as liberation from the harsh realities of slave life. Thus, “crossing Jordan” was a theme of going home to restore a community lost in oppression and slavery.

Second, the Jordan could also represent the border between slavery and freedom—and so the “other side of the Jordan” could just as often suggest the Northern states, even Canada, and thus freedom:

I’ll meet you in the morning
When you reach the Promised Land
On the other side of the Jordan
For I’m bound for the Promised Land.

—–

Third, I would add crossing Jordan could have also meant being “sanctified” by praying through in the holiness churches; and experiencing a sense of freedom from sin. Crossing from Romans 7 over to Romans 8.