What is the meaning of kumbaya my lord

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Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs. What Is 'Semantic Bleaching'? How 'literally' can mean "figuratively". We have chosen Kumbaya as our corporate name for good reasons. But do people real know what it means. We chant it with locked arms and closed eyes, at campfires, in protest lines and from the pews at church, but the truth is, many of us have no clue what the lyrics mean or exactly where they come from.

Few may know, however, that the song was first recorded by descendants of slaves in the Gullah Geechee community of Darien in Southeastern Georgia. The first known recording of the song was made in , by a Gullah Geechee man named H.

Over time, that pronunciation transformed into what we know today as kumbaya. The hymn was a call to God to come and help the people as they faced oppression.

Still, it has come to evoke peace and harmony. Thanks to its associations with childish sing-alongs, kumbaya started signaling naive idealism and a sort of precious, touchy-feely, hand-holding spirit of rosy-eyed unity.

The derisive term especially took off in political rhetoric. This is not meant to be a formal definition of kumbaya like most terms we define on Dictionary. Feedback See Today's Synonym. Word of the Day. Meanings Meanings. Examples Origin Usage.