Rev. James Cleveland, “Peace Be Still” | Music Lifts 🎶 🏋

In the 42nd edition of Lit Music That Lifts, we’re uplifted by Rev. James Cleveland and the Angelic Choir performing, “Peace Be Still.”  

Welcome to Lit Music That Lifts (LMTL), or Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 for short! Music Lifts seeks to highlight songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs that exude fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity.  Featured songs aren’t genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better – be LIFTED to new heights!  So, for the 42nd edition of Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 (2022), we highlight 🎵 “Peace Be Still” as performed by 🎙 Rev. James Cleveland and the 🎙 Angelic Choir.  

“Master, the tempest is raging! The billows are tossing high!” 🙌 👏 ✝ Among the most important gospel recordings of all time is 💿 Peace Be Still by 🎙 Rev. James Cleveland and the 🎙 Angelic Choir.  The landmark album by the 🏆 Grammy-winning visionary was released in 1962.  Filled with gems, none shines brighter than 🎵 “Peace Be Still”.  The words of this hymn were penned by 🎼 ✍ Mary A. Baker, whose text is based on the miracle where Jesus calms the storm (Mark 4:35-41 NIV).  Key verses from the scripture read as follows from the KJV, which Baker directly incorporates:   

³⁷And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 

³⁸ And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? 

³⁹ And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 

Whether you’re pious as albeit or skeptical as a four-letter word, admittedly, this is a miraculous happening.  Moving on to the tune, it was composed by 🎼 ✍ Horatio R. Palmer.  Among the coolest features of the melody, during the refrain is the ascending, scalar line, which corresponds with a musical and, fittingly, a spiritual crescendo.  Of course, beyond the epic foundation established by Baker and Palmer, Cleveland makes “Peace Be Still” his own with a dynamic, powerful arrangement.  

Examine the score of “Peace Be Still,” and it’s a record that naturally lends itself to an ornate arrangement.  In the hands of Rev. James Cleveland, there are impressive piano riffs (left and right hands), swelling organ, and a marching drum groove, carried by the snare (gotta love those sixteenth note triplets).  Furthermore, what about that soaring, Angelic Choir that performs the beloved refrain:   

“The winds and the waves shall obey my will 

Peace be still!  

Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea,  

Or demons, or men, or whatever it be,  

No water can swallow the ship where lies 

The Master of ocean and earth and skies; 

They all shall sweetly obey My will;  

Peace be still, peace be still! 

They all shall sweetly obey My will: 

Peace, peace be still!” 

Of course, the gritty, gruff-voiced Rev. James Cleveland can’t be left out of the mix.  He’s spirited as albeit, ministering the greatness of God.  PEACE BE STILL! As old-school black pastors might proclaim, “Ain’t that good news!”  

Appears in 🔻:  

• 13 Captivating Songs About Peace or Piece(s) 

🎙 Rev. James Cleveland • 💿 Peace Be Still • 🏷 Savoy • 📅 1962 

Rev. James Cleveland, “Peace Be Still”: Music Lifts 🎶 🏋 No. 42 (2022) [📷: Arek Socha, Benjamin Balazs, Brent Faulkner, Clker-Free-Vector-Images, Ketut Subiyanto, The Musical Hype, Pexels, Pixabay, Savoy]