In the 24th edition of Music Lifts (2024), weโre uplifted by The Edwin Hawkins Singers performing the beloved gospel classic, โOh Happy Day.โ
Welcome to Music Lifts
, a column highlighting songs that encourage, inspire, and uplift the spirit; songs exuding fortitude, positivity, and resolve, even in the face of adversity. Featured songs arenโt genre-specific; songs may or may not be faith-based. The goal is for these songs to make you feel better โ be LIFTED to new heights! So, for the 24th edition of Music Lifts
(2024), we highlight โOh Happy Dayโ as performed by The Edwin Hawkins Singers.
โOh, happy day (Oh, happy day) / Oh, happy day (Oh, happy day) / When Jesus washed (When Jesus washed) / โฆHe Washed my sins away.โ โOh Happy Dayโ is a beloved, often covered gospel classic by The Edwin Hawkins Singers. Edwin Hawkins (1943 โ 2018) penned this inspiring, uplifting song first recorded in 1968. It appeared on the album, Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord. Fittingly, โOh Happy Dayโ also appears on the 2001 greatest hits compilation, Oh Happy Day: The Best of The Edwin Hawkins Singers. The lyrics are adapted from a much older song, the hymn, โO Happy Day That Fixed My Choiceโ written by Philip Doddridge and Edward F. Rimbault. Hawkins transforms the hymn into a rousing, crowd-pleasing gospel song that never grows old.
โOh Happy Dayโ speaks to the merciful, omniscient, and wonderworking power of Jesus. It is a musical testimony. โHe taught me how / To watch / Fight and pray / Fight and pray,โ the memorable, soaring chorus goes. In The Edwin Hawkins Singersโ hands, โOh Happy Dayโ becomes incredibly rousing during the jubilant bridge. Lead singer Dorothy Combs Morrison goes all-in witnessing
!
โNow when I think of heaven! (Oh, happy day)
Iโm gonโ spread the news! (Oh, happy day)
Iโm gonna walk around! (Oh, happy day)
In my golden shoes! (Oh, happy day).โ
One of the most famous covers of this gospel standard comes from Sister Act 2, which starred Whoopi Goldberg. Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the film, Goldberg and the cast performed โOh Happy Dayโ on The View. Oh, the nostalgia! Most importantly, however, Hawkinsโ classic ministers to the awesomeness of J-E-S-U-S. โOh Happy Dayโ, indeed!
The Edwin Hawkins Singers // Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord // Sony Music Entertainment // 1968
The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Oh Happy Day: Music Lifts
No. 24 (2024) [
: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Sony Music Entertainment; Monstera Production, Qamar Rehman, RDNE Stock Project, Thomas Ronveaux, Wolrider YURTSEVEN from Pexels; OpenClipart-Vectors, Quแปc Hรนng Hแบงu from Pixabay]