JACOB'S LADDER^©

Album's version

We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
Yeah we're brothers, sisters, all

Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
Every rung goes higher and higher
We are brothers, sisters, all

Come on with me now!

Every new rung just, just makes us stronger
Every new rung just, just makes us stronger
Every new rung just, just makes us stronger
Yeah we are brothers, and sisters, all

???!

Alright, come on horn section!
Get ready, go!

Alright, enough!

Yeah we are climbing Jacob's ladder
Yeah we are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are brothers, sisters, and all

Alright, party time!

We are climbing higher and higher
Yeah we are climbing higher and higher
Yeah we are climbing higher and higher
Yeah we are brothers, and sisters, and all

Alright! Alright!

We are climbing, climbing Jacob's ladder
Yeah we are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are climbing Jacob's ladder
We are brothers, sisters, and all

Bruce Springsteen recorded this traditional song with The Seeger Sessions Band in Dec 2005 during the second of the 3 "Seeger Sessions". The song is included on Bruce's 2006 cover album, We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions.

The Seeger Sessions consist of three recording sessions (a 2-days session on 01 and 02 Nov 1997, a 1-day session in Dec 2005, and a 1-day session in Jan 2006), during which all the album's songs were cut live in the living room of Bruce's New Jersey farmhouse. The songs were not rehearsed and all arrangements were conducted as Bruce and the band played.

The above lyrics refer to Bruce's version from the We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions album.

This song was reported to be rehearsed for the Seeger Sessions tour by Bruce Springsteen with his Seeger Sessions Band on 13, 20, and 21 Mar 2006 at the Paramount Theater, Asbury Park, NJ, and 12 Apr 2006 at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ. Some comments from the people who listened to the rehearsals:

• "Again played over the sound system first. Bruce then told the band, 'I want it to sound more like Chuck Berry than Django Reinhardt.' For those who don't know, Django Reinhardt is a jazz legend, idolized for his incredible guitar playing which is documented on more than 400 recordings." [13 Mar]

Played during all 4 public rehearsal shows for The Seeger Sessions tour -- 20, 24, 25, and 26 Apr 2006 at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ.

Promoting the We Shall Overcome - The Seeger Sessions album, Bruce and the Seeger Session Band performed a set of 4 songs (including JACOB'S LADDER) early in the morning of 25 Apr 2006 (the album's release date) at the Convention Hall, Asbury Park, NJ, for ABC's Good Morning America. The song was broadcast in full during GMA's 8 o'clock hour on ABC.

The song was also played on 30 Apr 2006 at New Orleans Fair Grounds, New Orleans, LA, when Springsteen and the Seeger Sessions Band closed the first weekend of the New Orelans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

Pete Seeger, to whom the above album is dedicated, has modified the lyrics for JACOB'S LADDER and recorded it. It can now be found on:

• Sing-A-Long (1992 - Smithsonian/Folkways 40027)
• More Together In Concert (1994 - Rising Son 0007/8)

A negro spiritual from the mid-19th century or earlier. Alternate titles include: "Climbing Jacob's Ladder" and "We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder". Check out Dave Marsh's liner notes below for more details.

The above lyrics refer to Bruce's album version. Check out Pete Seeger's version.

Dave Marsh's liner notes about JACOB'S LADDER:

A Negro spiritual based on Genesis 28:11-19, best known as a Sunday School tune. It refers to the prophetic dream given to Jacob at Beth-El, while he is fleeing his brother, Esau, whom Jacob has cheated out of his inheritance. In the dream, angels are ascending and descending a ladder to heaven. While they do this, God promises Jacob that his seed "shall be as the dust of the earth" and spread throughout the world.

Slaves related to the dream powerfully, because it ended with a covenant that promised liberation: "I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." (This is consistent with the Midrash interpretation of the steps of the ladder as the exiles that the Jews would suffer.)

"Jacob's Ladder" is another song that is much more commonly sung than recorded. Arlo Guthrie, Jane Siberry and Greg Brown made contemporary version. There are vintage roots recordings by, among others, Hylo Brown and Paul Robeson and gospel renditions by the Staples Singers, Doris Troy and the Clara Ward Singers. Pete Seeger's version can be found on Singalong: Live at the Sanders Theater, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1980.