"This Little Light of Mine" is a gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 children's song

Children's song

Children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that young children invent and share among themselves, or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home, or education...

 written by Harry Dixon Loes (1895-1965) in about 1920. Loes, who studied at the Moody Bible Institute

Moody Bible Institute

Moody Bible Institute is a Christian institution of higher education and related ministries that was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. Since its founding, MBI's main campus has been located in the Near North Side of Chicago. MBI's primary ministries are education,...

 and the American Conservatory of Music

American Conservatory of Music

The American Conservatory of Music was a major American school of music founded in 1886 by John James Hattstaedt . The conservatory was incorporated as an Illinois non-profit corporation. It was located in Chicago until 1991 when its Board of Trustees — chaired by Frederic Wilbur Hickman...

, was a musical composer, and teacher, who wrote, and co-wrote, several other gospel songs. The song has since entered the folk tradition, first being collected by John Lomax

John Lomax

John Avery Lomax was an American teacher, a pioneering musicologist and folklorist who did much for the preservation of American folk songs...

 in 1939. Often thought of as a Negro spiritual

Spiritual (music)

Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...

, it does not, however, appear in any collection of jubilee or plantation songs from the nineteenth century:

Depending on the source, the song may take its theme from Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your fine works and give glory to your Father who is in the heaven." Or, it may refer to the words of Jesus in Luke 11:33, where he said, "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light." Or, it may be based on Matthew 5:14-15, where Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house."

It has often been published with a set of hand movements to be used for the instruction of children.

Under the influence of Zilphia Horton

Zilphia Horton

Zilphia Horton was American musician, community organizer, educator, Civil Rights activist, and folklorist. She is best-known for her work with her husband Myles Horton at the Highlander Folk School where she is generally credited with turning such songs as "We Shall Overcome", "Keep Your Eyes on...

, Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer

Fannie Lou Hamer was an American voting rights activist and civil rights leader....

 and others it eventually became a Civil Rights anthem

Civil Rights anthem

Civil Rights anthems is a relational concept to protest song, but one that is specifically linked to the African-American Civil Rights Movement. The songs were often sung during protests or marches related to the movement...

 in the 1950s and 1960s. The Seekers

The Seekers

The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop music group which were originally formed in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States...

 recorded it for their second UK album, Hide & Seekers (also known as The Four & Only Seekers) in 1964. Over time it also became a very popular children's song

Children's song

Children's song may be a nursery rhyme set to music, a song that young children invent and share among themselves, or a modern creation intended for entertainment, use in the home, or education...

, recorded and performed by the likes of Raffi

Raffi (musician)

Raffi Cavoukian, CM, OBC , better known by his stage name Raffi, is a Canadian-Armenian singer-songwriter, author, essayist and lecturer...

 in the 1980s.

Part of this song was performed by Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci is an American actress. Ricci received initial recognition and praise as a child star for her performance as Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , and her role as Kat Harvey in Casper...

 in the film Black Snake Moan (film) in 2006.

In 2008, the song appeared in the episode "Wednesday's Women", on CBS's television series Cold Case, the song was performed by Tracie Thoms

Tracie Thoms

Tracie Nicole Thoms is an American television, film, and stage actress. She is best known for her roles in Rent, Cold Case, The Devil Wears Prada, Death Proof, and the short-lived Fox television series Wonderfalls....

.

LZ7

LZ7

LZ7 are a Christian rap and dance group from Manchester. The band was formed in 2005 by Lindz West, a member of dance band The Tribe, who had split up the previous year...

 took their version of the song named "This Little Light

This Little Light

"This Little Light" is a song by the British hip-hop act LZ7, and is based around a sample of the 20th century gospel track "This Little Light of Mine". It originally featured on the group's 2008 EP Gasoline, before being remixed in 2010 for inclusion on their second studio album, Light...

" to number 26 in the UK Singles Chart.

(Hed) PE use part of the words in their 2010 song "This Fire".

On the February 15, 2011 episode

Comeback (Glee)

"Comeback" is the thirteenth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the 35th overall. It was written by series creator Ryan Murphy, directed by Bradley Buecker, and premiered on Fox on February 15, 2011...

 of Glee

Glee (TV series)

Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...

, Will Schuester

Will Schuester

William "Will" Schuester, often referred to as Mr. Schue, is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series Glee. The character is portrayed by actor Matthew Morrison and has appeared in Glee since its pilot episode, first broadcast on May 19, 2009. Will was developed by Glee...

 performed the song acoustically for a children's hospital.

In 2011, in the sixth season episode of Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds

Criminal Minds is an American police procedural drama that premiered September 22, 2005, on CBS. The series follows a team of profilers from the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. The BAU is part of the FBI National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime...

, "Henley Waters", the criminal sings part of the song.

Verse 1

This little light of mine/I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine/I'm gonna let it shine

This little light of mine/I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine/Let it shine/Let it shine oh yeah!

V. 1

Everywhere I go/I'm gonna let it shine

Everywhere I go/I'm gonna let it shine

Everywhere I go/I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine/Let it shine/Let it shine

V. 2

Hide it under a bushel Oh no!/I'm going to let it shine

Hide it under a bushel Oh no!/I'm going to let it shine

Hide it under a bushel Oh no!/I'm going to let it shine

Let it Shine/All the time/Let it shine/Oh yeah!

V. 1

Jesus gave it to me/I'm gonna let it shine

Jesus gave it to me/I'm gonna let it shine

Jesus gave it to me/I'm gonna let it shine

Let it shine/Let it shine/Let it shine

V. 2

Don't let the Devil *fooh!* it out/I'm going to let it shine

Don't let the Devil *fooh!* it out/I'm going to let it shine

Don't let the Devil *fooh!* it out/I'm going to let it shine

Let it Shine/All the time/Let it shine/Oh yeah!

External links

• Spiritual lyrics
• Top 10 Civil Rights songs
• Sung by German Students
• This Little Light of Mine for choir.
• recording by Derek Lee Ragin
  Derek Lee Ragin
  Derek Lee Ragin is an American countertenor.Ragin studied as a piano major at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. While at Oberlin he took secondary voice lessons with Richard Anderson. He began his operatic career at Oberlin in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream as Oberon...
  
   of "This Little Light of Mine"
• 1962 recording by The Kingston Trio
  The Kingston Trio
  The Kingston Trio is an American folk and pop music group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s. The group started as a San Francisco Bay Area nightclub act with an original lineup of Dave Guard, Bob Shane, and Nick Reynolds...
  
  of "Little Light."
• "This Little Light of Mine" Doris McMurray, Goree Farm, Huntsville, TX: John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip.