From the playlist of short-story author Jack Pendarvis:
8 ) God Moves On the Water, Blind Willie Johnson. I don’t care if you’re the most committed liberal secular humanist in the world, I don’t care if you’re Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins, Blind Willie Johnson will make you afraid of God. He will also make you afraid of Blind Willie Johnson. There are dozens of recorded songs about the Titanic disaster and what it means. This one is the best.
Update: Here’s part of what All Music has to say about Johnson:
If you’ve never heard Blind Willie Johnson, you are in for one of the great, bone-chilling treats in music. Johnson played slide guitar and sang in a rasping, false bass that could freeze the blood. But no bluesman was he; this was gospel music of the highest order, full of emotion and heartfelt commitment. Of all the guitar-playing evangelists, Blind Willie Johnson may have been the very best. … Not for the faint of heart, but hey, the good stuff never is.
Dang! Thanks, New Mexiken! I hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of Blind Willie Johnson. Blind Willie McTell is great, too – though he is not nearly so religious. Still. Check him out. Hey, my wife and I went on our honeymoon in New Mexico. We love it! What a great state. Thanks for your part in it. Goodbye for now.
Have you been able to listen to Blind Willie Johnson yet?
Dark Was The Night And Cold Was The Ground is one of his best. It was sent with Voyager as part of the gold record of sounds from Earth.
Blind Willie Johnson was also featured in one of the episodes of the Martin Scorsese series, The Blues.
It is a small adjustment listening to music transcribed from old 78s, but well worth it.
I don’t have this Johnson song, but I have several others and listened to them from time to time.