Shirley Caesar - "Shouting John "(Hold My Mule) videos, lyrics, and comments

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases two videos of Shirley Caesar singing the Gospel song "Shouting John" (also known as "Hold My Mule". The basic lyrics to "Shouting John" and an explanation of story of that song are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for religious and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to Shirley Caesar for her musical legacy. And thanks to the publisher of these videos on YouTube.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
Shirley Caesar "Shouting John Hold My Mule"



chj333, Uploaded on Feb 15, 2010

Shirley Caesar "Shouting John pt1"
-snip-
Most of this video is of Shirley Caesar telling the story about this song.

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Shirley Caesar "Shouting John pt. 2"



chj333, Uploaded on Feb 15, 2010

Shirley Caesar "Shouting John pt. 2"

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LYRICS -SHOUTING JOHN*

Chorus
Lead - I'm gonna praise the Lord while I have a chance
Group -I'm gonna praise the Lord while I have a chance
All -Praise Him in the morning,
Praise Him all day long,
I feel like praising, praising Him.

Verse
Lead -Come on help me praise Him while you have a chance
Group -Come on help me praise Him while you have a chance
All -Praise Him in the morning,
Praise Him all day long,
I feel like praising, praising Him.

Verse
Lead -If you don’t want to shout, don’t bother me
Group - If you don’t want to shout don’t bother me
Lead -If you don’t want to shout don’t bother me
Group -If you don’t want to shout don’t bother me

All - Praise Him in the morning,
Praise Him all day long,
I feel like praising, praising Him.

If you don't wanna praise him, don't bother me
[same pattern as the verse given above]


* These are basic lyrics. Other verses can be improvised to fit the song's theme and its structural pattern.

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THE STORY BEHIND THE "SHOUTING JOHN" (HOLD MY MULE) GOSPEL SONG
A man named John belonged to a "dead church". A dead church is one that doesn't believe in people shouting. The church tried to stop John from shouting, but he said that he would shout anyhow.

In its religious sense, "shouting" means to show that you are feeling the Holy Spirit (The Holy Ghost) by dancing, moving, speaking in tongues, and/or other actions. People who feel the Holy Spirit say that it is like fire in their system, and they can not help but move. Note that "shouting" doesn't have to have anything to do with yelling (speaking loudly).

In the song "Shouting John" (Hold My Mule), John didn't necessarily have a mule. "Hold my mule" means to rid yourself (remove) anything that interfers with you being able to worship God by shouting.

Read my comment below about what I believe is a possible source of the phrase "hold my mule".

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