This is Sydney Carter‘s “Lord of the Dance” based on a Shaker tune, SIMPLE GIFTS.
I covered this back in AOV with a truly dreadful backing. I suppose it is an Easter song but I’m not at all sure of its place in a liturgy.
I made a less frenetic backing this time:
1 I danced in the morning when the world was begun,
And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun;
And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth,
At Bethlehem I had my birth:Chorus
Dance, then, where ever you may be;
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he;
And I’ll lead you all where ever you may be,
And I’ll lead you all in the dance, said he.2 I danced for the scribe and the pharisee,
But they would not dance and they would not dance with me.
I danced for fisher men, for James and John —
They came with me and the dance went on:Chorus
3 I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame:
The holy people said it was a shame.
They whipped and they stripped and they hung me high,
And they left me there on a cross to die:Chorus
4 I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;
It’s hard to dance with the devil on your back.
They buried my body and they thought I’d gone;
But I am the dance & I still go on:Chorus
5 They cut me down and I leap up high,
I am the life that’ll never, never die;
I’ll live in you if you’ll live in Me:
I am the Lord of the Dance, said he:Chorus
© Stainer & Bell 1963.