History of a Song: July - "Put Your Shoulder To the Wheel"

When the pioneers were crossing the country on their way toward the West Coast, most of the pioneers used various carts or other wheeled vehicles for their journey. The origin of the phrase “to put one's shoulder to the wheel” is a phrase that describes the work of leaning against the wheel of the vehicle that is stuck in mud out of a rut and using your physical strength to push the wheel ahead out of the hole, etc... Another way to describe this is “putting in a great effort in order to accomplish a formidable task”. The idea of a 'the shoulder to the wheel' is an ancient one and can be found in one of Aesop's proverbs called “The Tale of Hercules and the Waggoner”. The tale goes as follows...

A Waggoner was once driving a heavy load along a very muddy way. At last he came to a part of the road where the wheels sank half-way into the mire, and the more the horses pulled, the deeper sank the wheels. So the Waggoner threw down his whip, and knelt down and prayed to Hercules the Strong.

"O Hercules, help me in this my hour of distress," quoth he. 

But Hercules appeared to him, and said:

"Tut, man, don't sprawl there. Get up and put your shoulder to the wheel."

The gods help them that help themselves

The author of these lyrics along with the music is Will Lamartine Thompson who was born on November 7, 1847 in East Liverpool, Ohio to a well off family. He began writing music while in his teens and he constantly took notes of any idea, verses, etc... that occurred to him throughout the day. He attended the Boston music school for a few years after reaching his majority and graduating from Mount Union College in Ohio. He then studied advanced music in Germany. He had always wanted to write music and so after many failed attempts at getting his songs published, he started his own publishing company. He wrote both secular and non secular music and he was known by his peers and neighbors as a quiet, good man. He was also known for his travels by horse and buggy from one small community to another throughout Ohio singing his songs to the individuals living there. He was also sometimes called the 'Bard of Ohio'. One of his hymns ( 'Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling' ) is believed to be the hymn that has been translated into the most languages.

He married Elizabeth Johnson and had one child – a son named William Leland Thompson. He was taking a tour of Europe with his family when he became ill and the entire family cut the trip short and returned home. He died a few weeks later on September 20, 1909 in New York City, New York and was buried in the Riverview Cemetery in East Liverpool, Ohio. By the end of his life, he had written and sold hundreds of songs and sheet music.

This is one of my favorite songs and my son has found a love for it as well. It is energetic and I sometimes use it as motivation for working when nothing else has really helped. Does this song mean anything to you? What images and emotions does it evoke in your mind?

Music and the Soul

Music has always been a balm to my soul. I have used songs to help propel myself into the deepest pockets of despair and to pull myself, filthy and struggling back to earth. I have felt myself soar to heights of ecstasy that I have never felt from anything else, not even sex. Music can literally change my mood, my thoughts and my actions. In some ways, I think that music has a control over my emotions that I cannot control as well as I would like. As you read this, your eyebrows might be slowly rising at my strong language, but I cannot stress how much music affects me- for good or bad, music will affect me in some way emotionally. I have never found a piece of music that doesn't move me in some direction.

The history of how music began is far from certain or documented. The only part of music history that seems clear is that every group of people (including the most isolated people/tribes who have lived on this earth) have had forms of music so music is a fundamental and important part of our human experience. Many scientists believe that music may date back even early than the human diaspora (when human beings began to move from Africa around the world) which was 50,000 years ago.

Music will also vary based on culture, society, instruments, emotions, attitudes, and even the period when the music was created. Thinking of this idea reminds me of working in the ambulance garage where my boss would only play 'oldies' music. I thought is was OK and would sing along but it wasn't my preferred listening. I was an alternative/ 80's junkie along with some heavy metal. And my spare time was filled with musicals and a music game I would play with my friends (all speech had to be sung and you got extra points if you were able to use a direct quote out of a song to get your point across; you lost points if you talked). The music that was my favorite and was the 'new music' is now old – and I am only 35! And much of classical music is considered positively ancient! :)

So the idea that music affects me in such a powerful way I see as a blessing in most instances. I receive answered to prayers and questions of faith through music. I have felt anger and despair through music and used lyrics and song to channel and try to 'funnel' off painful emotions so that they no longer hurt me as deeply. I have felt a joy so strong that I have cried silently while laughing as I have listened and I have felt a stronger peace than I have ever known in silence. What a blessing music is not only to me, but to human beings as thinking, breathing, loving, human beings!

Think back at how music in its many forms has changed since you were a child... If you were Mormon, you can now get hymns set to rock music- a pretty unthinkable thing just twenty years ago. The internet allows us to get music from all over the world and from all genres. We have more choice in what we listen to than human beings have ever had IMO. What is music to you? What does music do for you?