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"What Are They Doing in Heaven?" is a Christian
hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' d ...
written in 1901 by American
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
minister
Charles Albert Tindley Charles Albert Tindley (July 7, 1851July 26, 1933) was an African-American Methodist Minister (Christianity), minister and gospel music composer. His composition "I'll Overcome Someday" is credited as the basis for the U.S. Freedom Songs, Civil R ...
. , it has become popular enough to have been included in 16
hymnal A hymnal or hymnary is a collection of hymns, usually in the form of a book, called a hymnbook (or hymn book). They are used in congregational singing. A hymnal may contain only hymn texts (normal for most hymnals for most centuries of Christia ...
s. The song has sometimes been recorded under the titles "What Are They Doing?" and "What Are They Doing in Heaven Today?". The question mark is often omitted. The song may also be known by its first line, "I am thinking of friends whom I used to know". The song consists of four verses and a
refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...
, each four lines long. In both the verses and the refrain, the first three lines rhyme, and the fourth is "What are they doing now?" or some small variant of that. The author reflects on friends who were burdened in life by care, or by disease, or by poverty; and wonders what they might now be doing in
Heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
, without giving his answer. The first known recording of the song is the 1928 one by Washington Phillips (18801954; vocals and
zither Zither (; , from the Greek ''cithara'') is a class of stringed instruments. The modern instrument has many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a ...
), in
gospel blues Gospel blues (or holy blues) is a form of blues-based gospel music that has been around since the inception of blues music. It combines evangelistic lyrics with blues instrumentation, often blues guitar accompaniment. According to musician an ...
style. Phillips' recording was used in the soundtrack of the 2005 film '' Elizabethtown''. The song has since been recorded many times in a wide variety of styles, including
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
and bluegrass; .


Recordings

* 1928Washington Phillips, 78rpm single Columbia 14404-D * 1934 Mitchell's Christian Singers, 78rpm singles
Perfect Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...
326,
Banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...
33433, Conqueror 8431, and Melotone 13400 * 1938
Golden Gate Quartet The Golden Gate Quartet (a.k.a. The Golden Gate Jubilee Quartet) is an American vocal group. It was formed in 1934 and, with changes in membership, remains active. Origins and early career The group was founded as the Golden Gate Jubilee Sing ...
, 78rpm singles
Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous passerine birds in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. Bluebirds lay an ...
7994 and Montgomery 7866 * The Southernaires, radio broadcast * 1946
Pilgrim Travelers The Pilgrim Travelers were an American gospel group, popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Musical career Formed in 1936 in Houston, Texas, United States, They achieved popularity after moving to Los Angeles in 1942, where their new manage ...
* 1948 The Lilly Brothers, 78rpm single Page 505 * 1948The Southern Harmonizers, 78 rpm single Specialty 301 * 1950The Mello-Tones, 78rpm single Columbia 39051 * 1950-53 Silvertone Singers * 1952
The Dixie Hummingbirds The Dixie Hummingbirds (formerly known as The Sterling High School Quartet) are an influential United States, American gospel music group, spanning more than 80 years from the Jubilee quartets, jubilee quartet style of the 1920s, through the "h ...
,
45rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English) or a vinyl record (for later varieties only) is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The gr ...
single
Peacock Records Peacock Records was an American record label, founded in 1949 by Don Robey in Houston, Texas, United States. History Robey established the record label in 1949 after two years of being blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's manager, and Brow ...
5-1594 * 1957Harry and Jeanie West on the album ''Favorite Gospel Songs'' * 1960
Sister Rosetta Tharpe Sister Rosetta Tharpe (born Rosetta Nubin, March 20, 1915 – October 9, 1973) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spirit ...
on the album ''Gospels in Rhythm'' * 1962
The Fairfield Four The Fairfield Four is an American gospel group that has existed for over 100 years, starting as a trio in the Fairfield Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1921. They were designated as National Heritage Fellows in 1989 by the National End ...
on the album ''The Bells Are Tolling'' * 1964
The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American Gospel music, gospel, soul music, soul, and Rhythm and blues, R&B singing group. Pops Staples, Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group w ...
on the album ''This Little Light'' * 196692
Marion Williams Marion Williams (August 29, 1927 – July 2, 1994) was an American gospel singer. Early years Marion Williams was born in Miami, Florida, to a religiously devout mother and musically inclined father. She left school when she was nine ...
* 1971The Downtown Sister New Heaven on the album ''Gospels And Spirituals'' * 1983 Slim & the Supreme Angels on the album ''Glory to His Name'' * 1992 Tom Hanway on the album ''Tom Hanway and Blue Horizon'' * 1994Martin Simpson on the album ''A Closer Walk with Thee'' * 1995The Pfister Sisters on the album ''The Pfister Sisters'' * 1996Michelle Lanchester,
Bernice Johnson Reagon Bernice Johnson Reagon (October 4, 1942 – July 16, 2024) was an American song leader, composer, professor of American history, curator at the Smithsonian, and social activist. In the early 1960s, she was a founding member of the Freedom Sin ...
and Yasmeen on the album ''Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions'' * 1996
Little Jimmy Scott James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs. After ...
on the album ''Heaven'' * 2000Last Forever on the album ''Trainfare Home'' * 2000Margaret Allison and the Angelic Gospel Singers on the album ''Home in the Rock'' * 2002
Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane, and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist ...
on the album '' Blue Country Heart'' * 2003
Bill Gaither William James Gaither (born March 28, 1936) is an American singer and songwriter of Southern gospel and contemporary Christian music. He has written numerous popular Christian songs with his wife Gloria; he is also known for performing as par ...
feat.
Gloria Gaither Gloria Gaither (born March 4, 1942) is a Christian singer-songwriter, author, speaker, editor, and academic. She is married to Bill Gaither and together they have written more than 700 songs. In 2000, ASCAP named them Christian Songwriters of the ...
and
Babbie Mason Babbie Yvett Robie Wade Mason (born February 1, 1955) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, writer, and adjunct professor of songwriting at Point University and Lee University, and also a television talk-show host. Born to Georgie and Geo ...
on the album ''Heaven'' * 2003
The Immortal Lee County Killers The Immortal Lee County Killers (ILCK) were an United States, American rock music, rock rock band, band from Auburn, Alabama, Auburn, Lee County, Alabama, Lee County, Alabama. Playing in the punk blues style, as well as Garage punk (fusion genre ...
on the album ''Love Is a Charm of Powerful Trouble'' * 2003Mike "Sport" Murphy on the album ''Uncle'' * 2006 Riley Baugus on the album ''Long Steel Rail'' * 2006Joanne Blum on the album ''Even More Love'' * 2006Cabin Fever NW on the album ''The Door Is Always Open'' * 2006
Jessy Dixon Jessy Dixon (March 12, 1938 – September 26, 2011) was an American gospel music singer, songwriter, and pianist, with success among audiences across racial lines. He garnered seven Grammy Award nominations during his career. Musicians with wh ...
on the album ''Get Away Jordan'' * 2006
Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...
on the album ''Voice of the Spirit, Gospel of the South'' * 2006
The Be Good Tanyas The Be Good Tanyas are a Canadian folk music group formed in Vancouver in 1999. Their influences include folk, country, and bluegrass. The style of music they perform can be referred to as alt-country or Americana. History The Be Good Tanyas f ...
on the album '' Hello Love'' * 2006Boxcar Preachers on the album ''Auto-Body Experience'' * 2006Judy Cook on the album ''If You Sing Songs ...'' * 2006The Great Gospel Crew on the album ''The Greatest Gospel Music'' * 2007John Reischman and The Jaybirds on the album ''Stellar Jays'' * 2008
Murry Hammond Old 97's is an American Rock music, rock band from Dallas, Texas, Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1992, they have released thirteen studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and they have one live album. Their most recent r ...
on the album ''I Don't Know Where I'm Going but I'm on My Way'' * 2009 Jim Byrnes on the album ''My Walking Stick'' * 2009The Habit on the album ''The Habit'' * 2010
Buddy Greene Buddy Greene (born October 30, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, guitar player and harmonica player. Most of his recordings consist of gospel music with a distinctly Southern gospel flavor. Much of his music is influenced by country musi ...
on the album ''A Few More Years'' * 2011The Bright Wings Chorus on the album ''Here Below'' * 2011 Dead Rock West on the album ''Bright Morning Stars'' * 2013The Quiet American on the album ''Wild Bill Jones '' * 2013
Marcy Marxer Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are a musical duo who perform folk, bluegrass and children’s music. They have performed with Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, Tom Paxton, Patsy Montana, Riders in the Sky (band), Riders in the Sky and others. The Washing ...
on the album ''Things Are Coming My Way'' * 2013
Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). Mogwa ...
on the album '' Les Revenants'' * 2013
Mavis Staples Mavis Staples (born July 10, 1939) is an American rhythm and blues and gospel music, gospel singer and civil rights activism, activist. She rose to fame as a member of her family's band The Staple Singers, of which she is the last surviving memb ...
on the album '' One True Vine'' * 2013
Colin Stetson Colin Stetson (born March 3, 1975) is an American saxophonist, multireedist, and composer based in Montreal. He is best known as a regular collaborator of the indie rock acts Arcade Fire, Bon Iver, Bell Orchestre, and Ex Eye. In addition to sa ...
feat.
Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...
on the album ''New History Warfare, Vol. 3: To See More Light'' * 2014
Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various ...
and
Abigail Washburn Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu Force, and as a ...
on the album ''Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn'' * 2016Consuelo's Revenge on the album ''Mercy'' * 2023
DeYarmond Edison DeYarmond Edison is the former band of the members of Bon Iver, Megafaun, and Field Report. Guitarist and vocalist Justin Vernon went on to create Bon Iver; three members (Brad Cook: bass, guitar; Phil Cook: keyboards, banjo; Joe Westerlund: ...
on the album ''That Was Then: The Bickett Gallery Residency, North Carolina (Live)''


References

American Christian hymns Blues songs Gospel songs Songs about death Hymns by Charles Albert Tindley 1901 songs Washington Phillips songs Columbia Records singles Pace Jubilee Singers songs 20th-century hymns