"Mary Don't You Weep" (alternately titled "O Mary Don't You Weep", "Oh Mary, Don't You Weep, Don't You Mourn", or variations thereof) is a Spiritual that originates from before the American Civil War – thus it is what scholars call a "slave song," "a label that describes their origins among the enslaved," and it contains "coded messages of hope and resistance." It is one of the most important of Negro spirituals. The song tells the Biblical story of Mary of Bethany and her distraught pleas to Jesus to raise her brother Lazarus from the dead. Other narratives relate to The Exodus and the Passage of the Red Sea, with the chorus proclaiming Pharaoh's army got drown-ded!, and to God's rainbow covenant to Noah after the Great Flood. With liberation thus one of its themes, the song again become popular during the Civil Rights Movement. Additionally, a song that explicitly chronicles the victories of the Civil Rights Movement, "If You Miss Me from the Back of the Bus", written by Charles Neblett of The Freedom Singers, was sung to this tune and became one of the most well-known songs of that movement. In 2015 it was announced that The Swan Silvertones's version of the song will be inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry for the song's "cultural, artistic and/or historical significance to American society and the nation’s audio legacy". Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer and songwriter. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was minister. In 1960, at the age of 18, she embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Spanish Harlem" and "Think". By the end of the 1960s she had gained the title "The Queen of Soul". Franklin eventually recorded a total of 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles, becoming the most charted female artist in the chart's history. Franklin is listed in at least two all-time lists on Rolling Stone magazine, including the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. On August 13, 2018, Franklin was reported to be gravely ill at her home near Detroit. She was reported to be under hospice care and surrounded by friends and family. Stevie Wonder and Jesse Jackson, among others, had visited her. Franklin died at home in Detroit on August 16, aged 76. The cause was reported to be advanced pancreatic cancer. Oh Oh Mary Oh Oh Mary Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn. Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn. Didn't Pharaoh's army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don't you weep. Well, Satan got mad and he knows I'm glad. Missed that soul that he thought he had. Now, didn't Pharaoh's army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don't you weep. Well, one of these nights around twelve o'clock, this old town's gonna really rock. Didn't Pharaoh's army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don't you weep. Cheer up, sisters and don't you cry. There'll be good times bye and bye. Didn't Pharaoh's army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don't you weep. Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn. Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn. Didn't Pharaoh's army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don't you weep. Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn. Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn. Didn't Pharaoh's army get drowned? Oh, Mary, don't you weep.

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