The Impressions Songs - People Get Ready Lyrics

The Impressions - People Get Ready

The Impressions - People Get Ready Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: People Get Ready
Released: 1965

People Get Ready Lyrics

People Get Ready, there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord

So people get ready, for the train to Jordan
Picking up passengers coast to coast
Faith is the key, open the doors and board 'em
There's hope for all, among those loved the most

There ain't no room for the hopeless sinner
Whom would hurt all mankind, just to save his own, believe me now
Have pity on those whose chances grow thinner
For there is no hiding place, against the kingdom's throne

So people get ready there's a train a comin'
You don't need no baggage, you just get on board
All you need is faith, to hear the diesels hummin'
Don't need no ticket, you just thank the Lord

Writer/s: MAYFIELD, CURTIS L /
Publisher: Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

People Get Ready Song Chart

Impressions lead singer Curtis Mayfield wrote this song. Mayfield got his start performing with the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers, competing with other gospel acts in the Chicago area. Grounded in church music, he wrote many songs in that style, including "People Get Ready."

The song embodies a deep sense of spirituality and community, but with enough popular appeal to make it a hit.

Mayfield based the song's lyric on various sermons he heard in church. He wrote the music first, and the gospel feel dictated the words.

This song resonated with African Americans during the civil rights struggles of the '60s. The song speaks for the downtrodden, and Mayfield made it clear that transcended race. "It doesn't matter what color or faith you have," he told Goldmine in 1997. "I'm pleased the lyrics can be of value to anybody."

Bob Marley was huge fan of The Impressions, and especially of this song (he could hear it in Jamaica on Miami radio stations). In 1965, he incorporated the verse lyrics of "People Get Ready" into "One Love," a song he recorded with his group The Wailers. This version didn't credit Curtis Mayfield, since copyright law was kind of loose in Jamaica.

In 1977, Marley released a new version of the song for his album Exodus (credited to Bob Marley & The Wailers). This time, the song was titled "One Love/People Get Ready," with the songwriters listed as Bob Marley and Curtis Mayfield.

Aretha Franklin, Maria Muldaur, The Walker Brothers and Eva Cassidy are among the artists to cover this song. In 1985, Jeff Beck and Rod Stewart did a version that made #48 in the US.

After Curtis Mayfield was paralyzed in 1990 (a light rig fell on him, crushing three vertebrae), royalties from this song - especially the Rod Stewart version - helped keep him financially sound, which he credited for helping him fend off depression and remain active as a songwriter and singer despite his condition. Mayfield released the acclaimed album New World Order two years before his death in 1999.

Vanilla Fudge recorded this in 1967. They had a hit the year before with their version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On," and covered many songs in a slowed-down, emotional style. Says Fudge drummer Carmine Appice: "When we do People Get Ready, we usually get a standing ovation. In the middle '60s, we were into Beatles stuff - Revolver and all that - and we were also into the R&B stuff: The Temptations, The Impressions, The Supremes. The Impressions were a favorite of mine, and I believe of Tim Bogert and Mark Stein as well. We came about the song and said, 'This would be a great song. It sounds like a Gospel song, let's make it sound like a churchy, Gospel-type song.' We came up with a very symphonic kind of intro, as we've done with many songs, but most of the song was done just with an organ and a vocal, and I actually sang that. With the background harmonies singing, 'Thank the lord,' it made it sound very Gospely. At the end, it built into a big, powerful last verse and chorus, and then it went out with Gospel vocals. That was a great arrangement for us, and today it still goes over great." (Thanks to Carmine for speaking with us about this song. His website is carmineappice.net.)

From a biblical standpoint, the lyrics encourage believers to hang onto their faith in times of strife because the "train to Jordan" is on its way to deliver them to a peaceful afterlife. The song, however, has a universal appeal beyond its religious underpinnings as it promises triumph in fighting the good fight, and the assurance of punishment for those who have done us harm.

Jordan is an Arab kingdom in the Middle East bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and east, Iraq to the northeast, Syria to the north, and Israel and Palestine to the west. Referenced in the Bible as part of the Kingdom of Ammon, it's often considered one of the only places of refuge for Christians during the end times. Daniel 11:41 speaks of the antichrist's inability to overcome the country: "He will also invade the Beautiful Land. Many countries will fall, but Edom, Moab and the leaders of Ammon will be delivered from his hand." It's also a significant place in the Gospels as the Jordan River was the site of Jesus' (and many others') baptism.