"I am Going to the Lordy" is a poem written by Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of James
A. Garfield.
He wrote it the morning of his execution and read it at the gallows.
The poem was detested by many of Guiteau's contemporaries, as well as those who came
to see the execution.
"I am Going to the Lordy" was used as a base for the song "The Ballad of Guiteau" in the
Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins, where Guiteau sings a version of the song while
cakewalking up and down the scaffold.
Reading On 30 June 1882, the day of the execution
of Guiteau for the assassination of President James Garfield, Guiteau announced, after famously
dancing his way to the gallows, that he would read a poem that he had written.
Guiteau said that he had written the poem, which was entitled "I am Going to the Lordy",
at about 10:00 a.m.
Eastern Standard Time that day.
After "stubbing his toe on the way to the gallows", as he put it to the executioner,
Guiteau read Matthew 14:28-32 and announced that he would now read a prayer of his own
composition.
After paraphrasing Matthew 18:3, Guiteau proceeded to read the poem from a piece of paper in
a style described as both "sad and doleful" as well as "high pitched" and "childlike".
Guiteau had requested an orchestra to play behind him as he recited his poem, but his
request was denied.
After completing the first verse in song, Guiteau stopped singing and chanted the rest.
Multiple times during the reading, Guiteau's voice would fail and he would begin sobbing,
even stopping to lay his head on the shoulder of a man standing by him.
Right before the completion of the poem, Guiteau raised his voice even higher into falsetto
to deliver the final two lines.
As the executioner fitted the hood over Guiteau's head and put the rope around his neck, he
held onto the piece of paper that he had written his poem on.
As per request with the executioner, Guiteau signaled that he was ready to die by dropping
said piece of paper.
It was a long-held belief that Guiteau himself wrote the folk song "Charles Guiteau".
It is theorized that the song resulted from the truth that Guiteau wrote "I am Going to
the Lordy" and was believed because of the way it was written.
Reception and commentary Many of Guiteau's contemporaries believed
that he was seriously deranged, and "I am Going to the Lordy" helped exemplify their
point.
Combined with his behavior at the trial, which included frequent profanity and insults towards
nearly everyone in the court, writing epic poems as his testimony, and soliciting legal
advice from spectators via passed notes, the poem convinced many spectators that Guiteau
was seriously insane.
"I am Going to the Lordy" was marked as "pathetic", and the entire event was labeled as "obvious
imbecility."
The people who came out to watch the execution "shout[ed], hoot[ed], curs[ed], and boo[ed]"
as Guiteau came up on stage and recited his poem.
In the musical Assassins "I am Going to the Lordy" is a featured part
of the Stephen Sondheim musical Assassins.
In the song "The Ballad of Guiteau", Guiteau sings an exaggerated version of the poem more
and more fervently while the Balladeer sings about Guiteau's life, trial, and execution.
Sondheim has said that the use of the poem in the song was one of two times he has borrowed
from another writer in his work, the other being lines from William Shakespeare's "Fear
No More" in The Frogs.
Sondheim first learned of the poem from the short story by Charles Gilbert on which Assassins
is based.
He was going to include pieces of letters and diaries written by Guiteau as well, but
felt that those would "weigh the piece down."
The contrast of the "fervent yet hymn-like poem" and the styles of music in the song
continue to suggest the insanity of Guiteau, a trait exemplified frequently in the musical.
After Guiteau sings his poem unaccompanied and quietly, the Balladeer sings a verse,
which is followed by Guiteau cakewalking up and down the scaffold and singing about looking
on the bright side.
He stops a step or two higher and begins singing the hymn again.
After the third verse, Guiteau begins cakewalking when he reaches the noose and stops suddenly.
He then begins singing his poem again, although this time much more forcefully and resolutely
before the Balladeer interrupts and leads Guiteau to his death.
Jim Lovensheimer implies that the use of the cakewalk interjected in the ballad show Guiteau
looking for a prize, as the best cakewalker on a plantation would be awarded a prize.
The lyrics of "The Battle of Guiteau", including the parts taken from "I am Going to the Lordy",
help to show Guiteau as a devoted but misguided Christian who "lost a grip on reality."
Lehman Engel said that "The Ballad of Guiteau" was one of the oddest songs of Assassins due
to the use of the poem.
"I am Going to the Lordy" Poem I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad,
I am going to the Lordy, I am so glad, I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy.
I love the Lordy with all my soul, Glory hallelujah!
And that is the reason I am going to the Lord, Glory hallelujah!
Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lord.
I saved my party and my land, Glory hallelujah!
But they have murdered me for it, And that is the reason I am going to the Lordy,
Glory hallelujah!
I am going to the Lordy!
I wonder what I will do when I get to the Lordy,
I guess that I will weep no more When I get to the Lordy!
Glory hallelujah!
I wonder what I will see when I get to the Lordy,
I expect to see most glorious things, Beyond all earthly conception
When I am with the Lordy!
Glory hallelujah!
I am with the Lord.
See also Charles Guiteau
References
http:law2.umkc.eduprojectsguiteau/guiteaulastwords.html