Claude Ely – Ain’t No Grave

American artist and preacher “Brother” Claude Ely began his career in 1934, at the ripe old age of 12.  In the same year, he wrote his most famous work, Ain’t No Grave.  It was recorded by Bozie Sturdivant in 1942.  Ely recorded and released his own version in 1953.  Ain’t No Grave has been covered by Cageless Birds with Molly Skaggs (Bethel Music), and most famously, Johnny Cash.

Ely released three albums, including:

• The Gospel Ranger (1962)
• Child of the King (1967)
• At Home And At Church ‎(1969)

I’ve also reviewed Cageless Bird’s cover, which includes differing verses than this song.

Lyrics can be found at https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/19829357/Ain%27t+No+Grave.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

Its central message is that God will raise Ely from the dead.  A trumpet will sound, the angels will gather him up, and he will meet Christ in midair without his burdens.  He witnesses people in white robes obeying God.

Ely commits two errors in this song, namely, his claim that Gabriel will blow the trumpet and that Gabriel takes commandments from him.  Neither is supported by Scripture.

Score: 8/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

Most of it aligns with Scripture, except that Scripture doesn’t support that Gabriel will sound the trumpet or that Ely can order him around.

This song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure.  Therefore, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.

[Stanza 1]

Line 1: References the final resurrection (Luke 20:34-38, Acts 24:15-16, Romans 6:1-5, Romans 8:11-13, 1 Corinthians 15:20-26, 1 Corinthians 15:50-56, 2 Corinthians 4:13-14, and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18), where Ely will receive his new, incorruptible, eternal spiritual body (1 Corinthians 15:35-49).

Line 2: Repeats line 1.

Lines 3 and 4: References 1 Corinthians 15:52-55, where a trumpet sounds, followed by Ely’s resurrection.

Line 5: Repeats line 1.

[Stanza 2]

Lines 1-4: Though 1 Thessalonians 4:16 tells us that the archangel will shout and there will be a trumpet sound, it does not say Gabriel descended or blew the horn.

Also, Ely has no authority to order Gabriel to stand by until he’s ready to go.  According to Psalm 8:4-5 and Hebrews 2:7-9, Jesus was made temporarily “lower than the angels”, referencing rank.  This tells us that angels are higher on the pecking order than mankind.

[Stanza 3]

Lines 1-3: According to Matthew 24:29-31, angels will gather God’s people after Jesus comes again.  There’s also another reference to angelic harvesting in Jesus’ parable of weeds among wheat in Matthew 13:24-30, explained in Matthew 13:36-42.  Ely concludes that the angels will gather him into the barn.

Lines 4-7: These are God’s people whose garments are washed white in the blood of the lamb.  They serve God day and night (Revelation 7:13-15).

[Stanza 4]

Repeats stanza 1.

[Stanza 5]

Lines 1-4: In the Old Testament, Joshua lead Israel’s army across the Jordan river to take the promised land (Joshua 1:1-2).  Ely metaphorically describes a new “promised land”, that is, the Kingdom of God (Psalm 2:6-8, Psalm 72:8, Psalm 89:27, Daniel 7:14, Ephesians 1:20-22, Revelation 1:6, Revelation 11:15, Revelation 19:15, and Revelation 21:1-2).

“Ah Suzanna” is probably a reference to the Stephen Foster folk song Oh! Suzanna. Most likely, it’s used as a minced oath.

[Stanza 6]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Stanza 3, lines 1-3.

[Stanza 7]

Lines 1-4: References 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where believers will meet Jesus in the air.  It also proclaims Christ as King (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16).

[Stanza 8]

Repeats stanza 1.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Ely will be with Jesus for eternity, collected by angels and seeing his parents again.  The names “Gabriel” and “Jesus” lend to an obvious Christian interpretation.  Unbelievers will probably not know that Ely’s claims about Gabriel are not found in the Bible.

Score: 8/10

4. What does this song glorify?

While it glorifies God that Ely proclaims the final resurrection, his unsupported claims about Gabriel veil it.

Score: 8/10

Closing Comments

Claude Ely’s Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold This Body Down) is good, but not without error.  He uses everyday language to proclaim his resurrection, where he will see Jesus face to face floating above the ground, bringing glory to God.  While unbelievers will have little issue interpreting this song, Ely errs by making Biblically unwarranted assertions, that Gabriel would announce Christ’s return with a trumpet and that Ely can tell Gabriel what to do.

These blunders make it difficult to recommend for corporate worship.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold This Body Down) (listen to the song)

Artist: Claude Ely

Album: N/A (released as a single)

Genre: Classic Country

Release Year: 1953

Duration: 2:45

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