Artist & Tune
Version by Blind Willie Johnson
Version by Nina Simone
Version by Lea Gilmore
Version by Blind Boys of Alabama
Version by The Black Crowes
Version by Robert Plant
Version by Led Zeppelin
Reference
About the Song
Johnson said that this song tells of a spiritual struggle, and with reading the Bible as a way to salvation. Johnson was blinded at age seven when his stepmother threw a caustic solution and his verses attribute his father, mother, and sister with teaching him how to read.