'Fannie Lou' Musical

In Fannie Lou musical, the character Minister Young sings the song “Step By Step.” He’s just been part of a meeting with voting rights advocates, led by Rev. Hill, that has ended on a positive, upbeat note. Yet, after most of the attendees have dispersed, Minister Young spontaneously begins to sing, a cappella, this old, familiar spiritual about the Crucifixion.

Rev. Hill is baffled. Why, he asks Minister Young, does the clerical trainee choose to sing a song about the path towards Jesus’ earthly death after such a spirited, purpose-affirming meeting has taken place? Why not something a more and upbeat and lively?

Minister Young doesn’t really know the answer to that. All he knows is that at that very moment, the Holy Spirit moved him to sing “Step By Step.” He could not contain it. He felt compelled to release it from inside himself. Even though the meeting went well, Minister Young has a premonition that something, somewhere, has gone terribly wrong.

What neither Minister Young nor Rev. Hill knows at that time – but will soon find out – is that at that very moment the title character, Fannie Lou, is suffering mightily. Step by step, inch by inch, she has been enduring brutal retaliation because of her voting rights activities. So through that song choice, Minister Young is being used by the Spirit to acknowledge a situation he isn’t even aware of yet.

Literally, “Step By Step” is an eye-witness account of Jesus’ final “march,” and a testament to His love for us all as he sacrificed His life for our sins. Figuratively, this poignant song evokes the hardships of those who marched in protest against unequal laws and unfair treatment, and who sacrificed their lives for our rights.

This, then, is the context for the original song “Step By Step,” the fifth installment of the Fannie Lou Musical INSIDE TRACKS series. We hope you like this demo version, with added harmony beginning with the second verse. In the musical, “Step By Step” is sung a cappella. It was performed as a solo by Minister Young until the Oct. 22, 2016 performance, when harmony was added by a second character. This demo version features Felicia singing both melody and harmony. (Note: The Minister Young character singing this song in the live stage performance of Fannie Lou is male. For the Oct. 22, 2016 production of "Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou" the song was sung by Torian as Minister Young, while the added harmony was sung by Hanna, who graciously stepped into the role of Mrs. Smith -- created for that particular performance to both address a void created by a previously cast actor who had dropped out of the production, and to highlight Hanna's wonderful talent. Also note: You can hear Hanna sing the harmony for this song when she reprises her role as Mrs. Smith in our next production of "Scenes and Songs from Fannie Lou," on Oct. 1 at Yale University.)

To listen to this demo version of “Step By Step,” please click on the arrow below. The lyrics follow.

"Step By Step" lyrics
By Felicia Hunter
From the Musical Fannie Lou

VERSE 1

Step by step, I’m

Marching forward

On my way to

Calvary

I will be there

I will see Him

See the man from

Galilee

I will witness

As they nail Him

To the cross (and) I’ll

Tell the stor___y

(Of how) step by step I

Marched to see Him

And I saw Him Die for me

VERSE 2

Inch by inch, I’m

Getting closer

On my way to

Calvary

I can almost

Almost touch Him

Touch the man from

Galilee

I will witness

My Lord suffering

On the cross, (and) I’ll

Tell the stor __ y

(Of how) step by step I

Marched to see Him

And I saw Him

Die for me

(REPEAT VERSE 1)

Step by step, I’m

Marching forward

On my way to

Calvary

I will be there

I will see Him

See the man from

Galilee

I will witness

As they nail Him

To the cross (and) I’ll

Tell the stor___y

(Of how) step by step I

Marched to see Him

And I saw Him Die for me

INSIDE TRACKS series

"Step By Step" is the fifth installment of  the Fannie Lou musical INSIDE TRACKS series, which makes noncommercial demo versions of selected songs from the Fannie Lou score available to listen to on this website.

Additional songs
To hear previous installments of  the INSIDE TRACKS series, "Who Owns You?" and "Forget Me Not," "Make It Like It Was Before" and "Sick and Tired," please visit here, here, here, here, here and here.