"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground"[note 1] is a gospel blues song written and performed by American musician Blind Willie Johnson and recorded in 1927.

[8] In 1928, the influential blues critic Edward Abbe Niles championed Johnson in his column for The Bookman, praising his "violent, tortured, and abysmal shouts and groans, and his inspired guitar playing".

A highly regarded figure within the burgeoning New York folk scene, Davis gave copies of Johnson's records to young musicians and taught them to play his songs.

[10] A compilation album titled Dark Was the Night was released in 2009 by the Red Hot Organization, a charity that raises awareness of HIV and AIDS issues through music.

"[17] “Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground” was used on the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to Pier Paolo Pasolini's classic film, The Gospel According to St Matthew, in scenes where Judas Iscariot laments betraying Christ and a cripple asks to be healed.

[18] Ry Cooder based his soundtrack to the Palme d'Or-winning film, Paris, Texas on "Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground", which he has described as "the most soulful, transcendent piece in all American music.

Wim Wenders, the director of Paris, Texas, included Blind Willie Johnson's music and life in his 2003 documentary The Soul of a Man, produced for the PBS series "The Blues".

"Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" was included, according to Timothy Ferris, because "Johnson's song concerns a situation he faced many times: nightfall with no place to sleep.