"He Never Said a Mumblin' Word" (also known as "They Hung Him on a Cross", "Mumblin' Word", "Crucifixion", and "Easter") is an American Negro Spiritual folk song.
The song narrates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, detailing how he was nailed to the cross, "whooped up the hill", speared in the side, and hung his head and died, all the while keeping a dignified silence.
One of the earliest sources in which it is found is the 1913 collection Favorite Folk-Melodies as Sung by Tuskegee Students, compiled by music educator and composer Nathaniel Clark Smith while he was based at the Tuskegee Institute.
[1] Notes accompanying American Ballads and Folk Songs, an anthology of songs collected by John Lomax and Alan Lomax during the 1930s and 1940s, mention that the song as known throughout Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and was titled "Never Said a Mumbalin' Word.
"[2] It is known to be a companion piece to, and possibly has the same writer(s) as, "Were You There", another Spiritual.