A few days ago I heard the words “he’s got the whole world in his hands” and it brought back memories. Let me take you back a few, no, many years.
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In the early days of the Rotary youth exchange program Inverell, in northern NSW, hosted a teenager, who proved to be one of the most popular exchange students the town had hosted. Most Inverell people would not remember her now, but she was the type of person anybody would love to have in their home.
On her departure she was given a reception in the town hall and then she revealed she would love to be known as a singer. She sang “he’s got the whole world in his hands” to rapturous applause.
One of the words in that song was world. Here is a word that goes back to at least 832. World originally meant “age of man”.
My big dictionary says it started out as meaning human existence, or the life of man. Then in the year 1000 it meant something like bring into this world, or even move into a better world. Then it moved into various stages, including the state of human affairs or a period of human history, or even eternity. It also referred to the whole human race.
But in 888 it also referred to the earth or a region of it, even the universe or a part of it. It seemed to be the word to cover all eventualities. These days most people when they use world seem to refer to the earth – “everywhere the world over; when all the world is still”.
Another site said London was the fairest city in the whole world. I’m just saying what the book said, so don’t blame me.
The Macquarie’s first definition says world means “the earth or globe” as well as other meanings; Collins says world means “the planet that we live in” as well as other meanings; and Webster says “age of man” as well as other meanings. But back to the whole world in his hands.
This song was first recorded in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Old and New in 1927. It quickly became popular and was published in many other sites. It was a gospel song and many leading singers have included it in their repertoire.
It even became a football song – “we’ve got the whole world in our hands”. The exchange girl returned to the USA to a big reception. Everybody was happy to have her back among them.
I don’t know whether she sang at her welcome home party. But I know it was a great welcome home event and the reception was covered in The Inverell Times. It was many years ago and I forget the details.
She probably revealed then that she wanted to be a singer. A few days later she was in a road accident and she was killed.
