The phrases of ring shout songs often appeared on the surface to outside Christian communities or the plantation ruling class as an ‘imitation’ and compliance to standardised scripture, yet for those in the enslaved community it often was a means of expressing what could not be said openly.

 

Similar to how instruments were limited, the ring shout song was constructed in a heavily symbolic and associative way. Songs such as Jubilee which carried the double message of spiritual release and liberation from slavery or Move, Daniel which uses sacred terminology to express solidarity between an enslaved man fleeing punishment and his fellow slaves are examples of this. 

 

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Of course, the best way to understand ring shout vernacular and performance is to see and hear it for yourself - These two videos were performed by the McIntosh County Shouters, arguably the most prominent contemporary shouting group in the United States today who've maintained and shared the ritual of the ring shout throughout the years.