"He Never Said a Mumblin' Word" (also known as "They Hung Him on a Cross", "Mumblin' Word", "Crucifixion" and "Easter") is an American 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, hung his head and died, all the while keeping a dignified silence. The song's writers and origins are unknown. 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". The Lomaxes recorded the song while on a visit to Camp C at Louisiana State Penetentiary in the 1933, where they also discovered Lead Belly, who recorded several versions of the song from 1945 onwards. According to Lead Belly, the song originated from "down south" and claimed to have learned it from his mother, Sallie Brown. John and Alan Lomax also recorded a performance by a group of unidentified prisoners in June 1933 at the Angola Prison Farm, Louisiana and in July 1933 at the Parchman Farm penitentiary, Mississippi. A version is printed in John and Alan Lomax's Best Loved American Folk Songs (Folk Song USA). It has been published in 14 hymnals of various denominations.