“Every Time I Feel the Spirit” (aka “Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit”) is an African-American spiritual dating to before the US Civil War. The song has been frequently recorded by contemporary artists and gospel music groups.
We do know that words of spirituals often had multiple meanings. This idea of layered meanings in lyrics is still around. For example, the line in Every Time I Feel the Spirit that reads, “There ain’t but one train on this track; It runs to heaven…” possibly refers to the Underground Railroad or other road to freedom, a message easily recognized and of comfort to those enduring slavery. A call-and-response song might contain the coded message in the “call” part of the song. The “response” could be an indicator that the message was received. Much in the same way, songs with multiple verses and a refrain could contain information sent and acknowledged. If a variation of a song (or portion of a song) was sung, it could be an alert that new information was coming, not unlike a “breaking news” banner across the TV screen of today. It was simple yet brilliant and highly effective