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What does “Hold My Mule” mean?
In its literal sense, the person saying “hold my mule” asks someone to hold on to his or her belonging/s (such as his or her mule, shoes, purse, or hat) so that he or she is able to or better able to perform a particular activity. However, for the most part, “hold my mule” is a figurative expression that signals that something out of the ordinary is about to happen or that onlookers want something out of the ordinary (like a fight) to go down (to occur).
In a church context, a person who says “Hold my mule” is signaling that he or she or someone else is about to do a Holy dance (i.e. “get his or her shout on”, “get happy”; “cut a step”, “go in”).
“Shouting John” (also known as “Hold My Mule”) is a story that Shirley Caesar shares prior to she and her choir singing the Gospel song “I’m Going To Praise The Lord While I Have A Chance”. Because of the popularity of Shirley Caesar’s rendition of that introductory story, her remix of “I”m Going To Praise The Lord While I Have A Chance”, is most widely known as “Hold My Mule”.