Part 15
The song is found also in Mason's _Harp of the South_, p. 272, where the composer is given as "Husband". The same tune with minor variations appeared in the 1859 edition of the _Sacred Harp_, p. 425, where it was attributed to J. L. Pickard. Its two one-line verses are:
I am on my journey home _etc._ To the New Jerusalem _etc._
No. 212 HOLY WAR, SWP 170
For mode see note below
[Music]
I've listed in the holy war, Content to suffer soldier's fare, _Natural key Chorus_ And we'll all shout for joy, And we'll give God the glory, And I hope to join the army by and by.
I've fought through many a battle sore, And I must fight through many more; And we'll _etc._
I take my breastplate, sword and shield, And boldly march into the field.
The banner o'er my head is love, I draw my rations from above.
The world, the flesh and Satan too Unite and strive what they can do.
On thee, O Lord, I humbly call, Uphold me, or my soul must fall.
I've listed and I mean to fight, Till all my foes are put to flight.
And when the victory I have won, I'll give the praise to God alone.
Come, fellow-Christians, join with me, Come, face the foe and never flee.
The heavenly battle is begun, Come, take the field and win the crown.
With listing orders I have come; Come rich, come poor, come old or young.
Here's grace's bounty Christ has given, And glorious crowns laid up in heaven.
But if you will not list and fight, You'll sink into eternal night.
The tune as it stands is heptatonic dorian. And that is probably a correct notation. The interesting thing is the device employed to legitimize the dorian raised sixth, namely, the device of modulation. The writer of the tune, knowing presumably nothing about the old modes, set his first melodic phrase in _g_-major with a semi-cadence on two of the scale. All went well because the _f_-sharp of _that_ key was not represented. But in the second part of the tune the actual _f_-natural appeared; and the only way he saw of handling it was to change the signature to a "natural key chorus" as he specifically calls it. And the final note in the tune agreed with the key which he took to be _a_-minor.
No. 213 O GOD WHAT SHALL I SAY or ALVERSON, REV 181
Hexatonic, mode 5 A (I -- 3 IV V 6 7)
[Music]
When pity prompts me to look round Upon my fellow clay, See men reject the gospel sound, O God, what shall I say? O God, what shall I say?
My bowels yearn for dying men, Doom'd to eternal woe, Fain would I speak, but 'tis in vain If God does not speak too.
O sinner, sinner, won't you hear When in God's name I come? Upon your peril don't forbear, Lest hell should be your doom.
One more stanza is in the _Revivalist_. This is a phrygian tune with the second of its scale unused. It reminds one strongly of the melody of 'Gala Water', _Lyric Gems of Scotland_, p. 84.
No. 214 THAT LONESOME VALLEY, Author's recording
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
You got to go that lonesome valley, You got to go there by yourself. There's no one can go there for you; You got to go there, you got to go there by yourself.
Recorded by the author, February 11, 1933, from the singing of Don West of the Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, Tennessee. Mr. West told me that the two subsequent stanzas began, "You got to lie in that lonesome graveyard" and "Some folks say that John was a Baptist." After each verse the tune is repeated to the words of the first stanza.
The source of this spiritual song is very likely 'In Seaport Town', see Sharp, i., 310, in which there is the recurring phrase:
Till at last they came to a lonesome valley,
and where considerable melodic similarity is to be found. Further traces of this typical folk-tune are in 'Young Beichan', Sharp, i., 79; 'My Mother Bid Me', Sharp, ii., 94, tune D; 'Opossum', Sharp, ii., 353; 'Drivin' Steel', Sandburg, p. 150; the negro song 'You Got to Cross it for Yourself', Sandburg, p. 486; and 'That Lonesome Valley', Grissom, p. 2.
In _The Carolina Low-Country_, pp. 284ff., there are two negro spirituals which lean heavily on 'That Lonesome Valley'. The "lonesome valley" symbolized, among both negroes and whites, also the mourning period which was a necessary forerunner of religious conversion.
No. 215 I'M BOUND TO DIE IN THE ARMY or SERVICE OF THE LORD, OSH 80
Hexatonic, mode 3 b (I II III IV V VI --)
[Music]
Farewell, vain world, I'm going home, I am bound to die in the army; My Savior smiles and bids me come, I am bound to die in the army; I am bound to live in the service of my Lord, I am bound to die in the army.
Further stanzas of the text are given under 'Golden Harp'. A variant of this tune is 'Promise' in this collection. 'Antioch' in this collection, is also related. The tune 'Service of the Lord' or 'Antioch' seems to have been borrowed by those who sang 'Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard' as it is found in Sharp, i., 162. Indications that the direction of borrowing was as suggested may be found in the misfit of words to tune in the secular song. See for example where the "ar-my" of the above tune and the "-lu-jah" of 'Antioch' correspond to a mere repetition, "all, all", in the 'Little Musgrave' song. 'Cruel Mother', Sharp, i., 61, tune K, is also closely related to 'Service of the Lord'. For negro adoptions and adaptations see Grissom, p. 60; Marsh, p. 169; _White Spirituals_, pp. 266 and 267; and Dett, p. 120.
No. 216 PROMISE or WITH US TO THE END, SOC 73
Hexatonic, mode 3 b (I II III IV V VI --)
[Music]
Jesus my all to heav'n is gone, And he's promis'd to be with us to the end; He whom I fix my hopes upon, And he's promis'd to be with us to the end; _Chorus_ Jesus has been with us and he is still with us And he's promis'd to be with us to the end.
The text is given more fully under 'River of Jordan'. The song is ascribed by the compiler of the _Social Harp_ to Henry F. Chandler and dated 1854. The tune has evidently been used for the worldly ballad 'Cruel Mother', see Sharp, i., 61. The chorus reappears in the _Wesleyan Psalmist_ (1842) attached to a text which begins:
Children of God, renounce your fears, Jesus says he will be with us to the end. Lo, Jesus for your help appears, Jesus says he will be with us to the end. _Chorus_ For he has been with us _etc._
This chorus material, words and tune, is used also in 'He's Promised to be With You' in this collection. See for tune relationships also 'Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard', Sharp, i., 162.
No. 217 NEVER TURN BACK (A), OSH 381
Pentatonic, cannot be classified (I II 3 -- V -- 7)
[Music]
When to that blessed world I rise, I'll never turn back any more; And join the anthems in the skies, I'll never turn back any more. Any more, any more, any more, my Lord, I'll never turn back any more.
This was a recording from the 1840's. Another, in the _Social Harp_ of 1855, p. 52, has the more indigenous reading "I'll never turn back no more." See 'Never Turn Back (B)' in this collection. A negro variant is in Marsh, p. 174. John Powell tells me that Lydia, negro servant in the Powell house in Richmond, Virginia, and a remarkable singer, sings a variant of this tune to the words:
King cried: "no mo', no mo', my Lord, I'll never turn to go back to E-jup Land no mo'."
No. 218 OLD-TIME RELIGION
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
'Tis the old-time religion, The old-time religion, 'Tis the old-time religion, It's good enough for me.
Subsequent verses have "It was good for Paul and Silas" and for practically everybody. It is the author's recording from memory of hearing it sung at meetings of both negroes and whites. Sharp, ii., 291, has the above tune with a judgment-day text under the title 'Sinner Man', a song which had come from negro sources.
No. 219 TAKE ME HOME or I'M ALONE IN THIS WORLD
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
My father's gone to glory, I'm alone in this world, my father's gone to glory, I'm alone. My father's gone to glory, I'm alone in this world; Take me home, dear Savior take me home.
Recorded by the author from the singing of Samuel E. Asbury, September 10, 1932, at Nashville, Tennessee. Mr. Asbury learned it in his boyhood in the 1880's, from hearing it at camp meetings in western North Carolina. Subsequent verses substitute "my mother," "my sister," etc. A negro version of the tune is in _Slave Songs_, p. 18.
No. 220 JESTER or I BELONG TO THIS BAND (A), OSH 531
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
If our fathers want to go, Why don't they come along? I belong to this band, Hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah, I belong to this band, hallelujah.
The tune was first printed in the _Union Harp_ as recorded by S. M. Denson of Alabama. Subsequent verses are made by the use of "mothers", "sisters," etc. That the negroes used this formula is shown in _White Spirituals_, 247. The refrain "I belong to this band, hallelujah" reappears in 'I Belong to This Band (B)' in this collection.
No. 221 LONG-SOUGHT HOME, CHH 159
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Jerusalem, my happy home, Oh how I long for thee! When shall my sorrows have an end, Thy joys when shall I see. Home, sweet home, my long-sought home, My home in heav'n above.
Thy walls are all of precious stone, Most glorious to behold; Thy gates are richly set with pearl, Thy streets are paved with gold.
Thy garden and thy pleasing green My study long have been; Such sparkling light by human sight Has never yet been seen.
The _Christian Harmony_ credits the song to William Bobo, Union, S. C. The words are credited, in the _Primitive Baptist Hymn and Tune Book_, No. 453, to Cowper.
No. 222 BEAUTIFUL HOME SWEET HOME
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
Beautiful home, sweet home, Beautiful home, sweet home, Beautiful home, sweet home, Lord, I want to join the angels, beautiful home.
Recorded by the author from the singing of Samuel E. Asbury, September 10, 1932, as he remembered its being sung in the 1880's in camp meetings in western North Carolina. The above is merely the chorus of the song. But it is essentially the same, melodically, as the verse. The text proceeds:
Fathers have a home, sweet home _etc._ Mothers have a home, sweet home _etc._ By and by we'll go and see them _etc._ Won't that be a happy meeting _etc._
No. 223 COME FRIENDS GO WITH ME, CSH 206
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
Alas! and did my Savior bleed, Alas! and did my Savior bleed, Alas! and did my Savior bleed And did my Sov'reign die? Would He devote that sacred head For such a worm as I. _Chorus_ I want my friends to go with me, I want my friends to go with me, I want my friends to go with me To the new Jerusalem. I wonder, Lord, shall I ever get to heaven, The new Jerusalem.
William Hauser included the above tune, with different text, in his _Olive Leaf_. Of the above chorus, "sometimes sung after each verse," he says: "Not worth while to criticise this chorus. Does anybody criticise a camel? No; they take him for his usefulness".
No. 224 I LOVE JESUS, REV 254
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Jesus, my all, to heav'n has gone, Glory hallelujah, He whom I fix my hopes upon, Glory hallelujah. _Chorus_ I love Jesus, glory hallelujah, I love Jesus, glory hallelujah.
Further stanzas of the text are given under 'River of Jordan'. The tune is found in a negro version in Marsh, No. 65. I have, in manuscript, practically the same tune which I recorded from the dulcimer playing of F. S. Russell, Marion, Virginia. He called the tune 'Bonaparte's Retreat'. Compare also the sixteenth century carol tune 'Tempus adest floridum', _The Oxford Book of Carols_, No. 99.
No. 225 HALLELUJAH, OSH 146
Hexatonic, mode 1 b (I II -- IV V VI 7)
[Music]
And let this feeble body fail, And let it faint or die; My soul shall quit this mournful vale And soar to worlds on high.
And I'll sing hallelujah, And you'll sing hallelujah, And we'll all sing hallelujah, When we arrive at home.
This text by Charles Wesley, supplemented by the infectious chorus and sung to this swingful tune, was widely popular in the first part of the nineteenth century. It is given more fully under 'Pleasant Hill'. The song is found, SOH 107 and HH 102.
The tune had qualities which made it widely popular. There is of course no knowing whether the many variant forms which I have found derive from the above tune; but I have given them collectively the name the 'Hallelujah' tune family. Other members of the family in this collection are 'Stephens', 'Pilgrim's Triumph', 'Faithful Soldier', 'Tender Care', 'Sawyer's Exit', 'O I'm So Happy', and 'Converted Thief (a)'. Related melodies with secular texts are 'The Reilly Song', Thomas, p. 166; 'Chickens They are Crowing', Sharp, ii., 378; 'Lord Thomas and Fair Eleanor', Sharp, i., 125; 'Virginian Lover', Sharp, ii., 149f.; 'Banks of Sweet Dundee', Sharp, i., 399; 'The Pinery Boy', Shoemaker, p. 262; 'Kilrush Air' Petrie, Nos. 167 and 283; and 'Tweed Side', SMM, p. 9.
No. 226 FEW DAYS, SOC 209
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
I pitch my tent on this camp ground, Few days, few days, And give old Satan another round, And I am going home; I can't stay in these diggings, Few days, few days, I can't stay in these diggings, I am going home.
The compiler of the _Social Harp_, John G. McCurry, claims this song and dates it 1855. A variant of the tune is in Richardson, p. 72. A negro adoption is given in _White Spirituals_, 266.
No. 227 PARTING HYMN or JOYFUL or O THAT WILL BE JOYFUL, PB 303
Heptatonic ionian, mode 3 A + b (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
How pleasant thus to dwell below In fellowship of love! And tho' we part 'tis bliss to know The good shall meet above! The good shall meet above, The good shall meet above. And tho' we part, 'tis bliss to know The good shall meet above.
O that will be joyful, joyful, joyful. O that will be joyful To meet and part no more; To meet and part no more, On Canaan's happy shore, And sing the everlasting song With those who've gone before.
James, editor of the 1911 _Original Sacred Harp_, says that 'Joyful' was composed by Rev. Abraham D. Merrell. He was born in New Hampshire 1796 and died in 1878. The first lines of a widely sung parody of this song (or is the above the parody?) are:
The man who has plenty of good peanuts And giveth his neighbor none, Shan't have any of my peanuts When his peanuts are gone.
Miss Gilchrist informs us as to the relatives of tune and words in England. One parody familiar to her was:
John Wesley had a little ghost, The color of it was white; It used to swarm up his bed-post And frighten him at night.
Another, known to Miss Gilchrist, was 'Three Little Kittens', (See JFSS, viii, 86). I also heard this song as a nursery ditty in my early youth in Monson, Maine, in the 1880's. Compare 'Judgment Scenes' in this collection. The tune was used also for the carol 'Joys Seven', _The Oxford Book of Carols_, No. 70.
No. 228 SOMETHING NEW, UHH 35
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III -- V VI --)
[Music]
Since man by sin has lost his God, He seeks creation through; And vainly strives for solid bliss In trying something new. In trying something new, And vainly strives for solid bliss In trying something new.
The new, possessed like fading flowers, Soon loses its gay hue; The bubble now no longer stays, The soul wants something new.
And could we call all Europe ours, With India and Peru, The mind would feel an aching void And still want something new.
But when we feel a Savior's love, All good in him we view; The soul forsakes its vain delights-- In Christ finds all things new.
Also found, SOC 250, GOS 365, SOH 254. A negro adoption and adaptation is cited in _White Spirituals_, 249.
No. 229 VICTORIA or ONE MORE RIVER TO CROSS, OSH 290
Hexatonic, mode 3 A (I II III -- V VI VII)
[Music]
Alas! and did my Savior bleed, Alas! and did my Savior bleed, Alas! and did my Savior bleed And did my Sovreign die?
I have but one more river to cross, I have but one more river to cross; I have but one more river to cross, And then I'll be at rest.
The text theme of the chorus is seen in the negro spiritual SS 4:
And I hain't but one more river to cross.
The tune is closely related to 'Gaines', HH 122, this collection; 'Geordie', Sharp, i., 240; 'John of Hazelgreen', Sharp, i., 294; 'False Young Man', (2), Sharp, ii., 52; 'True Lover's Farewell', Sharp, ii., 113ff. The 'Geordie' text begins with 'As I crossed over London's Bridge'. This may indicate where the revival folk got their suggestion for tune and text of 'One More River to Cross'.
No. 230 NEW INDIAN SONG or WALK AND TALK WITH JESUS, SOC 45
Heptatonic ionian, mode 1 A + B (I II III IV V VI VII)
[Music]
When I can read my title clear To mansions in the skies, I'll bid farewell to ev'ry fear And wipe my weeping eyes. Oh, walk and talk with Jesus, Halle, hallelujah, Oh, there's glory in my soul.
Ah, poor sinner, you run from the rock, When the moon goes down in blood, To hide yourself in the mountain top, For to hide yourself from God.
Should earth against my soul engage, And hellish darts be hurled, Then I can smile at Satan's rage, And face a frowning world.
Let cares like a wild deluge come, And storms of sorrow fall; May I but safely reach my home, My God, my heaven, my all.
The compiler of the _Social Harp_ ascribes this song to J. A. & J. F. Wade and dates it 1854. The words, excepting those of the chorus, are by Watts.
No. 231 SUBSTANTIAL JOYS or I WANT TO GO THERE TOO, SOC 28
Hexatonic, mode 3 b (I II III IV V VI --)
[Music]
Jesus, my all, to heav'n is gone, I want to go there too; He whom I fix my hopes upon, And I want to go there too. _Chorus_ I want to go, I want to go, I want to go there too, Substantial joys shall fill my soul, And I want to go there too.
John G. McCurry, compiler of the _Social Harp_, recorded it, according to his note, in 1854. In the 1880's in Monson, Maine, I heard almost precisely the same tune sung to the words:
Johnny Morgan played the organ, His father beat the drum; His sister played the tambourine And his brother went bum-bum.
The text of the spiritual song is given more completely under 'River of Jordan'. The tune is akin to 'One Man Shall Mow my Meadow' and 'The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter', in Sharp, _One Hundred English Folksongs_, Nos. 3 and 100.
No. 232 O HE'S TAKEN MY FEET, REV 114
Hexatonic, mode 3 b (I II III IV V VI --)
[Music]
I'll praise him while he gives me breath, I hope to praise him after death. _Chorus_ O he's taken my feet from the mire and the clay, And he's placed them on the Rock of Ages.
I hope to praise him when I die, And shout salvation as I fly. _Chorus_
And I will tell to sinners round What a dear Savior I have found. _Chorus_
No. 233 MY BIBLE LEADS TO GLORY, REV 385
Hexatonic, 6th missing, cannot be classified, obviously ionian (I II III IV V -- VII)
[Music]
My bible leads to glory, My bible leads to glory, My bible leads to glory, Ye foll'wers of the Lamb, Sing on, pray on, Foll'wers of Immanuel; Sing on, pray on, Soldiers of the cross.
Subsequent stanzas are constructed from such sentences as:
Religion makes me happy. King Jesus is my captain. I long to see my Savior. Then farewell, sin and sorrow. We'll have a shout in glory. We'll wave our palms forever.
A variant of tune and words is in Richardson, p. 68. The melody is the same as 'Bobbing Around' which was published by Oliver Ditson & Co., Boston, about 1855, as one of a series called _Melodies of the day_.
No. 234 I'M TRAVELING TO MY GRAVE or TRAVELER SOC 37
Pentatonic, mode 1 (I II -- IV V VI --)
[Music]
I'm trav'ling to my grave, I'm trav'ling to my grave, I'm trav'ling to my grave To lay this body down.
My fathers died a-shouting, rejoicing in the Lord; The last word I heard them say Was about Jerusalem, The saints' delightful home.
The song is ascribed in the _Social Harp_ to John G. McCurry and Wm. C. Davis and dated 1853. For a variant among the negro spiritual tunes see _White Spirituals_, p. 261. Compare 'I'm a Long Time Traveling' in this collection. Similarity is seen also between the above melody and 'The Merchant's Daughter', second tune, JFSS, i., 160.
No. 235 ON THE OTHER SIDE OF JORDAN, REV 465
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
On Jordan's stormy banks I stand, And cast a wishful eye, On the other side of Jordan, hallelujah! To Canaan's fair and happy land, Where my possessions lie, On the other side of Jordan, hallelujah! On the other side of Jordan, hallelujah! On the other side of Jordan, hallelujah!
Further stanzas of the text are given under 'Jordan'. The tune is reminiscent of 'Morning Trumpet' in this collection.
No. 236 JESUS IS MY FRIEND (B), REV 311
Hexatonic, mode 4 b (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
There is a heav'n o'er yonder skies, A heav'n where pleasure never dies, A heav'n I sometimes hope to see, But fear again 'tis not for me; But Jesus, Jesus is my friend, O, hallelujah, hallelujah, Jesus, Jesus is my friend.
The chorus of the above tune has features similar to 'Jesus Is My Friend (A)', in this collection. The whole tune seems to be a degenerate offspring of 'Davisson's Retirement', in this collection.
No. 237 DERRETT or IT WON'T BE LONG, SOC 108
Hexatonic, mode 4 a (I II -- IV V 6 7)
[Music]
Jesus, my all, to heav'n is gone, O hallelujah; He whom I fix my hopes upon, O hallelujah. And it won't be long, Nor it can't be long, O halle, hallelujah, And it won't be long till Christ will come, O hallelujah.
The compiler of the _Social Harp_, John G. McCurry, claims the song and dates it 1847. We know the words as those of John Cennick. Additional stanzas are given under 'River of Jordan'.
No. 238 CARTER or NEVER TURN BACK (B), SOC 52
Hexatonic, mode 2 A (I II 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Jesus, my all, to heav'n is gone, I'll never turn back no more; He whom I fix my hopes upon, I'll never turn back no more. I'll never turn back no more, my Lord, I'll never turn back no more.
A variant tune is 'Never Turn Back (A)', this collection. A negro variant is in Marsh, p. 174. Additional stanzas of the text are given under 'River of Jordan'.
No. 239 I WILL ARISE
Pentatonic, mode 2 (I -- 3 IV V -- 7)
[Music]
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, Weak and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you, Full of pity, love and pow'r. _Chorus_ I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in his arms, In the arms of my dear Savior, O there are ten thousand charms.
Let not conscience make you linger, Nor of fitness fondly dream; All the fitness he requireth Is to feel your need of him. _Chorus_
Agonizing in the garden, Lo, your Master prostrate lies; On the bloody tree behold him, Hear him cry before he dies. _Chorus_
Lo, th'incarnate God ascended, Pleads the merit of his blood; Venture on him, venture wholely, Let no other trust intrude. _Chorus_