Down to the River to Pray Down to the River to Pray O Brother Where Art Thou
| "Downwards in the River to Pray" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music cover | |
| Vocal | |
| Published | 1867 (1867) |
| Genre | Gospel music |
| Songwriter(s) | Traditional |
"Downward in the River to Pray" (also known as "Down to the River to Pray," "Down in the Valley to Pray," "The Good Old Way," and "Come, Let Us All Go Down") is a traditional American song variously described equally a Christian folk hymn, an African-American spiritual, an Appalachian song, and a Southern gospel song. The exact origin of the song is unknown.
Lyrics and versions [edit]
Earliest known form of the vocal, from Slave Songs of the United states of america
The earliest known version of the song, titled "The Good Onetime Way," was published in Slave Songs of the United states in 1867.[1] The song (#104) was contributed to that volume by George H. Allan of Nashville, Tennessee, who may besides have been the transcriber. The lyrics printed in this collection are:
As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studying about that practiced sometime way,
When yous shall clothing the starry crown,
Good Lord, show me the way.
O mourner, let's go down, let's become down, let's get downwardly,
O mourner, allow's go down,
Downwardly in the valley to pray
Another version, titled "Come, Let Us All Get Down," was published in 1880 in The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs, a book almost the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[2]
Version of the song as sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers
This version besides refers to a valley rather than a river; the commencement poetry is:
Equally I went down in the valley to pray,
Studying nearly that proficient quondam way;
Yous shall clothing the starry crown,
Proficient Lord, testify me the way.
By-and-by we'll all go down, all go down, all go down,
By-and-by we'll all get down,
Downward in the valley to pray.
In some versions, "in the river" is replaced by "to the river". The phrase "in the river" is meaning, for two reasons. The more obvious reason is that the song has ofttimes been sung at outdoor baptisms (such as the full-immersion baptism depicted in the 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou?).[3] Another reason is that many songs sung past victims of slavery contained coded letters for escaping. When the enslaved people escaped, they would walk in the river considering the water would encompass their smell from the bounty-hunters' dogs.[4] Similarly, the "starry crown" could refer to navigating their escape by the stars.[v] And "Proficient Lord, testify me the way" could be a prayer for God's guidance to find the escape road, commonly known every bit "the Underground Railroad."
Mistaken attributions [edit]
Some sources mistakenly claim that the song was published in The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion in 1835, several decades before the effort to gather and publish Negro spirituals gained momentum in the Reconstruction Era.[three] There is in fact a song called "The Skilful Erstwhile Fashion" in the Southern Harmony[vi] (also plant in the Sacred Harp); that song, however, has completely unlike melody and lyrics (which likewise should not be confused with a Manx hymn melody of the same proper noun and text, made famous by the Watersons)[7] Its lyrics brainstorm equally follows:
Lift up your heads, Immanuel's friends
And taste the pleasure Jesus sends
Let nothing cause you to delay
But hasten on the proficient old way
Notable recordings [edit]
- 1927: Price Family unit Sacred Singers (Okeh 40796)[8]
- 1929: Delta Large Four from Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton (Gennett Records)
- 1940: Atomic number 82 Abdomen from Let It Shine On Me -- The Library Of Congress Recordings, Five. three (New Rounder)[nine]
- 1966: Doc Watson from Dwelling Again! (Vanguard Records)
- 1970: Arlo Guthrie, single, Reprise Records 0951
- 2000: Alison Krauss from O Blood brother, Where Art K? (Lost Highway/Mercury)
- 2002: Alison Krauss from Live (Rounder)
- 2002: Little Axe from Hard Grind (On-U Audio)
- 2003: Dr. Watson, Ricky Skaggs and Alison Krauss from The Iii Pickers (Rounder / Umgd)
- 2004: The Spooky Men's Chorale on their CD Tooled up
- 2005: The King'south Singers from Six (Signum UK)
- 2005: Jill Johnson from The Christmas in You (Lionheart Records)
- 2009: Mormon Tabernacle Choir from Come Thou Fount of Every Approving: American Folk Hymns & Spirituals (Mormon Tabernacle Choir)
- 2012: Sonya Isaacs from Hymns from the Quondam Country Church (Spring Hill Music Group)
- 2014: Nia Frazier performed a solo to a version of the vocal on Lifetime's Dance Moms
- 2014: Noah Gundersen partially covered the song on his 2014 album "Ledges". It was titled "Poor Human being's Son."
- 2015: DeAnna Johnson performed on The Vocalism.
- 2016: Michael Due west. Smith from Hymns II - Shine On United states of america.
- 2020: Greg Jong for the Wasteland three soundtrack (INgrooves / inXile Entertainment)
Run into likewise [edit]
- Songs of the Underground Railroad
References [edit]
- ^ Slave Songs of the United states at Internet Archive
- ^ "Come, Let United states of america All Go Down" Archived October 2, 2013, at the Wayback Auto in The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs, NIU Libraries Digitization Projects
- ^ a b "Let's Go Downward in the River to Pray", Martin Barillas, SperoNews, Apr thirteen, 2011
- ^ Smith, Jessie Carney (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 466. ISBN9780313357978.
- ^ "Sweetness Chariot: The Story of the Spirituals". SpiritualsProject. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ^ "The Good Old Mode", Southern Harmony Online
- ^ "The Skillful Old Way / Sweetness Promise of Celebrity", Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Expert Music
- ^ Okeh 40000 series numerical list pt. ii at the Online Discographical Projection
- ^ "Downwards in the valley to pray" at Library of Congress
External links [edit]
- Choral arrangements at ChoralWiki
- "Come, Let The states All Go Down" at Bluegrass Messengers website
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Down_in_the_River_to_Pray
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