Down in the River to Pray

"Down 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 as a Christian folk hymn, an African-American spiritual, an Appalachian song, and a gospel song. It gained popularity in 2000 after Alison Krauss performed it for the soundtrack of the Coen Brothers film, O Brother, Where Art Thou?[1]

The exact origin of the song is unknown. Research suggests that it was composed by an African-American slave.[2]

Lyrics and versions

The earliest known version of the song, titled "The Good Old Way," was published in Slave Songs of the United States in 1867.[2] The song (#104) is credited to "Mr. G. H. Allan" of Nashville, Tennessee, who was likely the transcriber rather than the author.

According to some sources, the song was published in The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion in 1835, decades before the effort to gather and publish African-American spirituals gained momentum in the Reconstruction Era.[1] There is in fact a song called "The Good Old Way" in the Southern Harmony Hymnal.[3] That song, however, is a Manx hymn with a completely different melody and lyrics.[4] The lyrics begin as follows:

Lift up your heads, Immanuel's friends,
And taste the pleasure Jesus sends,
Let nothing cause you to delay,
But hasten on the good old way

Another version, titled "Come, Let Us All Go Down," was published in 1880 in The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs, a book about the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[5] That version also refers to a valley rather than a river.

In some versions, "in the river" is replaced by "to the river". The phrase "in the river" is significant, for two reasons. The more obvious reason is that the song has often been sung at outdoor baptisms (such as the full-immersion baptism depicted in O Brother, Where Art Thou?).[1] Another reason is that many slave songs contained coded messages for escaping. When the slaves escaped, they would walk in the river because the water would cover their scent from the bounty-hunters' dogs.[6] Similarly, the "starry crown" could refer to navigating their escape by the stars.[7] And "Good Lord, show me the way" could be a prayer for God's guidance to find the escape route, commonly known as "the Underground Railroad."

Visitors to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D. C. have reported hearing a Hupa song played there which has the same melody as "Down in the River to Pray". It has also been suggested that certain features of the melody and phrasing are more typical of Native American music than gospel music or spirituals.[8]

Notable recordings

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Let's Go Down in the River to Pray", Martin Barillas, SperoNews, April 13, 2011
  2. 1 2 Slave Songs of the United States at Internet Archive
  3. ↑ "The Good Old Way", Southern Harmony Online
  4. ↑ "The Good Old Way / Sweet Hope of Glory", Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music
  5. ↑ "Come, Let Us All Go Down" in The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs, NIU Libraries Digitization Projects
  6. ↑ Smith, Jessie Carney (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Popular Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 466. ISBN 9780313357978.
  7. ↑ "Sweet Chariot: The Story of the Spirituals". SpiritualsProject. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Down to the River to Pray", Musical Perceptions, July 8, 2004. (Note: A Google search on "who wrote Down in the River to Pray" turns up repeated references to a possible Native American origin, but no supporting documentation.)
  9. ↑ Okeh 40000 series numerical listing pt. 2 at the Online Discographical Project
  10. ↑ "Down in the valley to pray" at Library of Congress

External links

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