Lyr. Add: CLIMBING JACOB'S LADDER

I am climbing up Jacob's ladder,
Don't you grieve after me;
I am climbing up Jacob's ladder,
Don't you grieve after me;
For I'm climbing up Jacob's ladder,
Kase I don't want you to grieve after me.

Ebry round goes higher and higher,
Don't you grieve after me;
Ebry round goes higher and higher,
Don't you grieve after me;
Ebry round goes higher and higher,
Don't you grieve after me;
Kase I don't want you to grieve after me.

MS. of R. C. Bradford, from Cherokee Co., Alabama, 1915-1915.
This song combines two elements often heard in separate songs.
Sorry, I left out the reference on the Alabama version: Newman I. White, 1928 (1965), American Negro Folk-Songs, pp. 59-60, no music.

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Allen (Slave Songs of the United States, 1867) rejected "Climb Jacob's Ladder" as spurious because it was found in Methodist hymn books. I think most people now accept it as a spiritual. Allen did publish one short version, No. 177: http://docsouth.unc.edu/church/allen/ss117.jpg

Lyr. Add: JACOB'S LADDER

I want to climb up Jacob's ladder,
Jacob's ladder, O Jacob's ladder,
I want to climb up Jacob's ladder,
But I can't climb it till
I make my peace with the Lord.
O praise ye the Lord.
I'll praise Him till I die,
I'll praise Him till I die,
And sing Jerusalem.

No. 117, with music.