No. 53. I'm Troubled in Mind

"(The person who furnished this song, (Mrs. Brown of Nashville, formerly a slave) said that she first heard it from her old father when she was a child. After he had been whipped he always went and sat upon a certain log near his cabin, and with the tears streaming down his cheeks, sang this song with so much pathos that few could listen without weeping from sympathy; and even his cruel oppressors were not wholly unmoved.)"

Chorus:
I'm troubled, I'm troubled, I'm troubled in mind,
If Jesus don't help me I surely will die,

1
O Jesus, my Saviour, on thee I'll depend,
When troubles are near me, you'll be my true friend.
2
When ladened with trouble and burdened with grief,
To Jesus in secret I'll go for relief.
Cho.- I'm troubled, etc.
3
In dark days of bondage to Jesus I prayed,
To help me bear it, and He gave me His aid.
Cho.- I'm troubled, etc.

Personal Comment- Like several of the Jubilee songs, this one, and the anecdote, seem to bear the imprint of the missionary teachers at Fisk rather than the students and the slaves who created the early spirituals.