Hi - I thought I was stuck, because the earliest book I have with it is The Books of American Negro Spirituals, published in 1925-26 by James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson - and 1923 is the cutoff for U.S. copyrights (thanks to U.S. Corporate Welfare). However, I have 1998 book called Go Down Moses: Celebrating the African-American Spiritual, by Richard Newman. This book was published in 1998, but the music notation is copied from an 1880 book titled The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs, by J.B.T. Marsh.

Here are the 1880 lyrics:

My Lord, what a mourning,
My Lord, what a mourning,
My Lord, what a mourning,
When the stars begin to fall.

1. You'll hear the trumpet sound
To wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God's right hand,
When the stars begin to fall.

2. You'll hear the sinner mourn,
To wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God's right hand,
When the stars begin to fall.

3. You'll hear the Christian shout,
To wake the nations underground,
Looking to my God's right hand,
When the stars begin to fall.

The Newman book says that in some versions, the title of the song is "Mourning," and in some it's "Morning." The 1925 Johnson book calls it "Mornin'" and notes that "the title of this song has at times been erroneously printed "My Lord, What a Mourning." Johnson has plural "Christians" shout, and "hear de sinner moan" - Johnson uses "de" instead of "the."

The 1940 John W. Work classic, American Negro Songs, has "Mourning," and has the sinner "cry."

Seems to me you're pretty safe to use this song without infringing on a copyright.

-Joe Offer (e-mail sent)-