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ALL MY TRIALS, LORD
Hush little baby, don't you cry
You know your mama was born to die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
Too late, my brothers
Too late, but never mind
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
If religion were a thing that money could buy
The rich would live and the poor would die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
I've got a little book that was given to me
And every page spells liberty
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
There is a tree in Paradise
And the pilgrims call it the Tree of Life
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
recorded by Joan Baez
@death @religion
filename[ ALLTRIAL
Tune file : ALLTRIAL
CLICK TO PLAY
SOF
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DESCRIPTION: "If religion were a thing that money could buy, The rich would live and the poor would die. All my trials, Lord, soon be over. Too late, my brothers, too late but never mind." The weary singer looks forward to victory after death
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1961 (recording, Pete Seeger)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
BrownIII 644, "Tree in Paradise" (3 short texts; the "A" version combines "Few Days" with a "Tree in Paradise" text; "B" is too short to classify easily; "C" seems to be mostly "All My Trials"; there may also be influence from "Is Your Lamps Gone Out" or the like)
Silber-FSWB, p. 359, "All My Trials" (1 text)
DT, ALLTRIAL*
Roud #11938
RECORDINGS:
Rev. Lewis Jackson & Charlotte Rucell, "Tallest Tree in Paradise" (on MuSouth07)
Pete Seeger, "All My Trials" (on PeteSeeger31)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Little David, Play on Your Harp" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore" (lyrics)
cf. "Noah's Ark" (lyrics)
cf. "Zek'l Weep" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel (Paul and Silas)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Is Your Lamps Gone Out?" (lyrics)
cf. "Tell All the World, John" (lyrics)
cf. "Wild Rover No More" (floating lyrics)
NOTES: Although this is generally considered a Black song, one of the key couplets goes back to England. According to Roy Palmer, The Folklore of Warwickshire, Rowman & LIttlefield, 1976, p. 41, the stanza
This life is a city of crooked streets,
Death is the market-place where all men meet,
If life were merchandise that money could buy
The rich would live and the poor would die
was found at Tysoe in 1798. Palmer files this among verses on gravestones, although he does not explicitly say for whom, if anyone, this one was carved. - RBW
The Jackson/Rucell recording, from 1954, is classified here in near-desperation; it consists primarily of the single floating verse "The tallest tree in Paradise/The Christians call it the Tree of Life" (also found in "Is Your Lamps Gone Out?"), plus the chorus "Hey brother with a hey/Hey, sister with a hey-ey-ey/Jes' take a little bottle and let's go home/Yes, my Lord." - PJS
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