Origins: I Have No Mother Now /Every Bush and Tree

Subject: Lyr Add: I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW
From: Janie
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 10:22 PM

I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW
(Song No. 28 from my grandfather's "New Baptist Hymnal")

I hear the low winds sweeping
Through every bush and tree
Where my dear mother's sleeping
Away from home and me.
Tears from my eyes are flowing
And sorrow shades my brow;
Cold in the grave she's sleeping,
I have no mother now!

I see the pale moon shining
On mother's white tombstone,
The rosebush 'round it twining,
It's just like me—alone.
It's just like me—a-weeping,
Cold dew drops damp my brow;
It's just like me—a-weeping,
I have no mother now!

My life is, oh, so lonely
My heart is trouble sore;
Her dearest presence only
Could make me weep no more.
She has gone from me to Heaven,
Deep sorrow shades my brow;
The sacred tie is broken,
I have no mother now!

Sad was the hour of parting,
She said in words so sweet:
"My loved ones, I am dying,
We must in Heaven meet."
O, yes, I'll meet you, mother,
On that eternal shore,
And there we'll live together
Where parting is no more.

Come now, ye orphaned children,
Who sorrow here below,
And join me in a promise
That ;you'll to Glory go.
Then when our labor's ended,
And time shall be no more,
We'll go and live with mother,
Where parting is no more.

Subject: Lyr Add: EVERY BUSH AND TREE
From: Janie
Date: 17 Feb 07 - 10:40 PM

The 1st version of this song I learned was from a John McCutcheon album. It was called "Every Bush and Tree"

EVERY BUSH AND TREE
(Otis Pierce)

I hear a soft wind sweeping
Thru every bush and tree.
I know my mother's waiting
In her Heavenly home for me.

I was born in old Kentucky
My family they were poor
My ma, her name was Laura
And my daddy, his name was Joe.
Momma called me to her bedside
She said, "Son, I've got to go.
But I'll meet you again up yonder,
Where the parting will be no more.

I hear a soft wind....

Well Daddy moved back to Newport,
And left us here all alone.
The sheriff came by next evening,
And took us to an orphan home.
So come all you orphan children
Who are left down here to mourn.
We'll go and live up yonder,
Where the parting will be no more.

I hear a soft wind....

In another thread that I can't seem to link to right now, "Every Bush and Tree" is credited to Otis Pierce. The lyrics are nearly identical to the J.M. version, except Missouri and North Fork replace Kentucky and Newport.

The New Baptist Hymnal is (was), I think, primarily used by United Baptist congregations in the Tri-State area of eastern Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia.

Janie

Subject: Lyr Req: I have no mother now
From: GUEST,newdealer
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 01:01 PM

A song recently recorded by Cary Fridley, originally done by Lily Mae Ledford; anyone have the lyrics? Thanks!

Subject: Lyr Add: I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 03:22 PM

One version is posted [above (threads combined)]. It is followed by a related song EVERY BUSH AND TREE.

Also, I found these two verses quoted, with no title or attribution, in a genealogy book: A History of the Everhart and Shower Families, from 1744 to 1883, by Oliver Troxel Everhart, 1883:

I hear the soft wind sighing,
Through every bush and tree;
Where now dear mother's lying
Away from love and me.
Tears from my eyes are starting,
And sorrow shades my brow;
Oh! weary was our parting,
I have no mother now.

My heart is ever lonely,
My life is drear and sad;
'Twas her dear presence only
That made my spirit glad.
From morning until eve,
Care rests upon my brow;
She's gone from me to heaven,
I have no mother now.


[I don't know whether any of these is the same as what Cary Fridley sings.]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Have No Mother Now
From: Richie
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 06:33 PM

Here's a link:

http://cdbaby.com/cd/fridley2
You can listen to the entire song. If you write the lyrics as best you can hear them I'll help finish them.

"I Have No Loving Mother Now" was first recirded by Kelly Harell 1927 also Ashley and Foster.


Here's the folk index:

I Have No Mother Now [Me II-N 1] - Criswell, C. H./Magruder, James E.

Hawker, Ginny; and Kay Justice. Seedtime on the Cumberland. Sampler 1990-91, June Appal JA 0067C, Cas (1992), trk# 11
Hawker, Ginny; and Kay Justice. Signs and Wonders, June Appal JA 0060, Cas (1990), trk# 11
Ledford, Lilly May. Banjo Pickin' Girl, Greenhays GR 712, LP (1983), trk# A.02
Thomas, Suzanne. Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts, Rounder 0423, CD (1998), trk# 6

Richie

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Have No Mother Now
From: GUEST,new dealer
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 01:09 PM

Thanks so much, Jim, and Richie, for the help!

Subject: Lyr Add: I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW (from Sacred Harp)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 05:15 PM

Here's another set of lyrics, from The Sacred Harp published by Benjamin Franklin White and Elisha J. King in 1844, a.k.a. "The Cooper Book":

I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW 363
Tune: John Wesley Miller, 1909
Meter: 7s,6s Double (7,6,7,6,7,6,7,6)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. I hear the soft winds sighing
Among the boughs that wave,
Beneath is mother lying
So quiet in her grave.
Unbidden tears have started,
As by the mound I bow,
I think of when we parted—
I have no mother now.

CHORUS: She's gone from earth to heaven,
She's gone away, I have no mother now.

2. The pale moon shines so faintly,
Yet I in fancy see
Her face, so pure and saintly,
As when she smiled on me.
Although she's safe in glory,
Yet care beclouds my brow,
There's sorrow in my story—
I have no mother now.

3. I feel so very lonely,
The future seems so drear,
My dear Redeemer only
Can make the pathway clear,
Of wounds, past mortal healing,
There's few like this I trow;
This sad, heartbroken feeling—
I have no mother now.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Have No Mother Now
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Nov 08 - 07:47 PM

The original post is lost in a Mother Songs thread, but now you'll find it in the Digital Tradition (no tune available). The version in the DT is what was recorded by Jim Ringer on his Folk-Legacy record.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: req/ADD: I Have No Mother Now/Every Bush and Tree
From: GUEST,Arkie
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 09:26 AM

Otis Pierce, who I believe was originally from Missouri and later moved to California, was the writer of "Every Bush And Tree" which was posted above. It was recorded on an LP entitled "Every Bush And Tree" on the Bay label in the mid 1970s. The record was in the library at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View which is where I first heard it. In the version Otis sings on the record the singer is from Missouri and the father returns to North Fork. I cannot remember much about the notes on the record but it seems that his song was to some degree autobiographical. Perhaps a Mudcat poster can provide more information. Glenn Ohrlin, a noted singer and collector of cowboy music lives just up the mountain to the south of Mountain View and tells a story about his encounter with Otis Pierce who was a bartender in California.

I first heard the song on the Jim Ringer album and that is what drew me to Otis Pierce's LP. and I learned it from the Ringer album and once sang it at home a lot and occasionally in public.

Subject: Lyr Add: I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW! (Mrs. M. F. Rounds)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 06 Nov 08 - 01:17 PM

Here's another version:

From The Freemason's Monthly Magazine, 1865:

I HAVE NO MOTHER NOW!
Mrs. M. F. Rounds.

I HEAR the soft wind sighing
Through every bush and tree,
Where now dear mother's lying
Away from love and me.
Tears from my eyes are starting,
And sorrow shades my brow;
Oh! mournful was our parting—
I have no mother now!

I see the pale moon shining
On mother's white head-stone—
The rose bush round it twining,
Is here—like me—alone;
And just like me are weeping
These dew-drops from the bough;
Long time has she been sleeping—
I have no mother now!

My heart is ever lonely,
My life is drear and sad—
'Twas her dear presence only
That made my spirit glad.
From morning until even,
Care rests upon my brow;
She's gone from me, to Heaven—
I have no mother now!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Have No Mother Now /Every Bush and Tree
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Nov 14 - 10:30 PM

I grew up near the town of Minkler CA. Where Otis Pierce lived, heard him do this song at his bar Pierces Park. The story told in the song is his history, he was like a grandfather to me.

He taught me loads of old tunes from his youth, never claiming to have written them. He always pointed out how those old tunes had many different versions, due to the fact that they were carried from one community to the next by memory, not recordings. Perhaps thats why there are different version of Every Bush and Tree.

He told me he wrote Every Bush and Tree...


Paul Gaines

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: I Have No Mother Now /Every Bush and Tree
From: Janie
Date: 14 Nov 14 - 11:21 PM

One tune for one variant of I Have No Mother Now