Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home

Subject: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 16 Oct 03 - 09:06 AM

I'm looking for corrections and/or additional verses. A friend said her father (now passed away) sang many verses to this Gospel Song.

CHO:
I'm travelin', yes, I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home.
I'm travelin', Lord, I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home.

It's a rough, rocky road, but I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home.
It's a rough, rocky road, but I'm travelin'.
Tryin' to make heaven my home. CHO:

It's a "knee-way" journey, but I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home.
It's a "knee-way" journey, but I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home. CHO:

It's a glory road that I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home.
It's a glory road that I'm travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven my home. CHO:

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 17 Oct 03 - 11:35 AM

Refresh

Big RiB

Subject: Lyr Add: TRAMPIN', TRAMPIN'
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 17 Oct 03 - 03:42 PM

Based on the old gospel song:

Lyr. Add: TRAMPIN', TRAMPIN'

Leader: I'm a-trampin', trampin',
All: Tryin' to make heaven my home.
Leader: I'm a-trampin', trampin',
All: Tryin' to make heaven my home.

Leader: I've never been to heaven but I've been told,
All: Tryin' to make heaven my home,
Leader: That the streets up there are paved with gold,
All: Tryin' to make heaven my home.

Leader: I'm trampin', trampin',
All: Tryin' to make heaven my home.
Leader: I'm a-trampin', trampin'
All: Tryin' to make heaven my home.

Many floating verses from spirituals. Jessye Norman sang it in one of her albums, where it was called a spiritual, but the song seems to be 20th century. Not in the Cleveland Index.

From: http://www.oup.co.uk/music/edu/voiceworks/voiceworks2/VW2Words1to36/#tramp

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: CraigS
Date: 17 Oct 03 - 05:14 PM

Used as a work song, lots of interchangeable verses with other songs such as Linin' Track. Unfortunately, in this context, most verses are corruptions of verses that originated in spirituals, eg.

Way down the hollow, behind the field,
Trying...
There's an angel working on a chariot wheel
Trying ...

Moses stood on the Dead Sea shore
Smiting the water with a two by four

If I could I surely would
Stand on that rock where Moses stood

Mama caught a chicken and she thought it was a duck
She put it on the table with the legs sticking up

Jesus is the saviour of my soul
Wish he'd get me down off this telegraph pole

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
All them suckers is dead and gone

Nickel is a nickel and a dime is a dime
Got a house full of kids, ain't none of them mine

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 17 Oct 03 - 08:42 PM

I am a poor pilgrim of sorrow,
Cast out in this wide world to roam;
I have no hope for the morrow,
I'm trying to make Heaven my home.

Cho: Sometime I'm tossed and driven-
    I know not where to roam.
    I've heard of a city called Heaven, and
    I've started to make it my home.

Has an Old Regular Baptist tune, sung slowly and decorated. Very beautiful!   Jean

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Oct 03 - 04:37 PM

Many versions of "Poor Pilgrim." See thread 42490. Listed as "Tossed and Driven" in Randolph, a fine version as well.

"Trampin', Trampin'," is similar in some respects, and is sung mostly in black churches, while "Poor Pilgrim" is a white gospel song.

"Trampin'" is included in "Songs of Zion" as a spiritual, a traditional song with some copyrighted arrangements, which should be sung "slowly, with a firm beat," in the arrangement by J. Jefferson Cleveland and Verolga Nix (copyrighted 1981, Abingdon Press).

"Songs of Zion" (Abdingdon Press, 1981-1982) grew out of the "Consultation on the Black Church," held in 1973, where it was recommended that the Section on Worship develop a songbook from the Black religious tradition to be made available to United Methodist churches.

The version of "Trampin'" in "Songs of Zion" has the verse "I've never been to heaven but I been tol', dat de streets up dere am paved wid gol', as well as "If you git dere befo' I do, Tell all ma friends I'm coming too."
The editors insist that spirituals should be sung in dialect, and give instructions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Burke
Date: 20 Oct 03 - 07:05 PM

"Tryin' to make heaven my home" is also on Lomax's "Southern Journey. Vol. 3, 61 Highway Mississippi. It's recorded in a black church sung by: Viola James & Congregation. Lomax thought it was of 20th cent. origin.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 20 Oct 03 - 07:32 PM

It seems that the verse goes back to white gospel of the 19th c.
I doubt that it ever was a spiritual, in the slave and plantation song sense.
Burke, I believe that Lomax was correct as far as Negro use of the song is concerned. It did not appear in the songs collected by Fenner in the 19th c. from Negro sources (the Cleveland Index is in error), but was added in the 1926 edition by Dett, and there it is noted as collected by him ("I'm striving to make it my home"). Nor does it seem to have been found in any of the books on Negro song or spirituals of the 19th c.

I will post Dett's version in the thread on Poor Pilgrim.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 22 Oct 03 - 02:32 PM

Burke, et al.,

Thank you for all of the information. I learned the song from the Lomax recording.   However, it seemed incomplete. Lomax was limited in how much music he could put on an acetate, so many songs were truncated.

I would be interested if there are additional verses in the "Songs of Zion" version of "Trampin'" since this seems very directly related.

I can see it would use many "plug in" verses, but many offered here don't line out very well.

CraigS's verses clearly come from the work song tradition. What was your source Craig? I'm always looking for work song information.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Oct 03 - 05:27 PM

The "Songs of Zion" only has the two verses that I have indicated, plus the refrain. Never seen a long version in print, but I'm sure that any congregation would mix and match as needed.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Burke
Date: 22 Oct 03 - 08:14 PM

The song has a simple enough structure, why not build your own verses? Some ideas:

I'm a poor wanderin' pilgrim just travelin'
Tryin' &tc.

Sometimes I'm tossed & driven, but I'm travelin'

I have no hope of tomorrow, but I'm travelin'

There's a narrow gate, but I'm travelin'

Temptations all around, but I'm travelin'

Jesus will help me as I'm travelin'

Brothers & sisters with me travelin'

Paul and Silas were travelin'
Tryin' to make heaven their home...

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 09:01 AM

I've heard the refrain of "Trampin" used as a partner song with something else. Anyone know what?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: Roger in Baltimore
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 09:47 AM

Thank you to all.

Roger in Baltimore

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: GUEST,Animaterra
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 01:05 PM

That last GUEST was me. I think the server at work eats cookies at night!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: GUEST,brandiray
Date: 29 May 10 - 12:54 PM

does anyone know where i could get the song i heard it on medium.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tryin' to Make Heaven My Home
From: GUEST,Good luck
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 03:35 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wP6mLZWApw

That's the closest I think you'll get. I've been looking for this song for forever as well.