Lyr Add: De Winter'll Soon Be Over

Subject: Lyr Add: DE WINTER'LL SOON BE OVER
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 01 - 11:39 PM

DE WINTER'LL SOON BE OVER

Cho.
Oh, de winter, de winter, de winter'll soon be ober, children,
De winter, de winter, de winter'll soon be ober, children, (repeat line)
Yes my Lord.

Oh Lord, up yonder what I see,
Bright angels comin' arter me.
(Oh, two white angels walking down,
With long white robe and starry crown.)

I turn my eyes towards de sky,
An' ask de Lord for wings to fly,
If you get dere before I do,
Look out for me, I'm comin' too.

Oh, Jordan's ribber is deep and wide,
But Jesus stan' on de hebbenly side,
An' when we get on Canaan's shore,
We'll shout and sing forever more.

This old spiritual is found in Allen, Slave Songs of the United States, in Fenner, Cabin and Plantation Songs, and in Dett, Religious Folk Songs of the Negro. The last two lines of the 1st verse were added by Dett, who says that they are from another folk hymn; but they fit well.
@religion @spiritual

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DE WINTER'LL SOON BE OVER
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 05 Nov 01 - 05:37 PM

DE WINTER II

1. 'Tis Paul and Cyrus bound in chains,
And one did weep and de oder one did pray.

Cho. Oh, de winter, de winter, de winter will soon be over, children, (3 times)
Yes, my Lord.

2. You bend your knees on holy ground, ground,
And ask the Lord to turn you around.

3. I turn my eyes towards the sky, sky,
And ask de Lord, Lord, for wings to fly.

For you see me gwine 'long so, so,
I has my tri - trials yer below.

This version from Allen, Slave Songs of the United States, # 101, has an entirely different tune from the first (Fenner and Dett), as well as two very different verses.
@religion @spirituals FS

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DE WINTER'LL SOON BE OVER
From: masato sakurai
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 05:04 AM

The arranged score and MIDI (the tune is from Fenner's edition) are HERE. Not so lively as the one in Allen et al.'s Slave Songs of the United States (1867, p. 78; "The Winter")[the wrong tune image is given in this e-text edition], which has several syncopated rhythms, but I think there are some similarities between them musically too, especially in the "de winter'll soon be ober, children" line. The William E. Barton version (1898; "The Winter Soon Be Over") (in Bernard Katz, ed., The Social Implications of Early Negro Music in the United States, Arno/The New York Times, 1969, p. 87) is similar to Fenner's.

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DE WINTER'LL SOON BE OVER
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 06 Nov 01 - 08:02 PM

The two songs above were published in the period 1867-1874. There is an earlier one about winter being over before long reported in Sinful Tunes and Spirituals, by Dene Epstein. She quotes a song recorded in Child, Lydia Maria, 1836, An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans, sung by Charity Bowery, a slave born in 1774.

A few more beatings of the wind and rain,
Ere the winter will be over
Glory, Hallelujah!
Some friends have gone before me,
I must go and try to meet them
Glory Hallelujah!
A few more risings and settings of the sun,
Ere the winter will be over
Glory Hallelujah!
There's a better day a-coming
There's a better day a-coming
Glory Hallelujah!

Child says that Charity Bowery told her that the song was forbidden because the mention of "better days a-coming " might indicate an uprising.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: DE WINTER'LL SOON BE OVER
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:18 PM

The above now indexed in the African-American Spirituals Permathread. If more lyrics (with titles other than the above) are added in this thread, please help us index them by posting the song title and thread URL to the Permathread. Thanks.

~Susan