Lyr Add: Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down

Subject: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 12:29 AM

See also:
How Yo' Do Believer, How Yo' Do Today; Ballanta-Taylor, Saint Helena Island Spirituals
Lord Is Dis Hebben? Mcllhenny, Befo' De War Spirituals
Oh, When I Get To Heaven; Fisher, Seventy Negro Spirituals
Oh, When I Git T' Heaven; Fenner, Religious Folk Songs Of The Negro
Oh, When I Git T' Heaven; Dett, Religious Folk-Songs Of The Negro
Wish I'se In Heaven Settin' Down; Work, American Negro Songs
When I Git In Heben In Muh Elbow Chair; Ballanta-Taylor, Saint Helena Island Spirituals
Wish I Was In Heabum Settin' Down, I and II; Grissom, Negro Sings A New Heaven
Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down; Newman, Go Down, Moses

~S~

---

WISH I'SE IN HEAVEN SETTIN' DOWN
Traditional Negro Spiritual

Wish I'se in heaven settin' down, settin' down,
Wish I'se in heaven settin' down, settin' down,
O Mary, O Martha
Wish I'se in heaven settin' down.

Wouldn't get tired no more, no more,
Wouldn't get tired no more, no more,
O Mary, O Martha
Wouldn't get tired no more.

Wouldn't have nothin' to do, to do,
Wouldn't have nothin' to do, to do,
O Mary, O Martha
Wouldn't have nothin' to do.

Try on my long white robe, long white robe,
Try on my long white robe, long white robe,
O Mary, O Martha
Try on my long white robe.

Sit at my Jesus' feet, Jesus' feet,
Sit at my Jesus' feet, Jesus' feet,
O Mary, O Martha
Sit at my Jesus' feet.


SOURCE:
American Negro Songs, 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious and Secular. John W. Work, Dover Publications, Mineola, NY 1998. Orig. pub. Crown Publishers, NY, 1940. ISBN 0-486-40271-1.

@spirituals

SH

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 12:39 AM

This one's already been identified as having made it into blues gospel-- HERE you can hear a blues version. (R.L. Burnside's "Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down") This clip includes only one verse and the middle line is a bit garbled, but it seems like a whole different textual direction from the spiritual as I have seen it-- except the last line, which in his version is repeated:

Take away my sin and give me Grace
Take away my sin and give me Grace
Whoa, Lordy, just, oh my Lord
Wish I was in heaven sittin' down,
Wish I was in heaven sittin' down.

But the tune, altho a little bluesier, is pretty much as I have it in the Work book. Cool!

~Susan

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 12:55 AM

Considering the labor they did, it is surprising there aren't many more sitting down songs. One from the Jubilee Singers is Sitting Down by the Side of the Lamb.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: wysiwyg
Date: 09 Oct 01 - 01:01 AM

Dicho, can you post that one here, or any from the list above?

I forgot to mention-- I wanted to do this one in church one night, and I'd decided we could just make up somewhat-floating verses after the first one. So here is what I did.

As the people arrived for the service, I asked each of them, "If you could be in heaven right now, what would you be doing?" I noted all the replies without telling them how come. We used this as a closing.

I introduced it by telling them we would now do a song they had made up themselves, that there was no songsheet to follow, and that all they would need to do to learn it would be to listen as I'd "line out" each verse for them. I don't think they had ever sung to lined-out songs before, and I sure had never led one.

Well, they jumped right in and sang. I was able to recall who had given me each verse, and sang each verse to its contributor. Everyone reallly loved it and we all learned how to line out, together!

~Susan

Subject: Lyr Add: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: masato sakurai
Date: 10 Oct 01 - 03:08 AM

There're three other recordings listed in Folk Music Index:

I WISH I WAS IN HEAVEN SITTING DOWN
1. Gardner, Denise and Mattie. Southern Journey. Vol. 6: Sheep, Sheep, Don'tcha Know the Road, Rounder 1706, CD (1997), cut#10
2. McDowell, Fred (Mississippi Fred). Southern Journey. Vol. 1: Voices from the American South, Rounder 1701, CD (1997), cut# 5 (Wished I Was in Heaven Sitting Down)
3. Wilkins, (Rev.) Robert. Traditional Music at Newport, 1964, Part 2, Vanguard VSD 79183, LP (1965), cut#B.09

Another version from Kentucky:

WISH I WAS IN HEABUM SETTIN' DOWN (two versions of music are given)

I wish I was in Heabum settin' down, settin' down,
I wish I was in Heabum settin' down;
Wish I was in Heabum--Oh, yes! Oh, yes!
I wish I was in Heabum settin' down.

In Heabum I wouldn't have nothin' a-tall to do, 'tall to do,
In Heabum I wouldn't have nothin' a-tall to do;
Jes' set down an' rest--Oh, yes! Oh, yes!
In Heabum I wouldn't have nothin' a-tall to do.

I'd walk about in Heabum an' tell the news, tell the news,
I'd walk about in Heabum an' tell the news;
Walk about in Heabum--Oh, yes! Oh, yes!
I'd walk about in Heabum an' tell the news.

SOURCE: Mary Allen Grissom, The Negro Sings a New Heaven (1930; reprint Dover, 1969, pp. 74-75)

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Oct 01 - 10:29 AM

See an example of "FLOATING VERSES" using this song as the pattern.

~S~

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Wish I Was In Heaven Sitting Down
From: wysiwyg
Date: 25 Feb 02 - 05:17 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