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GUEST,Katie White song history - How Can I Keep From Singing (62* d) RE: song history - How Can I Keep From Singing 07 Jul 05


I realize that I am responding to an old thread and that this debate may already have been settled. I have an original edition of a book written in 1888, Baptist Hymn Writters and Their Hymns by Henry S. Burrage, D. D. written while Lowry was still alive. I am not going to type out its 7 pages which focus on the many hymn books that he edited and the hymns that he wrote. The most famous one is "Shall We Gather at the River" and much of the biography is about the story behind this hymn. But the following quote from the book is of interest to this discussion.

"Besides his own hymns Dr. Lowry has given vitality and popularity to many productions of other writers by the music with which they are sung, such as . . . 'How Can I Keep From Singing,' . . . and a host of others."
From this, it appears that in the 1880s Lowry was known to not be the original source of the words to this hymn, but was being credited for making it known and available. This doesn't solve the debate, but I don't doubt the information for these reasons: 1) the early date of this book, written by a Baptist and about Baptists, while Lowry was serving a Baptist Church and having been a professor at a Baptist School. 2) If the Baptists wanted to lay claim to what it lists as a popular hymn, they would have done so in this 682 page book.

Conclusion: Lowry was the first to publish it but did not write the lyrics.


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