WISH I'SE IN HEAVEN SETTIN' DOWN
Traditional (Spiritual)

Wish I'se in heaven settin' down;
Wish I'se in heaven settin' down (*)!
O, Mary, O, Martha,
Wish I'se in heaven settin' down.

* denotes miscellaneous exclamations such as OH LORD! or AMEN! or YES, YES! or MM HM! or PRAISE GOD! etc.


SOURCE:
American Negro Songs, John W. Work, Dover Publications; Mineola, NY.


This one offers wonderful opportunities for "floating" verses... the made-up song du jour where each verse floats into your mind as you go.... oh yeah, LOTS of options....

For instance, this verse could form a refrain, and the verses could list all the things one would NOT be doing:

No more weepin' over there;
No more weepin' over there (*)!
O, Mary, O, Martha,
No more weepin' over there!


Or each verse could say a thing about heaven one would be enjoying while settin' down, and in this case, I think there would be no need for a refrain:

Sit at my Jesus' feet;
Sit at my Jesus' feet (*)!
O, Mary, O, Martha,
Wish I'se in heaven settin' down!


Or it could be about keepin' on keepin' on while looking forward to heaven, and once again using the first verse as the refrain:

Do what the Good Book say;
Do what the Good Book say (*)!
O, Mary, O, Martha,
Do what the Good Book say.


Or just looking forward to going on home, again with a refrain made out of the first verse above:

Angels will carry me;
Angels will carry me (*)!
O, Mary, O, Martha,
Angels will carry me.


Now when I do floating verses, for instance while driving or doing housework, I pick a theme and a format, and I stick with it, for that day. But I think in song collections, and often in recordings, what survives are a mish-mash of mixed-theme floaters that may not have actually gone together when they were sung, back then.

So I recommend floating verses-- you can take any good short piece and make it fit your day just right. And the printed version-- why it ain't necessarily gospel... and it sure ain't set in stone.

~Susan