Lyr. Add: YOU SHALL BE FREE

Nigger be nigger, whatever he do:
Tie red ribbon 'round toe of his shoe,
Jerk his vest on over his coat,
Snatch his britches up 'round his throat,
Singin' high stepper, Lawd, you shall be free.

Great big nigger , settin' on log,
One eye on trigger, one eye on hog.
Gun say "blop!" hog said "sip!"
An' he jumped on de hog wid all his grip,
Singin' high-stepper, Lawd, you shall be free.

Shout to glory, Lawd, you shall be free!
Shout to glory, Lawd, you shall be free!
Shout, mourner, Lawd, you shall be free!
Shout when de good Lawd set you free!

I went down to hog-eye town,
Dey sot me down to table;
I et so much dat hog-eye grease,
'Till de grease run out my nabel.
Run 'long home, Miss Hog-eye,
Singin' high-stepper, Lawd, you shall be free.

Nigger an' rooster had a fight,
Rooster knock nigger clean out o' sight,
Nigger say "Rooster, dat's all right,
Meet you at hen-house do' tomorrow night,
Singin' high-stepper, Lawd, you shall be free.

Two barrels apples, three barrels cheese;
When I git to heaven, goin' shout on my knees,
Shout to glory, Lawd, you shall be free,
Shout to glory, mourner, you shall be free.

With the crokus sack you shall be free,
With the crokus sack you shall be free.
Shout to glory, Lawd, you shall be free,
When de good Lawd set you free.

A nigger went up town actin' a hoss;
De jedge he found him ten an' cost.
Shout, mourner, you shall be free,
When de good Lawd shall set you free!

One of the best examples of the ironic, sharp, bitter wit of the Negro. The song is a parody of the "Thank God I'm Free At Last" type of song. The Negro was free by law but subject to severe limitations and ridicule. Only death would set him "free." The dress of the blackface minstrels is described in the first stanza. The second and fourth appear in several Negro children's and nonsense songs. Some of these songs have been preserved, but with the exception of those sung by prison farm inmates, have largely disappeared from use.
Odum, H. W. and Johnson, G. B., 1925 (1976), The Negro and His Songs, Negro Universities Press, pp. 233-234.
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