1. Soon one mornin' death come creepin' in de room (3x)
Oh my Lord, oh my Lord, whut shall I do to be saved.

2. Death done been here, took my mother en gone, etc.

3. Death done been here, lef' me er motherless chile, etc.

4. I heard a voice I never heard before, etc.

5. Called lac Jesus, never heard de voice before, etc.

6. Gwine lay my head, my head on Jesus' breast, etc.

7. Gwine breathe my life, my life out sweetly dere, etc.

8. Ain't gonna die, jes' gonna sleep away, etc.

9. Angel, angel, cleanin' up de chariot wheel, etc.

10. I'm so glad I got my religion on time, etc.

SOURCE: Olivia and Jack Solomon, Honey in the Rock: The Ruby Pickens Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs from Sumter County, Alabama (Mercer UP, 1991, p. 97-98; with no tune), with notes:
"'I'm so glad ...' is exquisitely molded from two other spirituals into a new unity, with an astonishing purity of text, diction, rhythm, and stanzaic structure. Stanzas 1, 2, and 3 have their origins in 'Death come to my house,' especially the personification of death as a thief and murderer who invades the sanctity of home and family and carries away the mother, the source of earthly joy and comfort. Stanzas 4 and 5 descend from the famous 'Somebody knocking at your door'; the shift in imagery from the thief to the voice of Jesus is dramatic and coherent. In stanzas 6, 7, and 8 the traditional metaphor of death as sleep 'on Jesus' breast' has become a beautiful folk Pietà. Stanzas 9 and 10 have migrated from certain 'religion' songs, and though they do not possess the musical and poetic qualities of the other stanzas, they conclude the interior drama with joy. In the choral tag the allusion to the story of the rich young ruler (Matthew 19, Mark 10, Luke 18) locates physical death within the theological context of salvation: the eternal life the rich ruler seeks is lost when he refuses Christ's injunction to sell all his possessions and give the money to the poor."(p. 97)

~Masato

Jerry

(Masato probably already has the Real Bahamas version transcribed and just needs to pull it out of his 28 foot (meters?) stack of lyric sheets..)

"Leave it there, leave it there
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there
If you trust and believe, he will surely do? you right
Take your burden to the Lord and leave it there

After they sing that through a couple of times, the lead singer starts improvising telling about the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The two other singers sing the first two lines of the chorus, and then THEY start to improvise their own lines. It's quite a remarkable recording. Especially when you consider that it was taped off the radio (from what I remember), then copied onto another reel to reel tape which I got, and when it started deteriorating, I copied it on to a cassette, which is now probably at least 25 years old. The song has somewhat the feel of I Bid You Goodnight in structure, but is far looser and improvised. At this point, it's beyond transcribing. Even if I could transcribe it, it would be like doing the Mona Lisa in crayons.

Jerry

~S~

Jerry