Songs on, or about slavery

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Billy Weeks
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 12:52 PM

That's better!

BW

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 12:47 PM

I'm not a guest! that last items was from Billy Weeks, who will now refix his cookie!

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Sep 11 - 12:45 PM

Looking through my sheet music collection I found a number of quite early items from British publishers, including two c.1790 to 1805: 'Forc'd from home and all its pleasures' (Cowper's poem 'The Negro's Complaint' set by an unknown composer) and 'The White Man' by a Miss Abrams. A bit later, but before 1816 is a glee for three voices 'The Negroes' by J Mazzinghi (again based on the Cowper poem).

More remarkably, there are two items from the 1840s sung by the Ethiopian Serenaders. The Serenaders were extremely popular in Britain, where they fixed both the form and he style of the local minstrel troupes that followed them, also fixing in the public mind the caricature image of the African American slave as a feckless comic character. 'Sambo', or 'Dey Bring Me from my Country (long time ago') presents quite a different image. Not exactly abolitionist in sentiment, but certainly not unsympathetic and sailing rather closer to the truth than the later, equally poisonous image of the 'happy slave'.

Another one from the same stable is 'Phoebe Morel: I had a dream, a happy dream (I thought that I was free)' based on the supposedly true story of a mixed race girl, taken into slavery after the death of her white, slave-owning father.

These songs were certainly sung in England. Were they sung by the Serenaders in their own country and, if so, how were they received?

Subject: Lyr Add: BID 'EM IN (Oscar Brown Jr)
From: PHJim
Date: 01 Sep 11 - 03:41 PM

Bid 'Em In - Oscar Brown Jr.

Bid 'em in! Get 'em in!
That sun is hot and plenty bright.
Let's get down to business and get home tonight.
Bid 'em in!

Auctioning slaves is a real high art.
Bring that young gal, Roy. She's good for a start.
Bid 'em in! Get 'em in!

Now here's a real good buy only about 15.
Her great grandmammy was a Dahomey queen.
Just look at her face, she sure ain't homely.
Like Sheba in the Bible, she's black but comely.
Bid 'em in!

Gonna start her at three. Can I hear three?
Step up gents. Take a good look see.
Cause I know you'll want her once you've seen her.
She's young and ripe. Make a darn good breeder.
Bid 'em in!

She's good in the fields. She can sew and cook.
Strip her down Roy, let the gentlemen look.
She's full up front and ample behind.
Examine her teeth if you've got a mind.
Bid 'em in! Get 'em in!

Here's a bid of three from a man who's thrifty.
Three twenty five! Can I hear three fifty?
Your money ain't earning you much in the banks.
Turn her around Roy, let 'em look at her flanks.
Bid 'em in!

Three fifty's bid. I'm looking for four.
At four hundred dollars she's a bargain sure.
Four is the bid. Four fifty. Five!
Five hundred dollars. Now look alive!
Bid 'em in! Get 'em in!

Don't mind them tears, that's one of her tricks.
Five fifty's bid and who'll say six?
She's healthy and strong and well equipped.
Make a fine lady's maid when she's properly whipped.
Bid 'em in!

Six! Six fifty! Don't be slow.
Seven is the bid. Gonna let her go.
At seven she's going!
Going!
Gone!
Pull her down Roy, bring the next one on.
Bid 'em in! Get 'em in! Bid 'em in!

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: PHJim
Date: 01 Sep 11 - 03:35 PM

Bid 'Em In - Oscar Brown Jr.

Subject: Lyr Add: STOLE AND SOLD FROM AFRICA +ROBERT CARTER
From: Fl!p Breskin
Date: 31 Aug 11 - 08:53 PM

STOLE AND SOLD FROM AFRICA
Learned from Carol Elizabeth Jones who learned it from Addie Graham
Numbers are scale degrees to show the melody

56       5       4    321 123 2 2 1
We're stole and sold from Africa
5 6   b7   6   65 54 45 6 5
Transported to A -merica
567 8 5   b765   5       1    5         6   5
Like hogs and sheep we march adrove
56   5      4   321 123 2      2    1
To bear the heat en - dure the cold

We're almost naked as you see
Almost barefooted as we be
Suffer the lash endure the pain
Exposed to cold both wind and rain

We're almost naked as you see
Almost barefooted as we be
Exposed to hardships we are bound
At night like roots lie on the ground

See how they take us from our wives
Small children from their mother's sides
They take us to some foreign land
Make slaves to wait on gentlemen

Oh Lord have mercy and look down
Upon the race of the African kind
Upon our knees pour out our grief
And pray to God for some relief

http://www.aca-dla.org/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/Berea43&CISOPTR=2068&filename=2069.mp3

also, modern, from Rob Lopresti
http://home.nas.com/lopresti/songs2.html

ROBERT CARTER III

My name is Robert Carter. I was born in old Virginia
My granddad was the richest man the colonies had known
I scorned to let my daughter wed a Washington because I said
His family's far too rough and raw to ally with my own
But when I ran for office I placed seventh out of seven
The people called me vain. By God, I had a right to be
And looking back I have no doubt of what I feel most pride about:
I had five hundred slaves and I set those people free

I used to be a Baptist once and at the worship service
I would kneel beside my brothers, free and slave, Black and White
Other owners knelt like me and held on to their property
But I could not deny the plea of what I knew was right
So I wrote out a deed of gift as fat as any hymnbook
With tables, charts, and schedules for my charges' liberty
To free them all with jobs and land took many years, but understand
I had five hundred slaves and I set those people free

My neighbor Thomas Jefferson wrote in his declaration
Among the king's offenses was the transport of the slave
And yet he scarcely freed a one. It was the same with Washington
Who put them in his will at least and freed them from his grave
Now if you read their private words they knew the thing was wicked
But still, the sad excuses weep through each biography
They wanted so to end it but they couldn't find a method
Well, I had five hundred slaves and I set those people free

My sons, they all despised me so for trimming their inheritance
My neighbors called it dangerous and feared a bloody raid
Yet there were those who followed me and gave their brothers liberty
But not my country's leaders, all too greedy or afraid
So why do you neglect me when you praise my generation?
Oh, give one vain and stuffy man his page in history.
There was Jefferson, the writer, and Washington, the fighter
But Carter had five hundred slaves and set those people free
Oh, let that be my epitaph. It's good enough for me.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,mg
Date: 31 Aug 11 - 02:06 PM

I have heard one about the redleg? Irish slaves taken to the Caribean where they did not fare very well..except unfortunatley they were used as breeders.

And I have one that BB calls the "Chocolate boys" about boys of Sudan I believe enslaved to work on chocolate plantations. mg

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Dave Hanson
Date: 31 Aug 11 - 07:31 AM

'No More Auction Block,' recorded by Paul Robeson and later by Bob Dylan, both fine versions of a very moving spiritual.

Dave H

Subject: Lyr Add: OLD UNCLE NED (from Burl Ives)
From: JohnH
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 08:55 AM

Burl Ives used to sing this in the '50s


OLD UNCLE NED
As recorded by Burl Ives on Decca 24619 A, (1944)

"There was an old Brother and his name was Uncle Ned
And he died long ago, long ago,
And he had no wool on the top of his head
In the place where the wool ought to grow.

CHORUS: Then lay down the shovel and the hoe,
Hang up the fiddle and the bow,
For there's no more work for poor old Ned,
He's gone where the good brothers go.

His fingers were as long as the cane in the brake
And he had no eyes for to see,
And he had no teeth for to eat the hoe-cake,
So he had to let the hoe-cake be.

One cold frosty morning Old Ned died
Massa's tears they fell like the rain
For he knew when Ned was laid in his grave
That he'd never see his like again.


This is similar to a song I found once in the Glasgow Collection which had stronger slavery-related words, and there's another (No. 35) in The Common Muse about a naval vessel attacking a slave ship in 1850s.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,will
Date: 21 Mar 11 - 07:46 AM

i am wanting some information on the song Shallow Brown.What is this song about?

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Lizzie Cornish
Date: 16 Jun 07 - 03:41 AM

Thank You! :0)

Sorry for those that didn't realise, I started a thread about this very subject without realising this was already here..hence the thanks to Sinsull for refreshing this one.

Lizzie :0)

Links to the Amazing Grace film and the Amazing Change Campaign

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: SINSULL
Date: 15 Jun 07 - 06:25 PM

refresh

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SLAVE AUCTIONEER
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 26 Feb 07 - 03:06 PM

In the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire occupied much of eastern Europe. Young European women (and men) were captured and enslaved, and sold on the auction block. Some were brought in from Mediterranean captures, and sold if no suitable ransom had been offered.

Samuel Baker, a young and wealthy Englishman, was taken by a young woman on the auction block (I believe in present-day Hungary- sometime since I read the book) and bought her for fifty pounds. He was unwilling to take her home to face his family, and set out with her, travelling as his wife Florence, on an exploration of the upper Nile River. On that and subsequent expeditions, he and his companion made a number of discoveries about the upper Nile system.

Years later, the union may have been joined privately at St. Paul's, but the family still refuses to release his papers and much remains a mystery.
Richard Hall, 1980, "Lovers on the Nile," an Idyll of African Exploration, tells this unusual true story.

This poem, "The Slave Auctioneer," belongs to that period. Although I think that satire was the intent of the unknown author, it reminded of the Baker story.

Lyr. Add: THE SLAVE AUCTIONEER

Come, ladies and gentlemen, here you shall see
A cargo of slaves, that's just landed from sea;
They'll please you full well, if I do not mistake,
Or I of my voyage no profit shall make,
My hammer shall set them a-going, a-going.

I've a noble collection as ever was seen,
And some, that in all parts of Europe have been,
I've French, and I've English, Italian and Dutch,
To collect them together has troubled me much;
My hammer shall set them a-going, a-going.

I've beaux for the ladies, and belles for the men,
Such beauties you'll never fix eyes on again,
They're youthful and charming, to please every mind,
And then to their owners, I hope, they'll prove kind;
My hammer shall set them a-going, a-going.

The catalogue tells you their name and their station,
By whom they were ta'en, likewise from what nation,
Bid with spirit, ye buyers, nought venture, nought win,
For this moment, my friends, I the sale will begin;
My hammer shall set them a-going, a-going.

p. 335, vol. III, "The Universal Songster or, Museum of Mirth." London, Jones and Company, 1828.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Dennis Howell
Date: 25 Nov 04 - 02:49 PM

I am looking for songs that the whites may have song about slavery and possibly one that talks about whites being sensitive to the slaves need for freedom. Can anybody help?

Subject: Lyr Add: BLACK BETTY (from Huddie Ledbetter)
From: Frivolous Sal
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 03:39 AM

The one that has always made me shudder is "Black Betty"
(about the whip) I remember the line "dipped in gravy" on an old Lomax recording we have.
I googled it, and found it cleaned up and released as a song about a woman. Thus:
Black Betty
By: Ram Jam
(Huddie Ledbetter)
1977

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Black Betty had a child (Bam-ba-Lam)
The damn thing gone wild (Bam-ba-Lam)
She said, "I'm worryin' outta mind" (Bam-ba-Lam)
The damn thing gone blind (Bam-ba-Lam)
I said Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)

Oh, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
She really gets me high (Bam-ba-Lam)
You know that's no lie (Bam-ba-Lam)
She's so rock steady (Bam-ba-Lam)
And she's always ready (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
She's from Birmingham (Bam-ba-Lam)
Way down in Alabam' (Bam-ba-Lam)
Well, she's shakin' that thing (Bam-ba-Lam)
Boy, she makes me sing (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)
Whoa, Black Betty BAM-BA-LAM

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Harmoni
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 02:09 AM

How about RAGGA LEVY or LAZARUS?

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: LadyJean
Date: 05 Nov 03 - 12:34 AM

Jump Jim Crow was born in Pittsburgh, when a vaudeville performer saw an African American deck hand dancing, imitating a crow's flight, and singing, "turn about and wheel about and do just so, and everytime I turn around I jump Jim Crow". Apparently, (I read this in Lomax.) the dance had African origins.
The vaudeville performer borrowed the deckhand's clothes, blacked his face with burnt cork, and the rest is history.
Not, I'm afraid, one of our city's proudest moments.
Now, I would mention Stephen Foster's songs, most especially Angelina Baker, "Angelina likes the boys, as far as she can see 'em. She used to run old master round, to ask him for to free 'em."
Jean Redpath recorded "The Slave's Lament", by Robert Burns. Of course it's beautifully done.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Barry Finn
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 10:22 PM

It's (Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands) well worth buying & there's a pretty good collection with music. I found a copy in a public Library just outside of Boston maybe in the late 70's & since always kept an eye open for an available copy. Two years ago I found a copy on E-Bay & got it for a rock bottom price. A good number of the songs you can find on recordings by the Georgia Sea Island Singers. They don't cover many of those songs when at festivals or concert because they're passing on as much as they can to the younger singers of the group so they concentrate on the songs better known by the younger singers. Some of these songs are also sung by Frankie Quimby & her husband. The author & collector Lydia Parrish lived on the St Simon's Island & had a building built so the "negro's" could perform there for pay for "whitey" oover from the mainland (Lydia's friends I believe). Not matter what she thought of them or how she dealt with them she put together a very good collection. She figured that she was the main reason for the survival of these songs & by accounts from other collectors was very territorial about them.
Barry

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 09:06 PM

A paperback is available for $US 25. The older bound copy seems to run about $US60 in vg condition.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: sian, west wales
Date: 04 Nov 03 - 03:59 PM

I've just noticed that a local used book shop has a copy of "Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands" for £20. I don't know if it's a good price, or even if it's a good book, but someone here might be interested. It's in good nick.

sian

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 03 - 02:49 PM

Requestor emailed to look for replies here (not via email).

~S~

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: wysiwyg
Date: 15 Sep 03 - 02:45 PM

You may find some research helps here: AFRICAN AMERICAN SPIRITUALS PERMATHREAD

~Susan

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From:
Date: 15 Sep 03 - 02:40 PM

We're trying to locate information on civil war slave songs for an upcoming production at the Denver Center Theatre Company. Does anyone have music/tune info for:
JUBILO AND SILVER
Sherman's buzzin' along to th' sea,
Jubili, Jubilo!
Sherman's buzzin' along to th' sea
Like Moses ridin' on a bumblebee,
Settin' th' prisoned and th' humble free!
It's th' year of Jubilo!

and

Oh Lordy Je-sus
It's a long time comin'
It's a long time co-o-min'
That Jubilee time.
it's a long time, Lord.
Yes, it's a long time.

THANKS for any help, advice or guidance.
Barbara

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 02 May 03 - 07:22 PM

Error on my part. The African-American sheet music list includes compositions by whites about Blacks as well as songs by African-Americans. Stephen Foster and other white composers are included.

Subject: Lyr Add: WHAT MEAN YE, THAT YE BRUISE AND BIND
From: Burke
Date: 02 May 03 - 07:13 PM

253 AIR-" Ortonville.

1 What mean ye, that ye bruise and bind
My people, saith the Lord,
And starve your craving brethren's mind
Who ask to read my word?

2 What mean ye that ye make them toil,
Through long and weary years;
And shed like rain upon your soil,
Their blood and bitter tears?

3 What mean ye, when God's bounteous hand
To you so much has given,
That from the slave who tills your land,
You keep both earth and heaven?

4 What mean ye that ye dare to rend
The tender mother's heart;
Brother from sister, friend from friend,
How dare you make them part?

5 When at the judgment God shall call,
Where is thy brother? say
What mean ye, to the Judge of all,
To answer on that day?

@slavery @religion
No author listed
in: Sacred melodies for conference and prayer meetings, and for social and private devotion. 10th ed. rev. and amended. 256 p. 12 cm.
Dover, [New Hampshire] : Free-Will Baptist Print. Establishment, 1851.
From digital collection: Making of America Books

Any Common Meter tune
Recommended tune "Ortonville" by Thomas Hastings, requires repeating the last line a 2nd time. Music in Cyberhymnal

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 02 May 03 - 05:36 AM

African-American Sheet Music, 1850-1920 (from Brown University) is available at: African American Sheet Music
Many songs about slavery are reproduced here. The list is very long, but it will repay you with many slavery songs. All of the songs are by Black Americans. Looking under S will find:
De slavery chains am broke at last
The slave mother
The slave ship (version in DT)
Slave Song
Slavery days
Slavery's passed away
Song of the fugitive slave

Looking under the A's I see Aunt Harriet Becha Stowe. Many, of course, can't be identified by th title alone.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: RoyH (Burl)
Date: 29 Apr 03 - 11:42 AM

A wonderful thread, glad to see it refreshed. Check out 'Wake Nicodemus' by Henry Clay Work.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: ToulouseCruise
Date: 29 Apr 03 - 11:28 AM

one that I really enjoy is called Railroad Worksong, an old traditional one recently re-done by the Notting Hillbillies (little side project of Mark Knopfler's). Definitely worth a look....

Subject: Lyr Add: AMERICA - Anti-slavery version
From: Burke
Date: 28 Apr 03 - 05:49 PM

I've stumbled across a hymn book from 1851, that contains about a dozen anti-slavery hymns.
Sacred melodies for conference and prayer meetings,
The Anti-Slavery section is p.231-241; hymn no. 251-263. Tunes are listed for all. Temperance songs follow immediately, but there are half as many, p. 242-248, songs 264-269

Here's one with an obvious tune on page 236

257 6s. & 4s Air--America

My country! 'tis of thee,
Strong hold of slavery,
Of thee I sing:
Land where my fathers died,
Where men man's rights deride,
From every mountain side,
Thy deeds shall ring.

My native country! thee,
Where all men are born free,
If white their skin:
I love thy hills and dales,
Thy mounts and pleasant vales,
But hate thy negro sales,
As foulest sin.

Let wailing swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees,
The black man's wrong;
Let every tongue awake,
Let bond and free partake,
Let rocks their silence break
The sound prolong.

Our Father's God! to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing;
Soon may our land be bright,
With holy freedom's right,
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King.

@slavery @religion @patriotic
No author listed
in: Sacred melodies for conference and prayer meetings, and for social and private devotion. 10th ed. rev. and amended. 256 p. 12 cm.
Dover, [New Hampshire] : Free-Will Baptist Print. Establishment, 1851.
From digital collection: Making of America Books

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Christi
Date: 03 Mar 03 - 09:13 PM

The slaves had it hard

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Jacqued
Date: 15 Feb 03 - 03:33 PM

Try the African Trade by Tom Lewis on his CD Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Singer.   Makes you think.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: reggie miles
Date: 14 Feb 03 - 08:49 PM

There's a haunting Huddie Ledbetter song called "I Ain't Goin' Down To The Well No More". I'm not sure if this about being indentured but it sounds like it. One of the lines says,

If I ever gets able,
if I ever gets able, able,
to pay the debt I owe.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh,
I ain't goin' down,
I ain't goin' down.
Baby to the well no more.
No, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: SINSULL
Date: 13 Feb 03 - 08:12 PM

"All The Pretty Little Horses" A black wet nurse has to leave her own baby unattended to look after her white ward.

"Massa's In The Cold Cold Ground" Stephen Foster

Not sure of the title but:
"Oh Freedom, sweet Freedom
Freedom is for me.
And before I'd be a slave
I'd be buried in my grave
And go home to the father
And be free."

A young slave, whose mother was promised that her son would be freed, is put up for auction upon her death. But runs away preferring death to slavery. I think I have a recording of this by Ed Trickett but I will have to dig.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Frankham
Date: 13 Feb 03 - 06:03 PM

Anyone mention Amazing Grace? That song is about slavery albeit indirectly considering the life of it's composer. I often wondered about the "Saved a wretch like me" part. Didn't think it was just a general allusion to fundamentalism and the iniquity of mankind.

Frank Hamilton

Subject: Lyr Add: SLAVE'S LAMENT (S. Haithwaite)
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 13 Feb 03 - 02:50 PM

another for you

Slaves Lament
S.Haithwaite

Six hundred slaves filled the hold
Of the ship that left the Cape
Had to listen whilst the sailors women raped
Manackled and shakled and laid out side by side
No where to run and nowhre left to hide

chorus

Sail away
sail away
Sail away
may fair winds take you
to where every slave is free
Sail away to the promised land
Far across the sea

We were sailing for Barbados
And there we would be sold
Fifteen Days we travelled in that stinking hold
The heat the stech the sickness
No one heeded any screams
Sleep was still a nightmare
Only death brought pleasant dreams

On the fifteenth day we hit a storm
the ship it pitched and tossed
No one came to help us we thought we were lost
As the ship it rolled against the storm
slave was thrown upon a slave
Limbs mangled by the shackles Howmany would be saved?

The captain was so angry when he checked down in the hold
Not so many slaves now cold be sold
Those dead and those with broken limbs were tossed into the sea
The ocean waves would tkae them
To the land where slaves were free

To you we all were savages
So you could make us slaves
You believed only your God could sinners save
So we turned to Christianity and prayed we would be strong
And that one day God would show you you were wrong

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: nutty
Date: 13 Feb 03 - 01:30 AM

Have you tried looking for sheet music .....
There's a host of songs here in the Library of Congress ...... just browse the subjects or put 'slaves' or 'slavery' in the keyword box

African-American Sheet Music 1850-1920

Searching by subject 'slaves' or 'slavery' here on the Levy site will give you over 400 songs

Lester S. Levy Sheet Music

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Sandy Creek
Date: 12 Feb 03 - 07:35 PM

I recently found an old copy of "Tales of Uncle Remus"...perhaps everyone should read this. Joel Chandler Harris was a very brave man to write this...the stories relate a lot of wisdom as well as humor.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE SLAVE'S SONG (from Max Hunter coll.)
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 11 Feb 03 - 08:01 PM

Lyr. Add: THE SLAVES SONG

I'm as free as the waters that rose at my feet,
Or the sickle that glides swiftly by.
No master do I fear or dread the auctioneer,
The driver, the lash, I defy.

Chorus:
O master, I pray thee,
Don't come after me,
For I can never be your slave anymore.
I am free from toil and law,
Free beneath the lion's claw,
And he growls if you come near the shore.

And don't you remember the promise you made
To my mother, who's long gone to rest
That I should not be sold, for silver nor for gold
As the sun rose from the east to the west.

And don't you remember as soon as she was dead
And the grass had not grown o'er her grave
I was advertised for sale and I might've been in jail
Had I not crossed the bold dashing waves.

And don't you remember the ole towering oak
Where you paid me my last forty-four;
How you bowed your haughty head o'er the blood that I shed,
But remember, I'll bleed there no more.

Sung by Mrs. Lola Stanley, Fayetteville, Arkansas, 1958. With sheet music, audio and midi. The Max Hunter Folk Collection: Slaves Song
No date or information. Probably late 19th-early 20th century, with an abolitionist author. This song was pointed out by WYSIWYG, 29 Mar 02, in this thread.

Subject: National Freedom Day
From: Abby Sale
Date: 25 Jan 03 - 05:48 PM

Feb 1 is National Freedom Day. (re the 1st state's ratefying the no-slavery amendment.) It's not a holiday but is a Presidentially proclaimed day. A good day to sing these songs. I'll be doing a good version of "Shallow Brown."

Another less common aspect of slavery to add to the list is "Botany Bay."

Well it's day and night the irons clang and like poor galley slaves
Oh we toil and toil and when we die must fill dishonored graves;

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 25 Jan 03 - 01:51 PM

Another I forgot to mention in my earlier post was "Jacob's Ladder".
I have to agree about the "Flying Cloud". It's a great song. The comparison to the ancient Isrealites continues to this day in the Rastifarian religion (Movement?)and can be found in some reggae songs as anyone who has listened to Bob Marley and the Wailers can attest to. Have a great weekens and sorry I've been absent for so long. (BUsy, Busy Oh those weary bones!) Neil

Subject: Lyr Add: JUMP JIM CROW
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 24 Jan 03 - 02:01 PM

The words, "Pick a Bale of Cotton" are not known before the Depression Days of the 1930s, but the tune, of course, is old and well-worn. "Jump down and turn around" is either an old Negro dance step or originated with the blackface minstrels. It is in versions of "Jump Jim Crow" of blackface origin, this one a Negro revision, from Talley, "Negro Folk Rhymes," No. 20:

JUMP JIM CROW

Git fust upon your heel,
An' den upon yo' toe,
And eb'ry time you turn 'round,
You jump Jim Crow.

Now fall upon your knees,
Jump and bow low,
An' eb'ry time you turn 'round,
You jump Jim Crow.

Put yo' han's upon your hips,
Bow low to yo' beau;
An' eb'ry time you turn 'round,
You jump Jim Crow.
Moreover, boasting of prowess is as old as Man, so the words are not amiss and may well be much older than the records.
These couplets come from Newman L. White, American Negro Folk-Songs, collected about 1915.

Me 'n' my baby and my baby's fren'
Can pick mo' cotton dan a cotton gin.

Me and my partner, partner Jack,
Can pick more cotton than a press can pack.

Complaints common as well:

Nigger in de cotton patch pickin' out cotton,
Cotton in de boll an' de boll half rotten.

The times are hard and money is scarce,
Soon as I sell my cotton and corn I am bound to leave this place.

I'd rather be in the cottonfield, working hard,
Than be a buck-private in the National Guard.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: masato sakurai
Date: 24 Jan 03 - 11:14 AM

It's PICK A BALE OF COTTON (in the DT). Some info is at The Traditional Ballad Index: Pick a Bale of Cotton.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From:
Date: 24 Jan 03 - 10:30 AM

This is a great page. I have been trying to find the origin of the song that has the following words: "jump down turn around pick a bale of cotton, jump down turn aroung pick a bale of hay." Does anyone have any information on this and its origins?

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Deckman
Date: 11 Dec 02 - 01:16 AM

Come along, little children come along,
Come while the moon is burning bright,
Get on board, little children, get on board,
'gonna raise a ruckus tonight."

I was taught this song by the late (great) Keve Bray, of the Seattle area. Keve taught it to me in the late 1950's. If there are any catters out there who knew Keve, I'd appreciate it if you would private mail me. Thanks, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: Lyr Add: SLAVE'S LAMENT (S. Haithwaite)
From: Red and White Rabbit
Date: 10 Dec 02 - 02:38 AM

Heres one based on the story of Zamba Zambola an african slave who wrote the book The life and adventures of an african slave in 1847. Captain Winton lost 5 - 6 thousand dollars on this voyage


Slaves Lament
S.Haithwaite 2001

chorus
Sail away, sail away
sail away may fair winds take you
To where every slave is free
Sail away to the promised land far across the sea

Six hundred slaves filled the hold
Of the shp that left the Cape
Had to listen as the sailors women raped
The heat the stench the sickness
o one heeded any screams
Sleep was still a nightmare
Only death brought pleasant dreams

We were sailing for Barbados
For Slaves we would be sold
15 days we travelled in that stinking hold
Manackled and shackled and laid out side by side
No where to run and no where left to hide


The fifteenth day we hit a storm
The ship it pitched and tossed
No one came to help us
We thought we were lost
As the ship it rolled against the strom
Slave was thrown upon a slve
Lmbs mangled by the shackles
How many would be saved

The captain was so angry
when he checked down in the hold
Not so many slaves now could be sold
Those dead and those with broken limbs
Were tossed into the sea
The ocean waves would take them
to the land where slaves are free

To you we all were savages
so you could make us slaves
You believed only your God
Could sinners save
So we turned to Christianity
and we prayed we would be strong
And that one day God would show you
you were wrong

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 02:52 PM

Yes. Click in FAQ arrow (blank, top left) and see Mudcat site map and permathread index.
Scroll down to permathreads (blue background) and click on African American Spitituals, thread 38686. In the list (scroll down, find them listed and click on for the songs and discussions) are many spirituals.
Thread 17760, Follow the Drinking Gourd- Drinking Gourd
Thread 41800, Chariot spirituals- Chariot spirituals

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Nikki N. Williams of Pensacola Fl. in Molino
Date: 09 Dec 02 - 02:35 PM

hi i would like to know if anyone had "follow the drinking gourd" or"sweet low sweet charion"

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 02 Dec 02 - 08:45 PM

Neighmond is correct only if you accept that versions with "trouble the waters" are related. A song that refers to pharaoah and emphasizes "let my people go" was collected by Allen and published in 1867 ("Let God's Saints Come In"). Go to thread 6108 to see it: Wade in the Water

Some of the versions in this thread refer to baptism, and undergoing spiritual regeneration symbolized by baptism, and are not concerned with slavery.

There are no 19th century references to "Wade in the Water." References to Tubman's use of the song are not backed by evidence.

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: Neighmond
Date: 02 Dec 02 - 08:04 PM

"Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade inthe water
you know my God's gonna trouble the water!"

More words but I forget them

Chaz

Subject: RE: ? Songs on, or about slavery?
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 01 Dec 02 - 08:28 PM

Guest Barbara, see thread 24379 which has several versions of this Negro spiritual (also versions of Deep River). Steal Away
Steal Away was added to Fenner's "Cabin and Plantation Songs" (1874) by Dett, "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro," probably in 1925. Its age is unknown; it could be post-slavery.