Origins: There Is More Love Somewhere

Subject: INFO REQ: African-American hymn
From: dani
Date: 21 Oct 97 - 04:14 PM

Can I pick y'alls brains again? I know this song only as an 'African-American hymn' and would like to know where it comes from. Haven't been able to find writer of tune, writer of lyrics or anyone having recorded it.

Subject: RE: INFO REQ: African-American hymn
From: dani
Date: 21 Oct 97 - 04:21 PM

Good grief. My only excuse is that I haven't had my coffee this afternoon. The song is called "There Is More Love Somewhere" and it goes,

There is more love somewhere
There is more love somewhere
I'm gonna keep on 'til I find it
There is more love somewhere

Thanks!

Subject: RE: INFO REQ: African-American hymn
From: Frank Phillips
Date: 22 Oct 97 - 01:10 AM

I think this is one that Eileen McGann likes to do at her concerts. I will see if it is on a recording.

Frank

Subject: RE: INFO REQ: African-American hymn
From: Frank Phillips
Date: 27 Oct 97 - 01:26 AM

My wife assures me that I am not hallucinating and indeed Eileen has done it at concerts BUT I can't find any recording or any other info so I will bump this back to the top of the threads.

Frank

Subject: RE: INFO REQ: African-American hymn
From: dani
Date: 27 Oct 97 - 07:36 PM

Thanks!

Subject: RE: African-American: There Is More Love Somewhere
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 May 04 - 02:40 AM

Well, I picked up another tidit - there's a song called "There Is More Love Somewhere" on a CD called River of Life/Harmony One by Bernice Johnson Reagon of Sweet Honey in the Rock. The Sound clip here assures me that it is indeed the right song. The only lyrics I found on the Web were the same as the one verse Dani posted. I think it's a "zipper" song that you can zip about anything in that you want.
-Joe Offer-

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I found the CD. Here are the lyrics in the CD booklet. Bernice Johnson Reagon says she learned the song from Bessie Jones.

There is more love somewhere
There is more love somewhere
I'm gonna keep on 'til I find it
There is more love somewhere

(There is more peace, happiness, joy)

Subject: RE: African-American: There Is More Love Somewhere
From: Little Robyn
Date: 16 May 04 - 03:53 AM

Try More Joy

There'll be more joy somewhere,
There'll be more joy somewhere,
I'm gonna keep on till I find it,
There'll be more joy somewhere.

There'll be more peace somewhere.....

There'll be more love somewhere.....

It's a lovely song and I think we pinched it from an Eileen McGann CD.
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There Is More Love Somewhere
From: AllisonA(Animaterra)
Date: 02 Dec 12 - 10:49 AM

Refreshing! My chorus sings this, learned it from the great Nick Page. He calls it a traditional African-American song. He cares about his sources, so I guess his is good enough for me!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: There Is More Love Somewhere
From: Mick Pearce (MCP)
Date: 02 Dec 12 - 08:06 PM

There's a recording of Bessie Jones singing it at Alan Lomax' appartment in 1961 here: There Is More Love Somewhere.

She sings the following verses: more love/more joy/happiness/Jesus/more love/more peace/heaven/more love/more joy

Mick

Subject: RE: Origins: There Is More Love Somewhere
From: GerryM
Date: 24 Nov 24 - 01:00 AM

It's on Eileen McGann's CD, Heritage, DRGN 005, from 1997. The liner notes say,

Learned from Jeff Warner at the 1992 Calgary Folk Alliance Conference, at the end of a memorable Sunday night jam and singaround. May we all find more joy and the strength to persevere 'til we find it'.

Subject: RE: Origins: There Is More Love Somewhere
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 24 Nov 24 - 04:02 PM

Thanks Gerry, for posting the info that I've been on the cusp of posting ever since singing it myself at the Mudcat worldwide singaround.
I only discovered the Bessie Jones recording quite recently, and it has a very different feel to the Eileen McGann version, but is clearly the same root-stock, altho' I've never found any further clarification regarding its actual origin.