'FLOATING VERSES'? YEAH!

Subject: ADD: WISH I'SE IN HEAVEN SETTIN' DOWN
From: wysiwyg
Date: 04 Jul 01 - 01:25 AM

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

Subject: RE: 'FLOATING VERSES'? YEAH!
From: Amos
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 01:15 AM

Well...guess it depends on which waterway you look into, what floatin' verses you gonna fin' , Mz Wysiwyg!

A

Subject: RE: 'FLOATING VERSES'? YEAH!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 05 Jul 01 - 01:25 AM

Ah lookin' TWEEN the waterways, honeh, where's ain't no walls a-sunderin' 'em.

Yas, Ah open mah min' an' in it pour, whut all's b'longin' innit.

~Miz Souzey

Subject: RE: 'FLOATING VERSES'? YEAH!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 13 Oct 01 - 10:33 AM

This thread is for discussing floating verses.

For discussion and information about the song above that was used as an example, click to I WISH I WAS IN HEAVEN SITTING DOWN, where several versions are posted and referenced.

~S~

Subject: RE: 'FLOATING VERSES'? YEAH!
From: oombanjo
Date: 13 Oct 01 - 01:27 PM

Check the version by Roy Rogers & Norton Buffalo