Lyr Add: Slavery Chain (Done Broke at Last)

Subject: SLAVERY CHAIN (DONE BROKE AT LAST)
From: wysiwyg
Date: 20 Sep 01 - 10:23 PM

Tune very similar to Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho

CLICK HERE to hear a choral version from the Park New Choir in France.

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SLAVERY CHAIN (DONE BROKE AT LAST)
Traditional Negro Spiritual


REFRAIN:
Slavery chain done broke at last
Broke at last, broke at last
Slavery chain done broke at last
Going to praise God till I die
Slavery chain done broke at last
Broke at last, broke at last
Slavery chain done broke at last
Going to praise God till I die

Way up in that valley
Praying on my knees
Telling God about my troubles
And to help me if He please

I did tell Him how I suffer
In the dungeon and the chain
And the days I went with head bowed down
And my broken flesh and pain (but brethren)

I did know my Jesus heard me
'Cause the Spirit spoke to me
And said: "Rise my child, my children
And you too shall be free"

I done 'pint one mighty captain
For to marshall all my hosts
And to bring my bleating ones to me
And not one shall be lost

Now no more weary traveling
'Cause my Jesus set me free
And there's no more auction block for me
Since He gave me liberty


SOURCE:
Park New Choir, http://parknewchoir.free.fr/

@spirituals

SH

Subject: Lyr Add: SLAV'RY CHAIN
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Dec 05 - 02:05 PM

Lyr. Add: SLAV'RY CHAIN

Refrain:
Slav'ry chain done broke at las', broke at las',
Slav'ry chain done broke at las',
Goin' to praise God 'til I die.

1.
Way up ina dat valley,
Prayin' on my knees;
Tellin' God about my troubles,
An' to he'p me efa He please.

2. Solo
I did tell him how I suffer
In de dungeon an' de chain;
An' de days I went wif head bowed down,
An' my broken flesh an' pain,
(But bretheren-)

3. Solo
I did know my Jesus heard me
'Cause de spirit spoke to me
An' said "Rise my chile, your chillun
An' you too shall be free."

4. Solo
I done 'p'int one mighty captain
For to marshall all my hosts;
An' to bring my bleeding ones to me
An' not one shall be lost.

5. Solo
Now no more weary trav'lin'
'Cause my Jesus set-a me free
An' dere's no more auction block for me
Since He give me liberty.

With music. Sung by Mrs. Catherine Fields-Gay, collected by R. Nathaniel Dett. Refrain sung after each verse.

R. Nathaniel Dett, 1927, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute," p. 112. Hampton Institute Press (Reprint AMS Press, 1972.

This hymn of deliverance first appeared in Dett's text of 1927. It harkens to "No More Auction Block."
The hymn is unknown before the 1927 publication, and probably originated at the Hampton Institute, early in the 20th c.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Slavery Chain (Done Broke at Last)
From: Lighter
Date: 16 Jun 19 - 01:19 PM

"From slave cabin to the pulpit ; the autobiography of Rev. Peter Randolph" (Boston: J. H. Erle, 1893), p. 59:

The scene that opened before my eyes as I entered Richmond cannot be accurately described by word or pen. The city was in smoke and ashes, that is, a goodly part of it, for the Confederacy, on taking their departure, fired the city rather than let it fall into the hands of the Union forces. The colored people from all parts of the state were crowding in at the capital, running, leaping, and praising God that freedom had come at last. It seems to me I can hear their songs now as they ring through the air: “Slavery chain done broke at last; slavery chain done broke at last — I's goin’ to praise God till I die.”

Born a slave in Virginia around 1825, Randolph was freed according to his master's last will and testament in 1847.