Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Nov 13 - 04:42 PM

The lyrics have already been posted four times.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Nov 13 - 03:02 PM

SOON I WILL BE DONE WITH THE TROUBLE OF THIS WORLD, TROUBLE OF THIS WORLD,TROUBLE OF THIS WORLD
SOON I WILL BE DONE WITH THE TROUBLE OF THIS WORLD
GOIN' HOME TO LIVE WITH GOD
IWANT TO SEE MY MO O O THER I WANT TO SEE MY MO O O O THER, IWANT TO SEE MY MO O OO THER, GOIN' HOME TO LIVE WITH GOD

(ALL I CAN REMEMBER)

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: GUEST,Lynda Letourneau
Date: 05 Aug 11 - 10:57 PM

Thanks so much for the transcription Samantha....yes...oh yes...

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: GUEST,Gabriela
Date: 03 Feb 11 - 11:09 AM

Hello

I am looking for Troubles in the world song. I see you provide yourselves with a lot of help. I would like to get a special verson. One that is made for a full choir. I can write it like this:

No more (no more) weeping and wailing (wailing)
No more (no more) weeping and wailing (wailing)
No more weeping and wailing
I going to....

And the it has a beautiful cannon between voices at the end.

I don't know if any of you have heard, but I would love to have at least the song to listen to.

Thanks!!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: GUEST,Gabriela
Date: 03 Feb 11 - 11:09 AM

Hello

I am looking for Troubles in the world song. I see you provide yourselves with a lot of help. I would like to get a special verson. One that is made for a full choir. I can write it like this:

No more (no more) weeping and wailing (wailing)
No more (no more) weeping and wailing (wailing)
No more weeping and wailing
I going to....

And the it has a beautiful cannon between voices at the end.

I don't know if any of you have heard, but I would love to have at least the song to listen to.

Thanks!!!!

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: masato sakurai
Date: 04 Oct 10 - 10:18 AM

Mahalia Jackson sang this song in the movie Imitation of Life (1955). Click here.

Subject: Lyr Add: THESE ARE MY FATHER'S CHILDREN
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 02 Oct 10 - 06:21 PM

From The Story of the Jubilee Singers by J. B. T. Marsh (Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1881), page 168:


THESE ARE MY FATHER'S CHILDREN

CHORUS: These are my Father's children,
These are my Father's children,
These are my Father's children,
All in one band.

1. And I soon shall be done with the troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world, troubles of the world,
And I soon shall be done with the troubles of the world.
Going home to live with God.

2. My brother's done with the troubles of the world, &c.

3. My sister's done with the troubles of the world, &c.

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Trouble of the World
From: GUEST
Date: 30 Sep 10 - 12:16 PM

HEY ALL-

Transcribed the chords for you all. All the versions mentioned here are virtually the same, with certain exceptions in other versions (usually the jazz-influenced ones, because of the typical characteristics of jazz and its use of 7ths, tensions, etc). It's your typical progression, though, so I am not surprised you have had a hard time finding it since it's the typical cliche chord progression used in a zillion minor blues and gospel tunes (and have wondered why no one else has transcribed it til now). In any case, here ya go...feel free to embellish and/or transpose as you wish! Here, we're in E minor

Em (2 measures) Am (1 measure) Em (3 measures) D (2beats) Am (2beats) Em (2 beats) Bm (2 beats)

OR (some people use this one:)

Em (2 measures) Am (1 measure) Em (3 measures) Bm (2beats) Am (2beats) Em (2 beats) Bm (2 beats)

BOTH of these progressions could FURTHER be altered by, instead of the (final) Bm chord (on the "turn around") playing a B MAJ

Hope this helps all!

-Samantha Gandia
(Berklee College of Music grad)
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: Azizi
Date: 08 Feb 07 - 12:05 PM

For a very high quality collage of photographs with Mahalia Jackson singing Soon I Will Be Done With "The Trouble Of The World"

Added January 08, 2007; by DHMIII
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgiTvvcP1GY

Here is the comment that the videographer posted:
"Poverty, homelessness, starvation, natural and manmade disasters, animal cruelty... there are many more crimes against humanity but the song isn't long enough to fit them all. My next video won't be so depressing, this one took a lot out of me to make."

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 27 May 04 - 04:49 PM

I've been requested to help lead this song at a cohousing community gathering, as taught by someone who came to do a communication workshop with us once. Unfortunately, I was not in attendance!

I've just realized from the words that were sent to me that the arrangement was to sing the chorus against the verse (or use both melodies simultaneously, with the same words). Looks like it'll work...

~ Becky

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 27 May 04 - 04:43 PM

Here's the Lomax abc:

X:1
T:Soon I Will Be Done
C:Trad.
N:Folk Songs of North America, A. Lomax, 1960, p. 472
Q:1/4=120
V:1
M:4/4
L:1/8
K:Am
A,3/2A,/ C3/2C/ E2 ^G3/2G/ |A3/2A/ A3/2G/ E4 |E3/2E/ E3/2E/ C3 D |E3/2E/ E3/2C/ A,4 |A,3/2A,/ C3/2C/ E2 ^G3/2G/ |A3/2A/ A3/2G/ E4 |C3 A, C2 B,2 |A,8 ||A,2 (A,A,4)A, |C2 C2 A,G, E,2 |G,2 (G,G,4)G, |B,2 B,2 A,G, E, z |
A,2 (A,A,4)A, |C2 C2 A,G, E,2 |C3 A, C2 B,2 |A,8 |]

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 27 May 04 - 01:09 PM

Does the tune differ substantially between Work, 1940 and Lomax, 1960? If so, could someone post abc or midi of the Work version? (I've got the Lomax book.)

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: ADD: Soon-A-Will be Done
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Oct 01 - 02:35 AM

Well, Alex, I found a copy of the 1915 book, Folk Song of the American Negro, at the library. This was written by John Wesley Work, 1871-1925. It's almost the same as what's in Work Jr.'s 1940 book, but with no musical notation.
-Joe Offer (e-mail sent)-

---

SOON-A-WILL BE DONE WITH THE TROUBLES OF THE WORLD

CHORUS
Soon-a-will be done-a-with the troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world,
Soon-a-will be done-a-with the troubles of the world,
Going home to live with God

1. These are my Father's children,
These are my Father's children,
These are my Father's children,
All in-a-one band.
CHORUS

2. No more weeping and a-wailing,
No more weeping and a-wailing,
No more weeping and a-wailing,
All in-a-one band.
CHORUS

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: masato sakurai
Date: 28 Sep 01 - 05:06 AM

This spiritual seem to have been recorded much later than the slavery days. According to the Cleveland Public Library's Index to Negro Spirituals [of thirty popular collections published up to 1937] (1991), the only book containing "Soon I will be done" is R.N. Dett, Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro, As Sung at Hampton Institute (1927, p. 234). This is a revised and enlarged edition as a separate book of the appendix to M.F. Armstrong, et al.'s Hampton and Its Students (1874). I have the reprint of the 1920 "new edition," where this song is not contained. The Index doesn't mention other title variants, so very likely no other versions are recorded in those "thirty collections." There is, however, an earlier version (in Jack Snyder, American Negro Spirituals, 1926) in Erskine Peters, Lyrics of the Afro-American Spiritual (Garland, 1993). I don't have Work's Folk Songs of the American Negro. Horace Clarence Boyer, in his notes to the Mahalia Jackson CD (Gospels, Spirituals, & Hymns, Columbia/Legacy C2K 47083), says "TROUBLED OF THE WORLD: The popularity of this well-known spiritual was, due to, until 1959, to the concert choral arrangement by William Levi Dawson." Dawson's (b. 1899) arrangement was probably in 1930s, that is later than Dett. It is possible that this song had other titles or "floating verses" common to other spirituals.

~Masato

Subject: ADD: Soon-A Will Be Done / Soon I Will Be Done
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Sep 01 - 03:22 AM

You drive a hard bargain, Alex. It's hard to find collections of spirituals that old, other than Slave Songs of the United States. The best I can do is the 1940 book by John W. Work, American Negro Songs. It has two songs with that title. The second is almost like the one Sorcha posted above, and the first is the one that Susan posted above. Maybe they're in Work's 1915 book, Folk Songs of the American Negro - but I don't have that one.
-Joe Offer-

---

SOON A WILL BE DONE (second version)

CHORUS
Soon-a will be done with the troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world,
Soon-a will be done with the troubles of the world,
Going home to live with God

1. No more weeping and a-wailing,
No more weeping and a-wailing,
No more weeping and a-wailing,
I'm going to live with God

2. I want t' meet my mother...(3 times)
I'm going to live with God

3. I want t' meet my Jesus...(3 times)
I'm going to live with God.

Source: John W. Work, "American Negro Folk Songs," 1940
There is an almost identical version called "Soon I Will Be Done" in "The Folk Songs of North America" (Alan Lomax, 1960)
JRO

---

Flash!

The UTK Song Index says "Soon-a will Be Done" is in a work called Folk Songs of the American Negro, published in 1907 by Frederick J. Work, with introduction by John W. Work, Jr.

Subject: ADD: SOON A WILL BE DONE
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 Sep 01 - 03:10 AM

Well, your problem is complicated, and I have not heard the Mahalia Jackson version of this.

The "song" may be in the public domain, but the arrangement of it-- that lets us see and hear it in our time-- is almost surely not. That is because anyone putting it in a book today either copyrights their arrangement of it or copyrights the book itself. (An exception is the CyberHymnal-- they make arrangements of their own in MIDI and do not copyright them. This song ain't in there though!

Determining if the origin of a particular version is authentically reproduced from slavery times (to establish age) is another problem. First, the variants in accepted usage at the time were numerous. Second, the ability of nearly-always-white collectors to capture the dialect was limited. Third, collectors' willingness to perpetuate the dialect they heard was slight in some cases, and got more slight as time passed and variants were handed down orally or in print. Fourth, when these were created (which would have started the public-domain-clock running), the singers made up verses on the spot more often than not, so no version is really "the" original, except the one the person sang when s/he was the first person to think of these words and this tune (whatever tune we are talking about).

The tunes also varied. *G*

The problem you seem to be laying out is, can anyone identify what arrangement Mahalia Jackson used, and then can anyone determine whether it was an arrangement so old THEN that it would now be un the public domain. And then you would need to show that your own application of the arrangement is faithful to the printed, now-public-domain arrangement, and free of imitation of her embellishments... because those would have been HER arrangement, and probably protected in theory if not in law, by rules about reproducing her work.

IMO your best bet is going to be to show that this is indeed a song of the right age, and that you are arranging it yourself or have acquired it from someone who created an arrangement for you that they did not then copyright.

Or, just do it, listing it as a traditional negro spiritual, and/or create your own precise words and tune that are YOURS.

What are you planning on doing with it, anyway? And how soon do you need to deal with the copyright problem?

The following is a version I think you can safely say is "old enough." It was collected by someone knowledgable and responsible, who intended to create an anthology of songs from that era. But it comes from a copyrighted book now in print, originally published in 1940 and now published by Dover.

I can do an arrangement based on the words below, if melody-only will suffice. But I do not know if it is the same melody you are trying to approximate.

There MAY be a version in some archived sheet music I could dig up-- but not if you need it REAL quick.

Please tell us more, here, about your plan to use the song, AND e-mail me if you would like a tune file.

~Susan

[e-mail]

=========================================================

SOON A WILL BE DONE
Traditional Negro Spiritual

Soon-a will be done with the trouble of this world,
Soon-a will be done with the trouble of this world,
Soon-a will be done with the trouble of this world,
Going to live with God.

Come my brother and go with me
Come my brother and go with me
Come my brother and go with me
Let King Jesus make you free.

When I get to heav'n I will sing and tell
When I get to heav'n I will sing and tell
When I get to heav'n I will sing and tell
How I did shun both death and hell.

SOURCE: American Negro Songs, 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious and Secular. John W. Work, Dover Publications, Mineola, NY 1998. Orig. pub. Crown Publishers, NY, 1940. ISBN 0-486-40271-1.

@spirituals

SH

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: GUEST,THANK YOU!!! (BUT...)
Date: 28 Sep 01 - 12:43 AM

...we need to find the lyrics and music to "Soon Ah Will Be Done" THAT HAS THE COPYRIGHT DOCUMENTATION AS TO IT INDEED BEING AN OLD SLAVE SPIRITUAL (AND HENCE A PUBLIC DOMAIN WORK) - we just can't find it; we truly do appreciate all continued help! Peace, Love, & Blessing...

Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: masato sakurai
Date: 28 Sep 01 - 12:31 AM

"The Trouble of the World" in Slave Songs is a different song, with interestingly the line "Roll Jordan Roll" in it. Mahalia's is a version of what is more commonly called "Soon I[Ah] Will Be Done" posted by Sorcha above, though her slow-tempo singing style are unique. Another gospel version is by Five Blind Boys of Mississippi. This song is also in the repertoire of concert-spiritual singers and choirs: Jessye Norman, Barbara Conrad, Robet Shaw Chorale, and Roger Wagner Chorale.

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Sep 01 - 10:47 AM

Is this it?

TROUBLES OF THE WORLD or
SOON I WILL BE DONE

Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world,
Troubles of the world.
Soon I will be done with the troubles of the world,
Going home to live with God

There are several more choices on this Google search page.

1 No more weeping and-a wailing ter
I'm going to live with God

2 I want t' meet my mother
I'm going to live with God

3 I want t' meet my Jesus
I'm going to live with God

Subject: TROUBLE OF THE WORLD
From:
Date: 27 Sep 01 - 10:37 AM

Hello,

Seems like we've been searching forever and have not been able to find the original Public Domain version of the song "Trouble(s) Of The World (Soon I Will Be Done[with])" - it's the old Negro spiritual, but NOT the one by the similar name found in Slave Songs Of The United States - rather it's the one commonly arranged from by not a few gospel singers, most notably Mahalia Jackson; PLEASE HELP US!!! (lol) Thank You.