Origins: On My Journey / Don't You Weep over Me

Subject: When I'm on My Journey
From:
Date: 15 Jun 98 - 06:14 PM

Last week I heard a couple verses of this song on "Chicago Hope" (in a childhood flashback in the hallucinations of Aaron Shutt, who as a child performed this song and played guitar) and have been singing it ever since.

What are the rest of the words? What is the origin of this song?

All I got from the program was:

"When I'm on my journey don't you weep after me, When I'm on my journey don't you weep after me, When I'm on my journey don't you weep after me, I don't want you to weep after me.

Every little river's got to run to the sea,...."

And that was it. I'm hungry for more!

Becky

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey
From: rich r
Date: 15 Jun 98 - 11:46 PM

The Chad Mitchell Trio recorded a version of this song on their "MightyDay on Campus" album. The set of words they use is:

When I'm on my journey, don't you grieve after me

Searchin' for a city, don't you....

I hear the trumpet sounding,..

We'll sing and shout for glory,...

Come brother won't you join us,...

They take some credit for "new words" on the disc label, so there must be some old words also. Perhaps changing "weep" to "grieve" is their idea of new words.

rich r

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey
From: Joe Offer
Date: 16 Jun 98 - 07:28 PM

You'll find it here in our database. I believe the Weavers did a recording of the song, and I think it's on their Vanguard 4-disc set.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey
From: rich r
Date: 16 Jun 98 - 10:59 PM

I thought a version ought to be in here. I searched: journey; grieve; journey weep; grieve journey all no luck. Would be that the version has neither journey nor grieve. I did learn though that the line "grieves my heart full sore" is in a lot of songs.

rich r

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After M
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 05:17 PM

I swear this was a Weavers song, but I can't find it on any recording. What title did they use?
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After M
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 05:46 PM

It definitely is a Weavers song, and I've got it somewhere in the cabinet. I'll see if I can find it.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 05:50 PM

The chorus or first verse appears in several spirituals; the cluster including "When I'm Gone*," "Don't You Grieve After Me," "When I'm on My Journey," etc. The version "Don't You Weep Over Me," in the DT, has the first verse and added verses from other spirituals. I would imagine several of the old groups, including the Weavers, sang versions of the song.

* I will post in a new thread. This seems to be the simplest title.

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Le Scaramouche
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 05:53 PM

Funny, by the title I thought it would be similar to Billy Don't You Weep for Me.

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After M
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 05:55 PM

Ah, I found it - it's on one of their Carnegie Hall recordings, and in their Vanguard Wasn't That a Time? box set. I'll post one or two versions shortly. They call it "On My Journey." Great song. One of those Weavers rousers that's easy to sing along with.
The Version in the DT is very close to what you'll find in the pink Collected Reprints from Sing Out! book. The "Reprints" book says the song is a spiritual from the Bahamas, recorded on Pete Seeger at the Village Gate, Folkways FA 2450.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 06:01 PM

ah, yes... I have that buried in some cabinet, also. Haven't heard anyone do it live for years...

Subject: ADD: On My Journey (Weavers Version)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 06:04 PM

On My Journey
(new verses by Darling/Gilbert/Hays/Hellerman)

When I'm on my journey, don't you weep after me,
When I'm on my journey, don't you weep after me,
When I'm on my journey, don't you weep after me,
I don't want you to weep after me.

Every lonely river must go home to the sea,
Every lonely river must go home to the sea,
Every lonely river must go home to the sea,
I don't want you to weep after me.

When the stars are fallin' and the thunder starts to roll,
When the stars are fallin' and the thunder starts to roll,
When the stars are fallin' and the thunder starts to roll,
I don't want you to weep after me.

High up on the mountain, leave my sorrow down below,
High up on the mountain, leave my sorrow down below,
High up on the mountain, leave my sorrow down below,
I don't want you to weep after me.

Source: The Weavers' Song Book (1960, Harper)

---

Here's the entry from the Traditional Ballad Index:

Don't You Weep After Me

DESCRIPTION: "When I'm dead and buried don't you weep after me (x3).... I don't want you to weep after me." Unrelated verses about death: "On the good ship of Zion"; "King Peter is my Captain"; "Bright angels are the sailors"; "When I do cross over"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: death nonballad Bible funeral
FOUND IN: US(SE,So)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Randolph 262, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune -- a fragment so short that it can only tentatively be classified with this piece; see also "Jacob's Ladder")
BrownIII 527, "Don't You Grieve After Me" (2 texts plus a fragment)
BrownSchinhanV 527, "Don't You Grieve After Me" (1 tune plus a text excerpt)
Scarborough-NegroFS, p. 9, (no title) (1 fragment)
Silber-FSWB, p. 350, "Don't You Weep After Me" (1 text)
ST R262 (Full)
Roud #2286
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "Don't You Weep after Me" (on PeteSeeger26)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jacob's Ladder" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Don't You Grieve After Me (I)" (floating lyrics)
cf. "Oh, They Put John on the Island" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
On My Journey
Don't You Grieve After Me
When I'm Dead and Buried
NOTES: Both the Randolph fragment and Brown's "A" text and "B" fragment are linked to "Jacob's Ladder." It is not clear whether this link is original or coincidental. - RBW
Last updated in version 4.1
File: R262

---

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2016 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 08:16 PM

In the obituaries of the Blue Ridge Baptist Assn., 1923, one of the lines is: "Mother, don't grieve over me for the house is full of bright angels." This is close to a line in the DT version.
Bill Staines put some of the same ideas in his "Spirit Song."

I posted "When I'm Gone" in thread 82314: When I'm Gone

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 09:21 PM

"On My Journey," p. 172. "Weavers Song Book," Arr. Robert de Cormier; 177pp., arrangements for piano and guitar. Harper & Row, 1960. Labeled Traditional.
Several other contributors to this book, including Seeger.
Copies available for about $10 from used book dealers.

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: jaze
Date: 22 Jun 05 - 10:04 PM

Joan Baez did it on a very early lp. It was called When I'm Dead And Buried Don't You Weep After Me

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After M
From: Franz S.
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 02:04 PM

Pete Seeger recorded it on his Rainbow Quest album ( Folkways 1960), one of my first recoding purchases. I've lost the notes, but he does a mix of traditional lines and lines of his own, Viz:

When I'm dead and buried, don't you weep after me...
We're crossing Jordan's River...
Tell my dear old mother...
I'll be with you when you're singing...
When I do cross over...
I'll be with you when you're singing...

For some reason, in the last year or so whenever I pick up my banjo this is usually the first tune my fingers start playing. I fing it a great comfort.

Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T YOU GRIEVE AFTER ME
From: Goose Gander
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 07:29 PM

Seems close to....

DON'T YOU GRIEVE AFTER ME

I went to the river an' I couldn't git across
I paid five dollars for a old stable horse
I plunged him in an' his rump caved in
An' I told him not to grieve after me

When I'm gone, don't you, don't you grieve (3x)
An' I told him not to grieve after me.

I went down town a-feelin' funny
Picked up a pocketbook chuck full of money
Police come along, says "Drop that, sonny!"
An' I told him not to grieve after me.

I went to the hotel to stay all night
He says, "Fifty cents," an' I says "All right."
I jumped in bed an' covered up my head,
An' told him not to grieve after me.

Got up next mornin' an' washed my feet
Went down to the table an' you orter seen me eat;
Jumped up quick an' hollered, "Dead beat!"
An' told him not grieve after me.

Randolph/Cohen, Ozark Folksongs, p.220-222.

Randolph and Cohen both say it is related to African-American spirituals.

And here's what the Ballad Index has to say...

Don't You Grieve After Me (I)
DESCRIPTION: The singer describes various adventures: Being found by the police with a wallet not his own, sleeping in a hotel and being declared a deadbeat. Chorus: When I'm gone, Don't you, don't you grieve (x3), An' I told him not to grieve after me."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1915
KEYWORDS: rambling crime travel floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 257, "Don't You Grieve After Me" (1 text, 1 tune)
Randolph/Cohen, pp. 220-222, "Don't You Grieve After Me" (1 text, 1 tune -- Randolph's 257)
BrownIII 556, "Bye and Bye" (1 fragment, possibly not this but too short to classify as anything else)
Roud #6698
RECORDINGS:
Loman D. Cansler, "I Told 'em Not to Grieve After Me" (on Cansler1)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Don't You Weep After Me" (floating lyrics)
ALTERNATE TITLES:
I Told Him Not to Grieve After Me
Notes: Alan Lomax claims -- on the basis of a few words in the chorus -- that this is the same as "When I'm Gone." I don't buy it. - RBW
File: R257

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 23 Jun 05 - 11:34 PM

Outside of the line ".....grieve after me," there is little in the secular song to relate to the African-American spirituals, but it is likely that the phrase came from them.
"When I'm Gone" (see posted spiritual, 82314) is part of the spiritual cluster, but I would agree that otherwise it has no relation to the secular tune.

Also see a different "When I'm Gone," Ochs, in the DT.

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey (Don't You Weep After Me)
From: Goose Gander
Date: 24 Jun 05 - 12:34 AM

Point taken, but then maybe "Don't You Grieve" deserves a separate thread? I agree with Cohen that the secular song probably developed as a parody of spirituals, so to that extent they are related. But separate songs, yes. There's also Woody Guthrie's "Sally, Don't You Grieve".

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey
From: GUEST,Mimi from germany
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 04:03 AM

When im dead and buried dont you weep after me ... Joan Baez, Pete Seeger

Subject: RE: When I'm on My Journey
From: GUEST,Mimi again
Date: 09 Jul 07 - 04:05 AM

Digital Tradition Mirror
Don't You Weep Over Me

---

DON'T YOU WEEP OVER ME

When I'm dead and buried,
Don't you weep after me
When I'm dead and buried,
Don't you weep after me
When I'm dead and buried,
Don't you weep after me
Oh I don't want you to weep over me.

On the good ship of Zion,
Don't you weep after me
On the good ship of Zion,
Don't you weep after me
On the good ship of Zion,
Don't you weep after me

King Peter is my captain etc.
Jordan is my river etc.
Oh, look-a Mary etc.
She's a-lookin' over Jordan etc.
Bright angels are the sailors etc.
Sailing on the oceasn etc.
When I do cross over etc.

Recorded by Pete Seeger
@BWI @spiritual @religion @death
filename[ DONTWEEP
TUNE FILE: DONTWEEP
CLICK TO PLAY
RG

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: On My Journey / Don't You Weep over Me
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 02:42 PM

Heard for the first time this week and i must say, I LOVE IT X

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: On My Journey / Don't You Weep over M
From: GUEST,michael thomas
Date: 20 Nov 08 - 04:40 PM

not too long ago i saw an episode of the classic tv series eastside/westside and that very song was in it,it was in an episode titled the beatnick and the politician it featured a young alan arkin in the episode singing the very song.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: On My Journey / Don't You Weep over Me
From: Joe Offer
Date: 27 Apr 17 - 09:49 PM

Frank posted this in another thread, but it also belongs here.

Thread #138605   Message #3172642
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
18-Jun-11 - 08:51 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Add: Songs of the Bahamas
Subject: Lyr Add: DON'T YOU WEEP AFTER ME (trad. Bahamas)

Lyr. Add: DON'T YOU WEEP AFTER ME
Gospel, c. 1890.

When um dead an' buried,
Don't you weep after me;
When um dead an' buried,
Don't you weep after me;
When um dead an' buried,
Don't you weep after me,
For I don't want you to weep after me.
2
Sailin' on the ocean,
Don't you weep after me;
Sailin' on the ocean,
Don't you weep after me;
Sailin' on the ocean,
Don't you weep after me,
For I don't want you to weep after me.
3
In the old ship of Zion,
Don't you weep after me; etc.
4
Kin' Peter is the capt'in,
Don't you weep after me; etc.
5
Bright angels is the sailors,
Don't you weep after me; etc.
6
You poor distressed sinners,
Don't you weep after me; etc.
7
She's lookin' over Jordan,
Don't you weep after me; etc.
8
Oh, look-a' Mary,
Don't you weep after me; etc.

With musical score and chords.
Jim Morse, Coll., 1958, Folk Songs of the Caribbean, Bantam Books, New York.