“O CANA-AN, BRIGHT CANA-AN”
Was one of the stimulating melodies of the old-time awakenings, which were simply airs, and were sung unisonously. “O Cana-an” (pronounced in three syllables) was the chorus, the hymn-lines being either improvised or picked up miscellaneously from memory, the interline, “I am bound for the land of Cana-an,” occurring between every two. John Wesley's “How happy is the pilgrim's lot” was one of the snatched stanzas swept into the current of the song. An example of the tune-leader's improvisations to keep the hymn going was—
If you get there before I do,—
I am bound for the land of Cana-an!
Look out for me, I'm coming too—
I am bound for the land of Cana-an!
And then hymn and tune took possession of the assembly and rolled on in a circle with—
O Cana-an, bright Cana-an!
I am bound for the land of Cana-an;
O Cana-an it is my hap-py home,
I am bound for the land of Cana-an
—till the voices came back to another starting-line and began again. There was always a movement to the front when that tune was sung, and—with all due abatement for superficial results in the sensation of the moment—it is undeniable that many souls were truly born into the kingdom of God under the sound of that rude woodland song.
Both its words and music are credited to Rev. John Maffit, who probably wrote the piece about 1829.