I’m so glad, so glad; I’m so glad, so glad,
Glad I got religion, so glad,
Glad I got religion, so glad.
I’m so glad, so glad; I’m so glad, so glad,
I’m glad all over, so glad,
I’m glad all over, so glad.
I’m so glad, so glad; I’m so glad, so glad,
Glad I bin’ changed, so glad.
Glad I bin’ changed, so glad.
And so he continues singing; he is glad that he is goin’ to heaven, he is glad that he is not a sinner, glad he has been set free, and many other such states. Then when he has finished he begins all over again, if he wishes and sings: “Sister, ain’t you glad? Brother, ain’t you glad?” and goes through with as many of these as he wishes, preacher, mourner, auntie, and the others.
The “sinner-man” is the theme for many verses of the negro favorites. Directed at him are warnings and admonitions. He is told what he must do and when; how he must do and why. He is told of the experiences of the Christians and he is told of the doom of the damned. The negro rejoices over his own safety and boasts of the sinner’s destruction; at the same time he constantly refers to the “po’ sinner” in a sympathetic way. But the sinner must be warned:
God knows it’s time, it’s time, it’s time,
That a sinner was makin’ up his min’
It’s time, it’s time he was makin’ up his min’ to die.
A sinner was walkin’ off his time, his time,
An’ when my God call him he did not have the time,
God know it was time, it was time, it was time for him to die.
Again the words of the righteous to the sinner are driven home by repetition, and, by a dark and dismal picture,
O hell is deep an’ hell is wide,
O hell is deep an’ hell is wide,
O hell is deep an’ hell is wide,
O hell ain’t got no bottom or side.
Well before I lay in hell all day, hell all day,
Well before I lay in hell all day, hell all day,
Well before I lay in hell all day, hell all day,
I goin’ to sing an’ pray myself away, self away.
O sinner don’t you let this harves’ pass, harves’ pass,
O sinner don’t you let this harves’ pass, harves’ pass,
O sinner don’t you let this harves’ pass, harves’ pass,
Do you die an’ got to hell at las’, hell at las’.
The sinner may be a gambler or a dancer or a rogue or a drunkard. But each name has the same signification in the religious phraseology of the negro song. There are various ways of repenting and of serving the Lord just as there are as many ways of offending and sinning against him. “Workin’ on the Building” appeals to the average negro.
If I wus a sinner man, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d lay down all my sinful ways an’ work on the building, too.
I’m workin’ on the building fer my Lord,
Fer my Lord, fer my Lord,
I’m workin’ on the building fer my Lord,
I’m workin’ on the building, too.
If I wus a gamblin’ man, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d lay down all my gamblin’, an’ work on the building, too.
If I was a ho-munger, I tell you what I’d do,
I’d lay down all my munglin’ and work on the building, too.
And so he sings for the dancer and the drunkard and the “cussin’ man.” So in another song the negro sings of the sinners and mourners.
If I wus a mourner jus’ like you,
‘u-m-u’,
I’d go to church an’ try to come thru’,
‘um-u’.
When I was a mourner, um-u’, jus’ lak you,
I prayed an’ prayed till I come thru, um-u’.
Upon de mountain King Jesus spoke, um-u’,
Out of his mouth come fier an smoke, um-u’.
Now mourner won’t you please come on, um-u’,
An’ join us in that heavenly lan’, um-u’.