Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern Negroes

by Howard Washington Odum

Instead of “mourners jus’ got back” the negroes sing “a sister, a sinner, a hypocrite, etc., jus’ got back”. Once the negroes sang: “Who’s that yonder all dressed in black? Must be children of the Israelites”, which is the common version for the answer to “Who’s all them come dressed in white?” The songs almost invariably have a different chorus for the different versions and combinations. In one of the old songs, the above verses were sung to the chorus

Oh, what you say, John?
Oh, what you say, John?
Oh, what you say, John?
De ressurection drawin’ nigh.

with this last line as a refrain after each line of the song, just as above in “I heard the angels singing”. In another of the old songs the chorus was:

Go, Mary, an’ ring de bell,
Come, John, and call de roll,
I thank God.

The negro visualizes with a good deal of satisfaction. He imagines that he can see the things about which he sings. So they have imagined seeing the people dressed in white, black, red and blue; so he imagined that he could see “two tall angels comin’ after me”, or “big tall”, “long tall”, “band of angels” or whatever form the song has taken. So the negroes have told wonderful stories about the whale and the gourd vine; about the “cutter worm” as well as Jonah. The old song, modified and adapted with characteristic phraseology and expression still appeals to the negro. The “Big fish” and “Sherk” represents the terror of the sea to the negro. One old darkey explained this fact by saying that it was because the negroes were terrified as they were brought over from Africa, and that they saw the whales and “fishes” in “de sea” and that “de race hain’t nebber got ober it yet”. Another ascribes the fear and imagination much to the biblical story of the whale and Jonah. Perhaps neither determines to any marked degree this feeling. However, the song “Big fish swallow Jonah”, which has made such a hit in its paraphrases and in the glee clubs, and variously, is still current in this form:

Lord, the big fish, big fish, big fish, swallow ole Jonah whole,
The big fish, the big fish, the big fish swallow ole Jonah;
The big fish, big fish, big fish, swallow ole Jonah whole.
Ole Jonah cried, “Lord save my soul”,
Ole Jonah, ole Jonah, ole Jonah cried “save my-save-m-y-y”,
Ole Jonah cried “Lord save my soul”.

In the same manner are sung other lines:

Lord, the gourd vine, gourd vine, gourd vine growed over Jonah.
Well, the cutter worm, cutter worm, cutter worm cut that vine down.

In addition to Jonah—and the last two stanzas are not common in the old songs—“Peter on the sea”, “Gabriel, blow your trump”, “Daniel in the lion’s den”, are sung. Those who have heard the latest form of this song rendered would scarcely imagine that it was a very appropriate church song.

It has been stated that the negro makes a song his own by the simple act of singing it. If he is free and unrestrained at the same time that he is thoroughly wrought up, he adds enough to his song or changes its version sufficiently to make it almost unique. In the common tunes sung by both white and black people, the negro’s rhythm and graceful passing from one line to another, together with the insertions of shouts and “amens” renders them distinct. A number of the favorite “old time” religious songs are thus rendered by the negroes. They are the old “stand-by” hymns. The nature of some of them was indicated in the first chapter. The following songs will serve to illustrate the common practice of singing among the “spiritualists”.