The song bears the name of “Rev. J. K. Tinkham” as its purveyor to the Revivalist. A version of the spiritual song, as sung at about the same time (in the 1870’s) by the negroes, is in Marsh, No. 85, under the title ‘Down by the River’. Another by the same title is in Dett, p. 55; and still another in Dett, p. 74.
No. 183
[I’M GOING HOME] or I DON’T CARE TO STAY HERE LONG, OSH 282
Pentatonic, mode 3 (I II III — V VI —)
Farewell, vain world, I’m going home,
My Savior smiles and bids me come,
And I don’t care to stay here long.
Sweet angels beckon me away
To sing God’s praise in endless day,
And I don’t care to stay here long.