553. As I Went Down in the Valley to Pray
["As I Went Down in the Valley to Pray" usually known as, "Down in the Valley to Pray" or "The Good Old Way" was popularized in the 2000 movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou" as "Down to the River To Pray." It appears in the old spiritual books as "The Good Old Way" and "Come Let Us All Go Down" (Fisk Jubilee Singers).]
553. As I Went Down in the Valley to Pray
Songs corresponding to parts of the following are to be found in White ANFS 71, 132: Jackson WNS 166-7: L. L. McDowell,
Songs of the Old Camp Ground (Ann Arbor, 1937), p. 44; and Perkins JAFL xxv 233-4. Cf. The Good Old Way,' in Allen SS,
p. 84.
A. 'Down in the Valley to Pray.' With music. From Mrs. Maude Minish Sutton; undated, but the following note indicates 1917-18. From the note it is also to be observed that Airs. Sutton's version is not a Negro song.
"We went to a foot-washing. It isn't a bit funny ; it's like the ceremony the King of Spain performs on Christmas Day. The service was held at the Elk Valley church, and we were sure we'd laugh, but we were sobered, and even reverent, when we came away. Nobody could fail to be impressed by the earnestness, the dignity, and the deep sincerity of those old men. The minister read, in the tone he always uses, the story of the Last Supper, and then girding his waist with a towel he
went around and washed the feet of five old men. As he did so, the congregation sang the song that follows. There was much emotion. The air was full of it. I felt it and responded to it as I would if I had been at a play.
"The old lady who sat next to me might have posed for the peasant woman in Millet's The Angelus, and yet I should have chosen her for a typical North Carolina woman. She looked understandingly at the service star I wore. 'Your feller?' she inquired. 'My brother, with the 30th,' I answered. 'My boy's in the 30th,' she said. I talked with her after the service.
"The old preacher did a pretty thorough job. He washed one pair of feet to a verse. I believe if more elders or deacons, or whatever the honorees were, had been present more verses would have been forthcoming.
"The old lady can't write, and neither can her boy. I must tell Ralph to look him up and tell me something about him to tell her. She 'ain't shore' who his captain is — poor old woman !"
A 1. O sisters, le's go down, le's go down, le's go down,
O sisters, le's go down, down in the valley to pray.
As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studyin' about that good old way,
And who should wear the starry crown;
Good Lord, show me the way.
2. O brothers, etc.
3. O mothers, etc.
4. O fathers, etc.
5. O children, etc.
B. No title. From Jennie Belvin, Durham; c. 1920-21. Phonograph recording July 1922.
As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studying about that good old way.
Who shall wear the starry crown?
Good Lord, show me the way.
Chorus: Oh, sinners let's go down,
Let's go down, let's go down.
Oh. sinners let's go down,
Down in the valley to pray.
Oh, mourners, let's go down.
Let's go down, let's go down,
Oh, mourners, let's go down,
Down in the valley to pray.
C. No title. From Miss Aura Hohon, Durham; c. 1924. "I know the air—may he able to get words."
As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studyin' 'bout de good ol' way.
As I went down in de valley to pray.
Oh, Lawd, show me de way.
Chorus: Oh, sinner, yo' better go down.
Yo' better go down, you better go down,
Oh, sinner, you better go down.
Down in de valley to pray.
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553
As I Went Down In the Valley to Pray
'Down In the Valley to Pray.' Anonymous singer, Lenoir, Caldwell county,
between 1921 and 1925. Contributed by Mrs. Maude Minnish Sutton, who
almost never gives credit to any of her singers. For additional texts cf.
SOCG 44; SS 54; and NSSUS 78. Compare our measures 9-10 with F-
493, measure 7.
F-489
sis - ters, le's go down, le's go down, le's go
down, O — sis - ters, le's go down, down-
in the val-ley to pray.
As I went down in the val - ley to pray,
Stud - y - in' a - bout that good old way. And who should
wear the star - rv orown : Oood T^ord, — show me the way.
For melodic relationship cf. **WNS 166-7, No. 30; the melodic relation-
ship is not evident at first sight, but our third measure is identical with the
fourth there. Then, beginning with our measure 5 and comparing this with
the melody beginning with the second half of measure 5 there, up to the double
bar, the relationship will be clear. The same is true of the last four meas-
ures ; *ANFS 406, only measure 7.
Scale: Hexachordal, plagal. Tonal Center: g. Structure: aabb^ (4,4,4,4).
Taking, however, the last eight measures as one unit, we have mm^n (4,4,8)
:= barform.
A(I)
'Down In the Valley to Pray.' Anonymous female singer, probably at Blowing Rock, Watauga county, in 1936. Although the first measure with up-beat is identical in melodic progression with that of F-489, there is no other
similarity with the possible exception of the melodic turn at "crown, Good
Lord." Also the latter part of measure 2, which shows the same intervalhc
progressions as measure 7 of F-489. For additional text cf. NSSUS 78.
F-490
O fa-thers, let's go down, down in the val-ley to to pray.
Stud - y - ing a - bout that good old way, And who shall
wpar a star - ry crown; Good Lord, show me the way.
For melodic relationship cf. ***SOCG 441 ♦*WNS 166, No. 30; SFSEA
209, No. 207; *SS 84, No. 104, measures 1-2.
Scale: Mode III, plagal. Tonal Center: e-flat. Structure: nmmi (4,4.4) =
Inverted barform. Circular tune (V).
The note in III 611 says: "Phonograph recording, July 1922." There were
two records marked 10, one supposedly containing this version B. One of
these records was destroyed in transit to the Library of Congress, and the
other, marked X, turned out to be O. There is, therefore, no tune available.