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Babylon's Falling/Babylon Is Falling
Spiritual and different Shape-Note Folk Hymn;
ARTIST: from Thomas P. Fenner, 1874, in Cabin and Plantation Songs
pp. 248-249, with music, Armstrong and Ludlow, 1874, Hampton and its Students. Reproduced online: Armstrong Fenner
Reprinted in Dett, R. N. 1927, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as Sung at Hampton Institute," Hampton Institute Press, 1972 reprint, AMS Press, pp. 2-3 with music.
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; First recorded by Leader Cleveland (Cleve Chiffin) and The Men's Bible Class 1929.
Shape note: 1813 Shaker hymnal "Millennial Praises, Containing a Collection of Gospel Hymns, Adapted to the Day of Christ's Second Appearing" (Hancock, Mass.)
RECORDING INFO (Folk Index): Babylon Is Fallen [Me III-C 1]
Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p 39
Rodeheaver, Homer (ed.) / Rodeheaver's Negro Spirituals, Rodeheaver, Fol (1923), #40 (Babylon's Falling)
Greenway, John / American Folksongs of Protest, Perpetua, Sof (1960/1953), p103b
Jackson, George P.(ed.) / Spiritual Folk Songs of Early America, Dover, Sof (1964/1937), p199/#192 [1913]
Askey, Rebecca. Dulcimer Players News, DPN, Ser, 25/3, p44(1999)
Hickory Wind. At the Wednesday Night Waltz, Adelphi AD 2002, LP (1974), trk# 6
Mitchell, Howie. Mountain Dulcimer - How to Make It and Play It, Folk Legacy FSI 029, LP (1965), trk# B.05c
Oak, Ash & Thorn. Sowing Wild Oats, Tosspot TR-047, LP (1981), trk# B.03
Roberts, John; and Tony Barrand. Spencer the Rover Is Alive and Well and Living in Ithaca, Swallowtail ST 1, LP (1971), trk# B.08
Smith, Dan. Fox Hollow 1972 - Vol VII, Fox Hollow RI-3856, LP (1972), trk# B.05
Marley's Ghost
Hickory Wind 1973 "At the Wednesday Night Waltz"
Swan Arcade
Babylon Is Falling (Spiritual) : Solomon, Jack & Olivia (eds.) / Sweet Bunch of Daisies, Colonial Press, Bk (1991), p173 [1939]
Babylon Is Falling- Work, Henry Clay
Gould, J. F.. Randolph, Vance / Ozark Folksongs. Volume II, Songs of the South and ..., Univ. of Missouri, Bk (1980/1946), p289/#229 [1926/09/03]
Babylon Is Falling
DESCRIPTION: "Way up in the cornfield where you hear the thunder, That is our old forty pounder gun, When the shells are missin' then we load with pumpkins, All the same we make the cowards run." The slave rejoices to triumph over the master
AUTHOR: Henry Clay Work?
EARLIEST DATE: 1926 (Randolph)
KEYWORDS: Civilwar battle slave
FOUND IN: US(So)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Randolph 229, "Babylon Is Falling" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AFP, p. 103, "Babylon is Fallen" (1 text)
DT, BBLNFALL
Roud #7706
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Kingdom Coming (The Year of Jubilo)" (theme)
Notes: Not to be confused with the hymn, "Babylon Is Fallen." - RBW
OTHER NAMES: "Babylon Is Falling"
SOURCES: Sacred Harp 1991 edition;
G. W. Williams, "Babylon is Fallen: The Story of a North American Hymn" - The Hymn, Volume 44, April 1993, pp 31-35.
NOTES: "Babylon's Falling" is an African-American spiritual. The confusion is that "Babylon is Falling" is also a 1863 song by Henry Clay Work and "Babylon Is Fallen" is a shape-note folk hymn. Guthrie Meade lists "Babylon is Falling" as the name for the spiritual and the online folk index (see recordings above) lists the spiritual as "Babylon is Fallen" the same name as the shape-note folk hymn.
The Golden Gate Quartet (on The Spirituals & Gospels) and Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver (on Beyond the Shadows) sing the spiritual version. Both the 1813 shape-note version by McNemar and the 1874 spiritual version by Fenner have the same chorus.
The original six-stanza text of shape-note folk hymn "Babylon is Fallen" was by Richard McNemar and first appeared in the Shaker hymnal "Millennial Praises, Containing a Collection of Gospel Hymns, Adapted to the Day of Christ's Second Appearing" (Hancock, Mass.), 1813.
BABYLON IS FALLEN (Richard McNemar- 1813)
1.Hail the day so long expected!
Hail the year of full release!
Zion's walls are now erected,
And her watchmen publish peace:
From the distant coasts of Shinar,
The shrill trumpet loudly roars
Refrain: Babylon is fallen! is fallen! is fallen!
Babylon is fallen to rise no more.
2. Hark, and hear her people crying,
"See the city disappear!
Trade and traffic all are dying!
Lo, we sink and perish here!"
Sailors who have bought her traffic,
Crying from her distant shore,
Refrain
3. All her merchants cry with wonder,
"What is this that's come to pass?"
Murm'ring like the distant thunder
Crying out, Alas! Alas!
Swell the sound, ye kings and nobles!
Priests and people, rich and poor!
Refrain
4. Lo, the captives are returning!
Up to Zion see them fly!
While the smoke of Babel's burning
Rolls across the darken'd sky!
Days of mourning now are ended,
Years of bondage now are o'er,
Refrain
5. Zion's children raise your voices,
And the joyful news proclaim!
How the heavenly host rejoices!
Shout and echo back the same!
See the ancients of the city,
Terrify'd at the uproar!
Refrain
6. Tune your harps, ye heavenly choir!
Shout, ye foll'wers of the Lamb!
See the city all on fire!
Clap your hands and blow the flame!
Now's the day of compensation
On the scarlet colour'd whore;
Refrain
Here is a summary of the article by G. W. Williams, "Babylon is Fallen: The Story of a North American Hymn" _The Hymn_ Volume 44, April 1993, pp 31-35.
There is no author listed in Millenial Praises. The attribution of the hymn to Richard McNemar appears to be from an article by Daniel W. Patterson in Shaker Quarterly, v.18.
The first stanza of the text appears in a manuscript of tunes from the Enfield, Conn. community & may date to as early as 1810. The original 6 verses are clearly refering to images in Revelation 17-19. "It is clear ... that McNemar knew the Revelation passage thoroughly and was closely following its pattern and its precepts." The text was reprinted in an 1833 Shaker hymnal, but not in later ones.
It was reprinted in non-Shaker books, usually with variations on words, from the 1820's on. The first verse always remains substantially the same, except for the reference to 'the distant coasts of Shinar.' Shinar did not mean much more in the 19th cent. than it does to us today. It means "Babylon in its fullest extent" and is used in the O.T. to refer to Babylon. Always associated with impiety in some way, the substitution of "courts of Zion" or "our Shiloh" substantially changes the meaning of the 2nd part of the verse. It transforms "cries of despair from the citizens of the ravished city to shouts of triumph from God's favored people."
The 3rd verse from the Sacred Harp version was first published in William Houser's "The Olive Leaf" in 1878. This was also the book where Chute's tune was first published so the version most well know now traces most directly to it. Either Houser or Chute may have written the 3rd verse, there's not really any way to know. This new verse changes the tone of the hymn to emphasizing rejoicing in triumph rather than the desolation in destruction of the original.
Before 1878 at least 2 different tunes were paired with the words in different publications. All apparently suffered from the problem that the chorus does not follow the same 8,7 meter of the verses. The 12,10 of the chorus were somehow forced into the 8,7 pattern of the tunes used.
William Houser first published a 6 verse version with one of these problem tunes in The Hesperian Harp, 1852. When Houser published it in The Olive Leaf, 1878 with the now familiar tune he headed the entry with the attribution. "Prof. Wm.E. Chute, of Ontario. Prof. composed this tune out of an old theme, and is too modest to claim any originality, but I do it for him.--W.H." The 'old theme' may be Sons of Sorrow
The author makes no mention of any versions outside of the Western Hemisphere. It seems to have been quite popular if it managed to be parodied.
Biblical Quotes
"And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground." Isaiah 21:9b.
"Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed." Jeremiah 51:8.
"And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." Revelation 14:8.
"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies." Revelation 18:2, 3.
"Babylon Is Falling" Henry Clay Work 1863
"Babylon Is Falling" is a 1863 song by Henry Clay Work written in African-American dialect. It's been collected by Randolph and the chorus appears:
Look out down there, we’s a gonna shoot.
Look out down there, can’t you understand.
Babylon is falling, Babylon is falling,
And we’s a gonna occupy the land.
This is a different song entirely from the shape-note folk hymn that appears in the Sacred Harp and othe collections. Work's song is perhaps used in African-ameican spirituals that use the "Babylon is falling, Babylon is falling," line as repeated response.
BABYLON’S FALLIN'- from Thomas P. Fenner, 1874, in Cabin and Plantation Songs
Pure city,
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more,
Pure city,
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more.
CHORUS: Oh, Babylon's fallin, fallin', fallin',
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more,
Oh, Babylon's fallin', fallin', fallin',
Babylon's fallin' to rise no more.
[Solo] Oh, Jesus tell you once before
[All] Babylon's fallin' to rise no more;
[Solo] To go in peace an' sin no more;
[All] Babylon's fallin' to rise no more.
Pure city,
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more,
Pure city,
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more.
CHORUS: Oh, Babylon's fallin, fallin', fallin',
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more,
Oh, Babylon's fallin', fallin', fallin',
Babylon's fallin' to rise no more.
[Solo] If you get dere before I do,
[All] Babylon's fallin' to rise no more;
[Solo] Tell all my friends I'm comin' too;
[All] Babylon's fallin' to rise no more.
Pure city,
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more,
Pure city,
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more.
CHORUS: Oh, Babylon's fallin, fallin', fallin',
Babylon's fallin', to rise no more,
Oh, Babylon's fallin', fallin', fallin',
Babylon's fallin' to rise no more.
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