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The Sinner's Cure/Balm in Gilead/There Is A Balm in Gilead/
Traditional Old-Time Gospel; An early version of the chorus: "The Sinner's Cure" by Washington Glass in The Revivalist, 1854.
ARTIST: "The Sinner's Cure" by Washington Glass in The Revivalist, 1854. John Newton 1779; Good Physician (Arranged with tune William Walker- 1835)
CATEGORY: Traditional And Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; Text 1779 Newton; William Walker tune with Newton text 1835
Washington Glass in The Revivalist, 1854
RECORDING INFO: Balm in Gilead
Rt - Good Physician
Winds of the People, Sing Out, Sof (1982), p 42
Sing Out Reprints, Sing Out, Sof (1959), 5, p 9
Blood, Peter; and Annie Patterson (eds.) / Rise Up Singing, Sing Out, Sof (1992/1989), p208
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p128
Jackson, George P.(ed.) / Spiritual Folk Songs of Early America, Dover, Sof (1964/1937), p147/#127 [1870ca]
McSpadden, Lynn. McSpadden, Lynn / Four and Twenty Songs for the Mountain Dulcimer, Dulcimer Shoppe, sof (1970), p21
Robeson, Paul. Essential Paul Robeson, Vanguard VSD 57/58, LP (1974/1958), trk# A.02
OTHER NAMES: "There Is A Balm in Gilead"
RELATED TO: "The Sinner's Cure" "Good Physician"
SOURCES: Wikipedia; Folk Index;
NOTES: "Balm in Gilead" or "There Is A Balm in Gilead" is a traditional African-American spiritual.
The “balm in Gilead” is a reference from the Old Testament, but the lyrics of this spiritual refer to the New Testament concept of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Balm of Gilead is interpreted as a spiritual medicine that is able to heal Israel (and sinners in general). In the Old Testament, the balm of Gilead is taken most directly from Jeremiah chapter 8 v. 22: "Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wounds of my [God's] people?" (Another allusion can also be found in Jeremiah chapter 46, v. 2 and 11: “This is the message (of the Lord) against the army of Pharaoh Neco … Go up to Gilead and get balm, O Virgin Daughter of Egypt, but you multiply remedies in vain; here is no healing for you” - see also Jeremiah chapter 22, v. 6.)
The first appearance of the spiritual in something close to its current form is uncertain. A version of the refrain can be found in Washington Glass's 1854 hymn "The Sinner's Cure,"(see link below) where it is in 7s.6s.7s.6s rather than the Common Meter of today's refrain. Glass attributed this hymn to himself, but like several of the hymns so attributed, it is substantially the work of another. He attached to one of John Newton's Olney hymns of 1779 this refrain:
There is balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole;
There's power enough in heaven,
To cure a sin-sick soul.
There is no mention of the balm of Gilead in Newton's poem, but it begins:
How lost was my condition
Till JESUS made me whole!
There is but one Physician
Can cure a sin–sick soul.
The similarities in the refrain make it likely that it was written for Newton's verse.
The 1925 7-shape Primitive Baptist songbook Harp of Ages has an unattributed song "Balm in Gilead" with a similar chorus, but verses drawn from a Charles Wesley hymn, "Father I Stretch My Hands to Thee."
The second verse quoted below ("If you can't...") is also found in some versions of another well-known spiritual "(Walk That) Lonesome Valley." "Wandering verses," as they are often called, are quite common in the camp meeting and revival context, and were already found in by 1800 in the African-American community, as shown by Richard Allen's 1801 "A Collection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs Selected from Various Authors."
Here is a minstrel version that perhaps contributed to folk and spiritual versions. This is similar to the spiritual in this collection: "Ain't I Glad to Get Out the Wilderness."
BALM OF GILEAD- Arr. H. T. Bryant 1861; A version of "Down in Alabam." The lyrics "balm of Gilead" probably refer to hard liquor. Copyright 1861, by Oliver Ditson & Co. Printed with musical score, pp. 109-111, "Minstrel Songs Old and New," Copyright 1882, Oliver Ditson & Co., Boston.
Oh, we ain't, going home any more,
Oh, we ain't going home any more,
Oh, we ain't going home any more, .....
Down't the peach blow farm.
Balm of Gilead,
Balm of Gilead,
Balm of Gilead,
Down't peach blow farm.
1. Massa loved his good old jamaica, his good old jamaica, his good old jamaica,
Massa loved his good old jamaica,
Down in Al-a-ba-ma.
2. Ain't I glad to get out the wilderness, get out the wilderness, get out the wilderness,
Ain't I glad to get out the wilderness,
Oh, my lamb.
3. My old horse he came from Jerusalem, he came from Jerusalem, he came from Jerusalem,
He kick so high they put him in the mus'eum,
Down in Al-a-ba-ma.
Chorus: Hip! Hip! hurrah!
Ah, ah, Hip! hip! hurrah!
Oh, my lamb.
Oh, we aint, going home anymore,
Oh, we ain't going home any more,
Oh, we ain't going home any more ......
Down't the peach blow farm.
Balm of Gilead,
Balm of Gilead,
Balm of Gilead,
Down't the peach blow farm.
GOOD PHYSICIAN- Southern Harmony 1835
7, 6 Wm. Walker (arranged 1835)- Text by John Newton- five stanzas found in Olney Hymns No. 62 (1779)
1. How lost was my condition,
Till Jesus made me whole;
There is but one Physician
Can cure a sin-sick soul.
Next door to death he found me,
And snatched me from the grave,
To tell to all around me,
His wondrous power to save.
2. The worst of all diseases
Is light compared with sin;
On every part it seizes,
But rages most within:
'Tis palsy, plague, and fever,
And madness, all combined;
And none but a believer
The least relief can find.
3. From men great skill professing,
I thought a cure to gain;
But this proved more distressing,
And added to my pain;
Some said that nothing ailed me,
Some gave me up for lost;
Thus every refuge failed me,
And all my hopes were crossed.
4. At length this great Physician
(How matchless is his grace.)
Accepted my petition,
And undertook my case;
First gave me sight to view him,
For sin my eyes had sealed;
Then bid me look unto him--
I looked, and I was healed.
5. A dying, risen Jesus,
Seen by the eye of faith,
At once from anguish frees us,
And saves the soul from death;
Come, then, to this Physician,
His help he'll freely give;
He makes no hard condition,
'Tis only Look and live.
THE SINNER'S CURE- Washington Glass in The Revivalist, 1854; Has the same verses as found in the Southern Harmony (originally John Newton 1779) with "Balm in Gilead" chorus
1. How lost was my condition,
Till Jesus made me whole;
There is but one Physician
Can cure a sin-sick soul.
CHORUS: There is balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole;
There's power enough in heaven,
To cure a sin-sick soul.
2. Next door to death he found me,
And snatched me from the grave,
To tell to all around me,
His wondrous power to save. CHORUS:
3. The worst of all diseases
Is light compared with sin;
On every part it seizes,
But rages most within. CHORUS:
4. 'Tis palsy, plague, and fever,
And madness, all combined;
And none but a believer
The least relief can find. CHORUS:
5. From men great skill professing,
I thought a cure to gain;
But this proved more distressing,
And added to my pain. CHORUS:
6. Some said that nothing ailed me,
Some gave me up for lost;
Thus every refuge failed me,
And all my hopes were crossed. CHORUS:
7. At length this great Physician
(How matchless is his grace.)
Accepted my petition,
And undertook my case.CHORUS:
8. First gave me sight to view him,
For sin my eyes had sealed;
Then bid me look unto him--
I looked, and I was healed. CHORUS:
9. A dying, risen Jesus,
Seen by the eye of faith,
At once from anguish frees us,
And saves the soul from death.CHORUS:
10. Come, then, to this Physician,
His help he'll freely give;
He makes no hard condition,
'Tis only Look and live. CHORUS:
Compare to the quite different Standard Traditional Spiritual Lyrics:
Chorus: There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.
Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.
(Chorus)
If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
(Chorus)
Alternate Spiritual Lyrics:
Chorus: There is a balm in Gilead,
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead,
To heal the sin-sick soul.
Some times I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my hope again.
(Chorus)
If you cannot sing like angels,
If you can’t preach like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
(Chorus)
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