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Been A Listening/Been Listening/Been Listening All The Day
Traditional Old-Time Gospel;
ARTIST: Fisk Jubilee Singers- Story of the Jubilee Singers published 1874
http://www.archive.org/stream/storyofjubileesi00mars#page/178/mode/1up
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1874;
RECORDING INFO: Been A Listening
Taggart, Blind Joe (Joel).
The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi- 'Been a Listening'
1938 W.C. Handy's Collection of Negro Spirituals (book) Been a Listening All de Day Long (spiritual)
Fisk Jubilee Singers
OTHER NAMES: "Been Listening" "Been Listening All Day" "Been Listening All The Day" "I've Been a-List'ning All de Night Long"
SOURCES: Fisk Jubilee Singers- Story of the Jubilee Singers published 1874.
NOTES: "Been A Listening" is from the Fisk Jubilee Singers book, "Story of the Jubilee Singers" published in 1874. The first verse of Been a Listening is found in the John The Baptist/Lonesome Valley songs. The other early version (1874) is found in Fenner under the title "I've Been a-List'ning All de Night Long."
I've Been a-List'ning All de Night Long-R. N. Dett, 1927, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Negro as sung at Hampton Institute;" editions by Fenner, 1874, Ludlow, 1891, Moton, 1909, and Dett.
Chorus: I've been a-list'ning all de night long,
Been a list'ning all de day
I've been a-list'ning all de night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
1. Some say that John de Baptist,
Was nothin' but a Jew,
But the Bible doth inform us
Dat he was a preacher too.
2. Go read the fifth* of Matthew,
An' a-read de chapter thro',
It is a guide to Christians,
An' a-tells dem what to do.
Cho.- I've been a-list'ning, etc.
3. Dere was a search in heaven,
An' a-all de earth around,
John stood in sorrow hoping
Dat a Saviour might be found.
CHORUS:
*Versions differ; third or fifth.
A similar verse to the Jubilee Singers version (below) comes from "Bear your Burden" which was collected by Howard Odum and appears in his 1925 book, The Negro and His Songs (Odum and Johnson).
BEAR YO' BURDEN- Odum- Negro and His Songs
The Lord is listenin' all the day long,
Bear yo' burden sinner.
If you only pray He will bear you on,
Bear yo' burden sinner.
"Been a Listening" was in the repertoire of The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and Blind Joe (Joel) Taggart, an itinerant street singer as "Been Listening All The Day." A cover of Taggart's song is on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdGHYDM_TpI Taggart's version combines two verses from "Dark was the Night" along with the "Been Listening" chorus:
Been Listening All The Day- Joe Taggart (The last verse is garbled and some possible alternatives are third verse above in Fenner or last verse below)
[fiddle]
Dark was the night and cold the ground
On which my Lord was laid
His sweat like drops of blood ran down
In agony he prayed
CHORUS 2X: I've been listening all the night long,
I've been listening all the day
I've been listening all the night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
Father, remove this bitter cup,
If such Thy sacred will;
If not, content to drink it up
Pleasures I fulfill
CHORUS 2X: I've been listening all the night long,
I've been listening all the day
I've been listening all the night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
Some say John the Baptist
Was nothing but a Jew,
But the Holy bible tells us
John was a preacher too.
CHORUS 2X: I've been listening all the night long,
I've been listening all the day
I've been listening all the night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
*Some say they came from heaven
A-camping upon the ground.
When she sounds the trumpet
Holy love came down.
CHORUS 2X: I've been listening all the night long,
I've been listening all the day
I've been listening all the night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
[*Manna came down from heaven
Was laying on the ground
And when the trumpet sounded,
All the love came down.] possible alternative verse for above
Jubilee Singers verses are floating verses that are found in other spirituals. The first verse "Some say John the Baptist" is sung in the Lonseome Valley songs. "Been A Listening" is also found as a floating version H.T. Burleigh's "Hard Trials."
HARD TRIALS- H.T. Burleigh's arrangement (1909) is in American Memory, Library of Congress. Just put in "hard trials" in the search box.
Been a-lis'nin' all de night long,
Been a-lis'nin' all de day,
Been a-lis'nin' all de night long,
For to hear some sinner pray.
CHORUS: Now ain't dem hard trials, great tribulation?
Ain't dem hard trails?
I'm boun' to leab dis lan'
O, de foxes dey hab holes in de groun',
An' de birds hab nests in de air,
An' ev'ry thing has a hidin' place,
But us po' sinners ain't got nowhere.
CHORUS: Now ain't dem hard trials, great tribulation?
Ain't dem hard trails?
I'm boun' to leab dis lan'
The other (see Fisk Jubilee Singer's version below) verse is found in Richard Randolph Michaux's 1897 book "Sketches of life in North Carolina":
"It is said there were two preachers who occupied the same territory, a Baptist and a Methodist. The Baptist had gotten up a song, which he sung all around in his travels, which rather gave him the advantage, in popularity, over the other. The song ran thus:
"Go read the third of Matthew;
Go read the Chapter through ;
And there it plainly tells you,
What Christians ought to do."
Then his Methodist rival procured him a song also, to compete with the other, and thus he sang:
"Go read the third of Matthew;
Go read the Chapter through;
And you'll find that John the Baptist
Was nothing but a Jew."
The "third of Matthew" verse appears as early as 1856 in William Gannaway Brownlow's book "The Great Iron Wheel Examined":
"... shaking hands and singing:
"Go read the third of Matthew —
Go read that chapter through;
It is a guide to Christians,
And tells them what to do ! ..."
BEEN A LISTENING- Fisk Jubilee Singers 1874
CHORUS: Been a listening all the night long,
Been a listening all the night long,
Been a listening all the night long,
To hear some sinner pray.
Some say John The Baptist was nothing but a Jew,
But the Holy bible tells us he was a preacher too. CHORUS:
Go read the Third of Matthew and read the chapter through,
It is the guide for Christians and tells them what to do. CHORUS:
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