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Been in the Storm So Long/I've Been in the Storm So Long/I Been in the Storm (So Long)
See Also: I've Been in the Storm So Long
Traditional Old-Time Spiritual;
ARTIST: from Johns Island, South Carolina "Been in the Storm So Long: A Collection of Spirituals, Folk Tales and Children's Games" Guy Carawan 1967 recording.
(Modern version) Mighty Clouds of Joy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPKuqIAA8ZU&feature=PlayList&p=145AF00E
6AF0027F&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=85
CATEGORY: Traditional And Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; First Recorded Paul Robeson
RECORDING INFO: Been in the Storm [So Long]
Pinckney, Mary. Carawan, Guy & Candie / Sing for Freedom, Sing Out, sof (1990), p236 [1965ca] (I Been in the Storm so Long)
Pinckney, Mary. Carawan, Guy & Candie (eds.) / Ain't You Got A Right to the Tree of Life, Univ. of Georgia, Sof (1989/1966), p 33 [1963-65]
Reagon, Bernice (Johnson). Folk Songs: the South, Folkways FA 2457, LP (197?), trk# B.05
I've Been in the Storm so Long
Four Internes. I've Been in the Storm So Long VJ 1958
Bazemore, Raymond. Songs of the Civil War, National Geographic Soc. 0789, LP (197?), trk# A.04
Fisk Jubilee Singers. Marsh, J. B. T. / Story of the Jubilee Singers, Houghton Mifflin, Bk (1880), p174/# 55
OTHER NAMES: "I've Been in the Storm So Long;" "I Been in the Storm (So Long)"
SOURCES: Folk Index;
NOTES: "Been in the Storm So Long" is an important spiritual that for many symbolizes the African-American journey to freedom. A book by Leon F. Litwack titled "Been in the Storm So Long" (after the song) examines the aftermath of slavery and won a pulwitzer prize.
The song was first published under it's usual title, "I've Been in the Storm So Long" in the 1874 book, Story of the Jubilee Singers. Here is the essential verse and chorus (See: "I've Been In the Storm So Long" for the full lyrics):
I'VE BEEN IN THE STORM SO LONG- From The Story of the Jubilee Singers: With Their Songs by J. B. T. Marsh (new York: S. W. Green's Son, 1883), page 174—with musical notation for one voice.
CHORUS: I've been in the storm so long.
I've been in the storm so long, children.
I've been in the storm so long.
Oh, give me little time to pray.
1. Oh, let me tell my mother how I came along.
Oh, give me little time to pray.
With a hung down head and an aching heart.
Oh, give me little time to pray.
Usually the chorus begins "I been in the storm so long (repeated 2X) then followed by: "Oh Lord, give me more time to pray." Other lines include, "This is a needy time..." "I am a motherless child..." "Lord, I need you now..."
Here's a more modern arrangement with electric guitar of "I've Been in the Storm So Long" by the Four Internes on VJ in 1958:
CHORUS: I've been in the storm so long
I've been in the storm so long
I've been in the storm so long
Oh, give a little time to pray
CHORUS:
VERSE: My God didn't call me in the morning
He didn't in the heat of the day.
He waited till the cool of the evening,
Then he drove those sins away
CHORUS:
BRIDGE: Pray, ay, ay ay, ay ay, ay
Give me more time to pray.
CHORUS:
VERSE: I went down in the valley to pray
My soul got happy and I stayed all day
My hand got stuck to the gospel plow,
I wouldn't give nothing for my journey now.
CHORUS:
BRIDGE: Pray, ay, ay ay, ay ay, ay
Give me more time to pray.
Mary Pinckney was featured singing the song on "Been in the Storm So Long: A Collection of Spirituals, Folk Tales and Children's Games" by Guy Carawan
http://books.google.com/books?id=XOW5v0FAIVkC&pg=PA33&lpg=PP1&dq=Ain%27t+You+Got+A+Right+to+the+Tree+of+Life&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
It's essential a one part song but the melody for the verses is different.
BEEN IN THE STORM SO LONG- Mary Pinckney w. Janie Hunter, "Been in the Storm So Long" on BeenStormCD1 1967
CHORUS: I've been in the storm so long
You know I've been in the storm so long
Oh Lord, give me more time to pray
I've been in the storm so long.
I am a motherless child
Singing I am a motherless child
Singing oh Lord, give me more time to pray
I've been in the storm so long.
This is a needy time
This is a needy time
Singing oh Lord, give me more time to pray
I've been in the storm so long.
Lord I need you now...etc.
Stop this wicked race... etc.
Stop all my wicked ways...etc.
Somebody need you now...
My neighbors need you now...etc.
Nt children need you now...etc.
Just look what shape I'm in...etc.
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