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Better Live Humble/Live A-Humble/Humble Yourself
See also: Live A-Humble/Brother Jonah/Jonah And The Whale
See also: Bell Da Ring/Humble Yourself
Traditional Old-Time Gospel;
ARTIST: Collected in Georgia- 1921 Journal of American Folk-Lore
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; 1921 Journal of American Folk-Lore
RECORDING INFO: Live Humble
Rt - Brother Jonah
At - Humble Yourself the Bell Done Rung
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p184 (Live A-Humble)
Georgia Sea Island Singers. Georgia Sea Island Songs, New World NW 278, LP (1977), trk# A.04 [1960ca]
Georgia Sea Island Singers. Southern Journey. Vol. 13: Earliest Times, Rounder 1713, CD (1998), trk# 1 [1959/10]
Ian and Sylvia. Ian & Sylvia, Vanguard VSD 2113, LP (1962), trk# B.06 (Live A-Humble)
Wayside Trio. Winners. California State Fair Exposition, Ikon IER 106, LP (1964), trk# B.03a (Live A-Humble)
Live A-Humble (John Work 1915)
Can't You Live Humble (Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p151b)
Humble Yourself the Bell Done Rung (Fisk Jubilee Singers- Two versions)
RECORDING INFO: Brother Jonah
Rt - Live Humble; Ninevah Land; Bell Done Rung
Famous Blue Jay Singers. Birmingham Quartet Anthology. Jefferson County Alabama (1926-53), Clanka Lanka CL 144,001/002, LP (1980), trk# B.03 [1932/01]
Stikeleather, James G.. Folk Songs of America. The Robert Winslow Gordon Collection...., Library of Congress AFS L68, LP (1978), trk# 4a [1925/11/11]
RELATED TO: "Bell Da Ring;" "Wake Up Jonah" "Humble Yourself the Bell Done Rung"
OTHER NAMES: "Lonesome Valley"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Ballad Index;
NOTES: "Better Live Humble" is a traditional African-American spiritual that was published in the 1921 JOAFL that is related to a group of songs that use the word "humble":
"Live Humble," or "Live A-Humble" (John Work 1915)
"Humble Yourself, The Bell Done Rung"
"Bell Da Ring" or "Bell Done Rung"
"Brother Jonah" (Gordon)
"Jonah And The Whale" (Brown Collection)
"Can’t you live humble?"
Here's the Ballad Index info:
BALLAD INDEX Jonah and the Whale (Living Humble)
DESCRIPTION: The story of Jonah in song, recognized by the chorus, "Living humble, humble, humble, Living humble all your days" or "Humble, humble, humble my soul." Unlike most Jonah songs, this appears to be "straight"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1922 (Brown)
KEYWORDS: religious Bible whale
FOUND IN: US(SE)
REFERENCES (1 citation):
BrownIII 346, "Jonah and the Whale" (6 text and/or fragments, but only the "A" and "B" texts, both short, are this piece; "C" is "Hide Away" and "D"-"F" are "Who Did Swallow Jonah?")
Roud #15215
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Hide Away (Jonah and the Whale)" (subject) and references there
Besides the above-mentioned songs there are other songs like "New Burying Ground" found in Barton's 1899 "Old plantation Hymns" that have a "Want you to live humble, humble; humble yourselves" section. Here's a typical "Live Humble" song from 1915:
"Live A Humble" from Folk song of the American Negro By John Wesley Work
Chorus: Live a humble, humble,
Humble yourself,
The bells done rung.
Live a humble, humble,
Humble yourself,
The bells done rung.
1. You see God, you see God,
You see God 'n the morning,
He'll come a-riding down the line of time,
Fire'll be falling,
He'll be calling,
Come to judg-a-ment-a-come.
Chorus: Live a humble, humble, etc.
2. Oh, the bells done rung,
And the songs done sung,
And-a don't let it catch you with your work undone.
Chorus: Live a humble, humble, etc.
Here's the Chorus of one version of "Jonah and the Whale":
Live humble, humble yo'self!
I got glory and honor, praise Jesus!
I got glory and honor, praise the Lamb!
BETTER LIVE HUMBLE- 1921 JOAFL Songs from Georgia — The first of the following song is one of my earliest childhood recollections on a Georgia plantation. There are many
more verses. This is all I remember.
Stop Steady, chillun, study yourselves!
Jest let me tell you 'bout God himself
When he was a-walkin' here below,
'Twixt de earth an' den de skies,
Eatin' of de honey an' drinkin' of de wine,
Somethin' like a Jerico, O Noah!
Chorus,
Better live humble.
Better live mil'.
Better live lak some heab'ly chil*. [Repeat indefinitely]
Water 'gins a-risin ' to de third story high.
Hear dem chillun when dey 'gins to cry,
O Noah! open unto us in de name of de Lord!
If you don't let us in, we's gwine to die,
O Noah!
When I gets to heaben, I 'spects to stop.
Choose my seat, an' den sit down,
Argue wid de Father, chatter wid de Son,
Talk about de world dat I jest come from.
Talk about de green tree well as de dry.
Green tree die jest as well as de dry.
Talk about de short grave well as de long.
Short grave die jest as well as de long,
ONoah!
*Simon Gyrene gwine dig my grave,
Dig my grave wid a silver spade.
Angel Gabriel gwine hold me down.
Hold me down wid a golden chain,
O Noah!
*Simon LeGree
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