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Brother Moses Smote the Water/Old Brother Moses Smote the Water/Brother Moses
Traditional Old-Time, Spiritual;
ARTIST: The Revelators on the G&G label "Brother Moses- 1946
Jubilee Singers: http://books.google.com/books?id=yWX4vEJ2s5EC&pg=PA175&dq=moses+sinful+army&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&cd=13
Dailey & Vincent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YGFy9yHWx8
Gospel Tones Quartet http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01rgQFBrD0I&feature=related
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Bluegrass Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; Jubilee Singers 1880 "When Moses Smote The Water"
RECORDING INFO: Brother Moses Smote the Water
Bluerass Heaven- Brother Moses Smote The Water (A Cappella)
Mosely, Andy. Angola Prison Spirituals, Arhoolie 9036, CD (2003), trk# 10 [1958ca] (Brother Mosely Crossed the Water)
Brother Moses Smote the Water - The Zion Harmonizers
1896 Brother Moses Smote the Water: THE KLEZMATICS with JOSHUA NELSON and KATHRYN FARMER.
Revelators Brother Moses G&G 1946
OTHER NAMES: “Brother Mosely Crossed the Water,”
SOURCES: Randolph, Vol. II, #290, "Old Moses Smote De Waters"; Brown, Vol. III, #612, "Moses Smote the Waters."
NOTES: “Brother Moses Smote The Water” is a traditional spiritual popular in bluegrass circles and is a poular gospel quartet number.
Jubilee Singers published a version cicra 1880 titled "When Moses Smote The Water." See Sheet Music. First below is a 1946 version by the Revelators, an African-American quartet:
Brother Moses- Revelators G&G 1946
CHORUS: Brother Moses smote the water and the children all crossed over,
Brother Moses smote the water and the sea give away.
Brother Moses smote the water and the children all passed over,
Brother Moses smote the water and the sea give away.
Sinner ain't you glad that you missed that sinful army,
Sinner ain't you glad that the sea give away.
Sinner ain't you glad that you missed that sinful army,
Sinner ain't you glad that the sea give away.
Brother Moses Smote The Water- Mark Bishop
Oooooooo
Brother Moses smote the water and the children all passed over.
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away.
Cause Brother Moses (smote the water and the children all passed over)
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away.
Chorus
Now brother ain't you glad you've passed that sinful army.
Sister ain't you glad that the sea's give away.
Cause Brother Moses (smote the water and the children all passed over)
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away.
Well now God called Moses on the mountain top.
(Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
And He stamped His laws into Moses Heart
(Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away)
Repeat Chorus
Well if you get to heaven before I do
(Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
Well then look for me cause I'm coming too.
(Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
Repeat Chorus
Cause Brother Moses (smote the water and the children all passed over)
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away.
MOSES SMOTE THE WATER (OLD MOSES SMOTE DE WATERS)
Sung by: W.P. Detherow; Recorded in Batesville, AR, 6/25/52
Click here to listen to the original recording:
http://www.lyon.edu/wolfcollection/songs/detherowmoses1236.mp3
Chorus: Oh, Moses smote the water,
And the children passed over.
Oh, Moses smote the water
And the sea give away.
Oh, fathers, ain't you glad
That the sea give away?
Oh, fathers, ain't you glad
That the sea give away?
(Chorus)
Oh, mothers, ain't you glad
That the sea give away?
Oh, mothers, ain't you glad
That the sea give away?
(Chorus)
(Mr. Detherow: "Now you can add to that the 'Brother, ain't you glad,' the 'Sister, ain't you glad,' and you go right on with it.")
Also found in Randolph, Vol. II, #290, "Old Moses Smote De Waters"; Brown, Vol. III, #612, "Moses Smote the Waters."
Moses Smote The Water- Brown Collection
http://books.google.com/books?id=sKlOYEg_5c8C&pg=PA380&lpg=PA379&dq=Moses+Smote+the+Waters+Brown&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html
Moses smote the water and the children all passed over.
Moses smote the water and the seas give away.
Oh children, ain't you glad you've left that sinful army?
Oh children, ain't you glad that the seas give away?
..............................
Brother Moses smote the water and the children all passed over.
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away.
Well sister, ain't you glad you've passed that sinful army ?
Sister, ain't you glad that the seas give away?
Well God told Moses on the mountain top
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
And he stamped his laws into Moses' heart
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
Oh sister, aint' you glad you've passed that sinful army?
Sister, aint' you glad that the seas give away?
Well if you get there before I do
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
You may look for me for I'm coming to
Brother Moses smote the water and the seas give away
..................................
When Moses smote the water,
All the children they passed over.
O brother, ain't you glad the sea went dry,
O brother ain't you glad you left that sinful army?
O Brother ain't you glad that the seas give away?
1880 Scribners monthly, Volume 20 By Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt, Dora Hill Read Goodale
The song rose and fell in strange, weird cadences, witli subtle inflections almost impossible to catch, and the harmony swelled melting and rich with the rare melody of the African voice; but triumph by and by seemed more inspiring than struggles by the way, and another " pillar," in the seat behind Uncle Remus, lifted his voice and began the beating of his boot:
Oh, look at de Moses I Look at de Moses!
Oh-h Lord I Jus' look at de Moses,
Smotin' on de water!
Chillens ! we's all a-gwine home!
Chorus: Oh, de ole ferry-boat stan' a-waitin' at de landin'—
Oh-h Lard!
Oh, de ole ferry-boat stan' a-waitin' at de landin'—
Chillens ! we's all a-gwine home !
Moses smote de water, and de sea gabe way!
Oh-h Lord! De Is'lites ate de fishes, an' de sea gabe way!
Chillens, we's all a-gwine home !
Cho.
Oh, de ole ferry-boat stan' a-waitin' at de landin'- Oh-h Lord!
Oh, de ole ferry boat stan' a waitin' at de landin'!
Chillens! we's all a-gwine home!
1892 The American missionary, Volume 46 By American Missionary Association, Congregational Home Missionary Society
Second, we note with wonder the entire absence of all vindictiveness in these melodies. This certainly is a marvelous fact. Downtrodden, abused, sold from kindred, outraged in every way, it would seem more than human if there did not run through these songs, coming from their bleeding hearts, an undertone of vindictive satisfaction that their masters must suffer under a just God due recompense for these bitter cruelties, but you scarcely find a trace of it. There seems a hint of it in "Turn Back Pharaoh's Army, Hallelu !"
When Moses smote the water,
The children all passed over,
And turned back Pharaoh's army, Hallelu!
And turned back Pharaoh's army, Hallelu!
When Pharaoh crossed the water,
The waters came together,
And drowned ole Pharaoh's army, Hallelu!
And drowned ole Pharaoh's army, Hallelu !"
But this is rather the triumphant song of a black Miriam, taking the timbrel as she "sings unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." This Negro song heralded the victory of God over his enemies, not over theirs.
1904 Mind, Volume 13, Family Circle
'Tain't much of a story, honey,' she would always begin, 'but my father told it to me and old Uncle Pharaoh told it to him, and he said it were come down from the time afore the children o' Israel crossed the Red Sea and Pharaoh he told it secret-like into the ear o' Moses when he were wantin' to get o' the right side o' him about them buzzin' insects as were eatin' up everything in the land o' Egypt o' that time; and that's how it come down to us. Old Uncle Pharaoh were right nice ole man and were famous at leadin' meetins'. He were always singin':
When Moses smote the water,
The children all passed over;
When Moses smote the water
The sea gave way.
Oh, children, ain't you glad?
"Thus Mammy would sing it, clapping her hands and rocking her body to and fro and I would clap my hands, too. Then I would say: 'But Mammy, how about the dream-tree?' And then she would straighten herself up and begin.
Tales of a Garrison Town By Arthur Wentworth Hamilton Eaton, Craven Langstroth Betts
Breverin, I's not goin' to scratch one gob uv dis yere flour offen me till I gets back to de church. I's goin' to show de Reverind Persimmons Jones dat I ain't afeard to suffah foh de Gospel." So, besmeared as he was, he took up his position again at the head of his party and proceeded back to the church, leading his followers in the hymn—
O children, ain't ye glad
You've left that sinful army?
O children, ain't ye glad
The sea gave away?
When Moses smote the water,
The children all passed over;
When Moses smote the water,
The sea gave away."
—while behind came a chorus of voices of the opposite party, led by the Reverend Persimmons Jones, singing these significant lines:
"See the hosts of sin advancing,
Satan leading on!"
Unorthodox London: or, Phases of religious life in the Metropolis By Charles Maurice Davies- "Jubilee Singers"
The last strain to which I stayed to listen—for the service promised to be lengthy, and prolixity in such matters always appears to me a mistake—was one the words of which had struck me as singularly irreverent when I saw them on the programme—
' Gwine to write to Massa Jesus
To send some valiant soldiers,
To turn back Pharaoh's army,
Hallelujah! Hallelujah!'
This last interjectional word ' Hallelujah'—like the traditional ' Mesopotamia'—seemed really to do these singers good as they enunciated it. The song itself bore reference to the time of the Liberation, when, as Mr Spurgeon pertinently observed, there was a ' good deal of that kind of writing done down South.' They were waiting for the Northern army to come and free them ; and these were the words that expressed their terrible tension—
'You say you are a soldier, fighting for your Saviour,
To turn back Pharaoh's army. Hallelujah!
To turn back, &c.
When the children were in bondage they cried to the Lord,
He turned back Pharaoh's army. Hallelujah! &c.
When Moses smote the water, the children all passed over, And turned back Pharaoh's army. Hallelujah ! &c. When Pharaoh crossed the water, the waters came together, And drowned ole Pharaoh's army. Hallelujah !' &c.
So ended my experience with the Jubilee Singers.
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