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By An' By/We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye/Bye and Bye/Way By and By
Traditional Old-Time Gospel; This version based on "We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye" Tindley 1906
ARTIST: 1) Collected in Tennessee- 1914 Journal of American Folk-Lore
2) James Weldon Johnson in The Book of American Negro Spirituals:
3) By An' By I Shall See Jesus- E.A. Perkins and published in his article "Negro Spirituals From The Far South" in the Journal of American Folklore, Volume 35 by American Folklore Society.
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; 1909 Odum; 1914 Journal of American Folk-Lore
RECORDING INFO: By and By/Bye and Bye
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p 63 (Bye and Bye)
Givens, Fanny. Owens, William A. (ed.) / Texas Folk Songs. 2nd edition, SMU Press, Bk (1976/1950), p173 [1941]
By and By - Cory, Alicia May Alicia May. Skinnydipping in the Flowers, Golden Anchor GA 7777, LP (1976), trk# B.03
By and By - Gibson, Bob/Camp, H.
Janie Hunter sang this song, clapping her hands, in the video Alan Lomax's American Patchwork: Dreams and Songs of the Noble Old (VEST13080; formerly PBS Home Video).
Gibson, Bob. Yes I See, Elektra EKL 197, LP (1960), trk# B.05
Way Bye and Bye- "Way Bye and Bye" was recorded in 1954 by the Silvertone Singers of Cincinnati, reissued on V.A., The Best of Excello Gospel: The Golden Era of the 1950s (Ace CDCHD 687).
RELATED TO: "We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye" Tindley 1906
OTHER NAMES: "Way By and By"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Ballad Index;
NOTES ODUM 1909: Howard W. Odum, "Religious Folk-Songs of the Southern. Negroes " (American Journal of Psychology and Education, vol. iii, pp. 307, 364) 1909.
The American journal of religious psychology and education, Volume 3
One who has heard the song "Bye and bye we'll go and see them", rendered in an effective way must recognize its power and beauty. It is pre-eminently a song for the emotions, and suggests scenes of the past and of the future ; it brings back memories that have been forgotten and forms emotions and conceptions that have not before existed. To the negro it is all this—in so far as he is able to grasp the better emotions—but it is mostly a medium through which he can sing his rhythmic feeling off. And with the additional interpretations and additions both in words and in expression, it is scarcely surpassed by any of his spirituals. The simplest form is exactly the same as that of the regular song: "Bye and bye, we'11 go and see them", From this the negroes vary to " Bye and bye I'm a goin' to see him, them, her ". To this chorus they nearly always add in alternate lines " Well it's ", " Well", "An' " and such expressions, thus :
Bye an' bye I'm goin' to see them,
Bye an' bye I 'm goin' to see them,
Well, it 's bye an' bye I 'm goin' to see them,
On de oder shore.
These expressions inserted or omitted at pleasure, serve to give an additional rhythm to the song that seems otherwise to be lacking. The verses of the song, like many others, are practically unlimited. Each is repeated three or six times as the singers prefer, with the refrain " On the other shore " added at the end of each stanza. The negroes sing not only of a brother, sister, father, mother, auntie, preacher and friends, but they also sing of Paul and Silas and Daniel and Moses; they are at liberty to use any name that comes to mind. And they manifest as much feeling and emotion about meeting Moses or Noah or Abraham as they do about a dear old mother. Not only will they meet these loved ones but there will be scenes " over yonder."
I'm got a brother over yonder—on the other shore. I 'm goin' to meet ray brother over yonder. Tryin' time will soon be over, on the other shore. Well, it's mournin' time will soon be over, on the other shore. Cryin' time will soon be over.
Prayin' time will soon be over, etc.
Shoutin* time will soon be over, etc.
If necessary they then turn to the sinner and sing: " Sinnin' time, gambling time, etc., will soon be over." The old plantation song, instead of saying, "Brother Daniel over yonder," had it, "Wonder where is good ole Daniel? Bye an' bye we '11 go an' meet him, 'Way over in de promise Ian'. Wonder where's dem Hebrew children? Wonder where's doubtin* Thomas? Wonder where is sinkin' Peter?" This form is apparently not sung to-day.
NOTES: "By And By" is a traditional African-American spiritual and revival hymn. Several spiritual versions by African-Americans were collected in the late 1800s and early 1900s. One is from R. N. Dett, 1927, "Religious Folk Songs of the Negro," transcribed from the singing of the Hampton students, with music, p. 124-125 is the same version with music appears in Folk songs of the American Negro; Work 1907. The earliest appears in Southern Workman, Volumes 23-24, Hampton Institute published an earlier version in 1894.
The first version (on this page) of "By An' By" was collected and appears in the Journal of American Folklore, Volume 27 By American Folklore Society in 1914. This version is based on the chorus of the hymn by African-American Charles Albert Tindley in 1906. Tindley's chorus, in turn, is probably based on a traditional African-American spiritual versions.
Another version based on Tindley's chorus was collected by John Lomax in 1939:
Bye and Bye or Land o' Purple Day - (Text incomplete) Lomax 1939
Bye an' bye, Lord, when de mornin' come
All dem saints gwine to gather home
We will tell the story how we overcome
We will understand it better, bye an' bye.
In dat land o' purple day
We will roll de stone away
We will understand it better bye an' bye.
Bye an' bye, Lord, when de mornin' come, etc.
SOME NEGRO FOLK-SONGS FROM TENNESSEE- COLLECTED AND EDITED BY ANNA KRANZ ODUM. 1914
The following negro folk-songs were heard in Sumner County, Tennessee, and were all sung by the children of one family, sometimes two or three of the children singing "parts," but oftener by one girl of fifteen, who sang as she worked. These children could not read, and they sang only the songs they had heard from their elders at home, in the fields, or at church; and they represent a link in the perpetuation of the negro folk-songs. They live in a rural community of negroes whose inhabitants are somewhat stationary, but not isolated. A few of the songs which they sang have been published before; but the versions are different, and they are given here for the purpose of comparison with the same songs from other localities. The majority of the songs are religious, or "spirituals;" and it was with difficulty that the few secular songs were collected, for the singers were reticent about singing any but "church songs," because, they said, they "belonged to de church." Other singers from the same community were later heard singing some of these songs.
5. BY AN' BY.
By an' by when de mornin' come,
All the saints of God gatherin" home,
An' we'll tell in story
How we'll overcome,
An' we'll understand it better by an' by.
We'll Understand It Better, Bye and Bye- Charles Albert Tindley 1906
We are tossed and driven
on the restless sea of time;
Somber skies and howling tempests
oft succeed a bright sunshine;
In that land of perfect day,
when the mists have rolled away,
We will understand it better by and by.
CHORUS: By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story how we've overcome,
For we'll understand it better by and by.
We are often destitute
of the things that life demands,
Want of food and want of shelter,
thirsty hills and barren lands;
We are trusting in the Lord,
and according to God's Word,
We will understand it better by and by.
By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story how we've overcome,
For we'll understand it better by and by.
Trials dark on every hand,
and we cannot understand
All the ways that God could lead us
to that blessed promised land;
But He guides us with His eye,
and we'll follow till we die,
For we'll understand it better by and by.
By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story how we've overcome,
For we'll understand it better by and by.
By and by, when the morning comes,
When the saints of God are gathered home,
We will tell the story how we've overcome,
For we'll understand it better by and by.
Another "By an' By" title also titled "By and By I'm Gonna Lay Down My Heavy Load,” in The Journal of American History is arranged with music by James Weldon Johnson in The Book of American Negro Spirituals:
http://books.google.com/books?id=8dv2fQRCTh8C&pg=PA99&lpg=PP1&dq=negro+spiritual&lr=&output=html
BY AN' BY- The Book of American Negro Spirituals By James Weldon Johnson; This version, which I have a copy, is based in turn on Work's "By and By" in the 1907 book, Folk Songs of the American Negro. Johnson added African-American dialect as so many collectors did.
CHORUS: O, by an' by, by an' by,
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
O, by an' by, by an' by,
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
VERSE: I know my robe's gwinter fit me well;
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
I tried it on at the gates of hell!
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
CHORUS: O, by an' by, by an' by,
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
O, by an' by, by an' by,
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
VERSE: O, hell is deep an' a dark despair,
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
O stop po' sinner and don't go dere,
I'm gwinter to lay down my heavy load.
By An' By I Shall See Jesus- E.A. Perkins and published in his article "Negro Spirituals From The Far South" in the Journal of American Folklore, Volume 35 by American Folklore Society; 1922.
By an' by I shall see Jesus,
By an' by I shall see Jesus,
By an' by I shall see Jesus,
In that land over there
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