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Bye and Bye/ We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye/By An' By/
Public Domain Old-Time Gospel; Alternative title for "We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye" Words and Music by Tindley 1906
ARTIST: "Bye and Bye" Frank and James McCravey Victor recording 1927. "We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye" Words and Music by Tindley 1906
Listen: Unknown Male Quartet Bye and Bye Modern c.1950
http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/20181
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; 1906 Tindley; 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: "Bye and Bye" Songs
OTHER NAMES: "By an' By" "Understand It Better Bye and Bye" "Bye and Bye When the Morning Comes"
SOURCES: Folk Index; Ballad Index;
NOTES: "Bye And Bye" is the nickname for "We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye" a gospel song by Charles A. Tindley written in 1906. It was recorded as "Bye and Bye" by Frank and James McCravey for Victor in 1927. A more modern country style version titled "Bye and Bye When the Morning Comes" with steel guitar was recorded by the Florida Spiritualaires in the mid 1970s.
The "Bye and Bye" tag, used at the end of a chorus or line, is frequent in the African-American tradition. The old hymn, "Father Along," which has now been traced back to the 1800s and is generally from the white tradition uses the familiar tag, "We'll understand it all bye and bye."
Did Tindley base his hymn on this tag? We don't know.
A version of Tindley's hymn was collected in Tennessee and appears in the 1914 Journal of American Folk-Lore:
SOME NEGRO FOLK-SONGS FROM TENNESSEE- COLLECTED AND EDITED BY ANNA KRANZ ODUM.
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.
Tindley's hymn entered tradition. Rev. Drayton's version of Tindley's "By and By" on COGIC circa 1973 is based on the lyrics of the chorus. The Victory Five's 1961 "By and By" on the Knowles label is loosely based on Tindley's last verse only "we'll understand it better by and by."
Bye And Bye-"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.
Bye and Bye When the Morning Comes- Florida Spiritualaires HSE c.1975
CHORUS: Oh bye and bye Lord when the morning comes
All the saints of God are gatherin' home
Tell the story, I'll be overcome,
And we'll understand it better bye and bye.
In a few more days, all I've worked for on earth will be done
And the road up to heaven'll meet the Father and the Son.
I know Jesus will come in, you know I'm free from sin,
And we'll understand it better bye and bye.
CHORUS:
TAG: And we'll understand it better bye and bye.
We'll Understand it Better By and By - The Dixon Sisters, vocals (Rec: Mark Wilson, Roger Cooper and Wally Wallingford, Salt Lick, Ky, Fall, 2002). Another appealing direct embodiment of the 'problem of evil' theme, this justly celebrated hymn was composed in 1905 by one of the important pioneers within the gospel song movement, Charles A Tindley. A good account of his work can be found in B Reagon, ed, We'll Understand it Better By and By.
Chorus: By and by when the morning comes
All the saints of God are gathered home
We will tell the story of how we've overcome
And we'll understand it better by and by.
We are often tossed and driven on the restless sea of time
Somber skies and howling tempest all succeed a bright sunshine
In that land of perfect day when the mists have rolled away
We will understand it better by and by.
Trials dark on every hand and we cannot understand
All the ways that God would lead us to that blessed promised land.
But He guides us with His eye and we'll follow 'til we die
For we'll understand it better by and by.
Temptation's hidden snares often take us unawares
And our hearts are made to grieve for a thoughtless word or deed
And we wonder why the test when we try to do our best
But we'll understand it better by and by.
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