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Cain and Abel/Good Book says that Cain killed Abel
Traditional Spiritual and Gospel Hymn;
ARTIST: Newman Ivey White; EC Perrow 1913
CATEGORY: Traditional and Shape-Note Gospel;
DATE: 1800s; 1912 Perrow
RECORDING INFO: Cain and Abel
Brown Collection of NC Folklore
Newman I. White. American Negro folk-songs By Newman Ivey White
OTHER NAMES: "Good Book says that Cain killed Abel"
RELATED TO: "Old Grey Robe," "Jerusalem Mournin'"
SOURCES: Brown Collection of NC Folklore; JOAFL 1913; American Negro Folk-songs By Newman Ivey White
NOTES: "Cain and Abel," is a spiritual first collected by EC Perrow appeared in the 1913 JOAFL. About 10 years later Newman I. White collected a version and it appeared in the Brown Collection of NC Folklore.
557 Cain and Abel- Brown Collection of NC Folklore
With music. From Newman I. White, Durham; undated. "I sang this for F. C. B. in 1923 or 1924. The text is in his hand, marked 'N. I. W., duplicate.' Published in my ANFS, without the music. See ANFS 86 for my note and text."
Well, The Good Book says that Cain killed Abel,
Yes, Abel,
That he hit him in the head with the leg of a table,
Yes, Good Lord.
Didn't Daniel in the lion's den
Say unto dem cullud men.
Get yer long white gown and pass 'em a-round
And be ready when de great day comes.
Oh Lord, I'se ready, Oh Lord, I'se ready,
I'll be readv when the great day comes.
Oh glory Hallelujah!
Another song titled the, "Old Grey Robe" uses similar lyrics: "The first part of this unusual spiritual relates some Old Testament fragments- "The good book says that Cain killed Abel. He hit him on the head with the leg of a table". Then a lively chorus invites us to "Put on your old grey robe and your golden crown, and be ready when the great day comes".
Polk Miller's Old South Quartette: Polk Miller's two-minute Standard Edison cylinders focused on semi-spiritual music. The January 1910 Edison Phonograph Monthly claimed that Polk sang the melody of "Rise And Shine," no. 10332, just as "the old negroes used to sing it on his father's plantation before the war." The publication singled out Standard release 10333, an a cappella "The 'Old Time' Religion," as 'a hymn of Negro origin, but owing to the fact that its words and melody stir the popular heart, the Southern whites have introduced it into their church services."
The Quartette's version of the old camp meeting song "Jerusalem Mournin'," no. 10334, contain these memorable lyrics: "The Good Book says that Cain killed Abel/ He knocked him in the head with the leg of a table."
39. CAIN AND ABEL- JOAFL 1913 EC Perrow (From Virginia; negroes; MS. given me by E. N. Caldwell; 1912)
Some folks say that Cain killed Abel;
Yes, my Lord!
He hit him in the head with the leg of a table;
Yes, my Lord!
Starry light and starry crown,
I'll be ready when the worl' turns round,
I'll be ready, I'll be ready, Lord;
I'll be ready when the world turns round.
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