Climbing Up the Hill O' Mt. Zion
Traditional Spiritual
NOTE: This is not the 1800s Hymn, "I'm Climbing Up Zion's Hill" or "Climbing Up Zion's Hill" that appears in numerous hymnbooks in the mid-late 1800s:
First Line: I'm trying to climb up Zion's hill
Title: I'm climbing up Zion's hill
Author: J. G. Chaffee Music; Philip Phillips
Publication Date: 1868 "The Eclectic Sabbath School Hymn Book #d78"
http://books.google.com/books?id=UNbIOj4WcHAC&pg=PA296&dq=Climbing+Up+the+Hill+O'+Mt.+
Zion&cd=7#v=onepage&q=Climbing%20Up%20Zion's%20Hill%20&f=false
ARTIST: Dock Reed and Vera Hall of Livingston, AL by John and Ruby Lomax 1939 on their Southern States Recording Trip
Listen: http://memory.loc.gov/afc/afcss39/268/2687b1.mp3
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: Probably 1800s; 1939 John and Ruby Lomax
RECORDING INFO: Climbing Up the Hill O' Mt. Zion
Dock Reed and Vera Hall of Livingston, AL by John and Ruby Lomax 1939 on their Southern States Recording Trip
Olivia and Jack Solomon, eds., Honey in the Rock: The Ruby Pickens Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs
OTHER NAMES: "Clim'n' Up De Hills"
RELATED TO: "Heaven Bells Are Ringing" "Climbing Up Zion's Hill"
SOURCES: John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip.
Mudcat
NOTES: "Climbing Up the Hill O' Mt. Zion" is a spiritual collected from Dock Reed and Vera Hall of Livingston, AL by John and Ruby Lomax 1939 on their Southern States Recording Trip. A version of "Climbing Up the Hill o' Mt. Zion" appears in the Pickens Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs titled "Clim'n' Up De Hills."
CLIMBING UP THE HILL O' MOUNT ZION- Dock Reed and Vera Hall, Livingston, AL. John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip. Click on Links at top of page and go to Lomax Collection for notes and sound.
Lord, I'm climbing up the hill of Zion*, my Lord (my Lord),
With the glory in my soul.
Prayin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Cryin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Mournin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Moanin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Groanin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Shoutin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Prayin' at the hills of Mount Zion,
Lord, I'm travelin up the hills of Mt. Zion, my Lord,
With the glory in-a my soul.
Oh dat red, dat red, dat red,
Oh dat purple, dat blue, dat white, dat green,**
Oh, Lord, I'm travelin' up the hills of Mt. Zion, my Lord,
With the glory in my soul.
*Zi-on. In the section on Dock Reed and Vera Hall in the field notes, the spellings Zionee and Ziponee occur. She actually sings Zi-on or Zi-yon -just stretching it out. Nowhere does she sing Zionee. Although the Lomaxes also recorded the Tartts, their version of this song was not mentioned, but the Tartts seem to be the ones who used this pronunciation.
**One singer starts Oh dat red and repeats; the other singer starts another color, etc.
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