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Didn't It Rain?
Traditional Spiritual;
ARTIST: from Blind Boys Of Alabama "If I Had A Hammer" CD
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIEvmwiRiIg Mahalia Jackson
SHEET MUSIC:
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: early 1900s;
RECORDING INFO: Didn't It Rain [Me III-C 47]
Belafonte Folk Singers LPM-2309, LSO-6007, MFCD-782, CD12518
Edwards, Charles Lincoln Bahama Songs and Stories: Volume 3
Lomax, Alan / Folksongs of North America, Doubleday Dolphin, Sof (1975/1960), p477/#250
Houston, Cisco. I Ain't Got No Home, Vanguard VRS 9107, LP (1962?), trk# 16b
Pringle, Valentine. I Hear America Singing, RCA (Victor) LSP 2689, LP (1963), trk# A.05
Van Ronk, Dave. Just Dave Van Ronk, Mercury SR 60908, LP (196?), trk# A.05
Golden Gate Quartet SOL512,
Mahalia Jackson CBS 29789,
Nana Mouskouri Philips 848 108-2,
Phoenix Singers Warner W1485,
Margret Roadknight MC3009.
OTHER NAMES: "Didn't It Rain My Elder" "Didn't It Rain Children"
RELATED TO:
SOURCES: Folk index; Bahama Songs and Stories: Volume 3 by Charles Lincoln Edwards 1895;
NOTES: "Didn't It Rain?" is a traditional spiritual from the Blind Boys Of Alabama.
The first version I've found is from 1895: Didn't It Rain My Elder (see complete lyrics in this collection) found in Bahama Songs and Stories: Volume 3 by Charles Lincoln Edwards. These songs were brought to the Bahamas from African-Americans and are quite old.
Didn't It Rain My Elder (excerpt)
VERSE: Didn't it rain, my elder,
Didn't it rain, good Lord,
Didn't it rain forty days.
CHORUS: Forty days an' forty nights,
Lord, didn't it rain forty days.
The first recording is from Deacon Len Davis in 1926. The song became established as a black quartet or jubilee quartet song with early recordings by Biddeville Quintette (1929) and Fairview Jubilee Quartet (1930). Several white groups recorded the song including Vaughan Happy Two (1928) and Lily May Ledford of the Coon Creek Girls who heard the song sung at the White House by a black gospel group in 1939.
DIDN'T IT RAIN?- Blind Boys Of Alabama [transcription from an on-line source; watch-out for errors!] This version seems to be based on the Golden Gate Quartet version circa 1941.
CHORUS: Well, didn't it rain children?
God gonna send the water from Zion;
He gonna raise heaven up higher,
Didn't it rain, rain, rain.
Verse #1
My Lord, my God got angry on his throne.
He didn't like what he heard when he got testimony.
Go down angels and stir up a flood;
Roll back the sun and change the moon into blood.
Come back angel and bar the door;
God given grace won't be no more.
They tell me, great God, when it started to rain,
Women and children came running in vain.
They banged on the widow, battered at the door,
Saying Brother Noah, can you take one more?
Noah said, "I'm sorry my friend,
God got the key and you can't get in."
Noah wasn't worried 'bout the children getting in;
He was worried 'bout the *animals more.
CHORUS
Well, didn't it rain children?
God gonna send the water from Zion;
He gonna raise heaven up higher,
Didn't it rain, rain, rain.
VERSE #2
Tell me it rained forty days and nights without stopping;
Noah looked out at the water but the water kept a dropping.
He sent out a raven, he sent out a dove,
But the water, good God, kept coming from above.
They tell me little children, the bird did sing,
But he couldn't find land to rest his wing.
Noah wasn't worried 'bout the resting of his wing;
He was worried 'bout the animals more.
CHORUS
Well, didn't it rain children?
God gonna send the water from Zion;
He gonna raise heaven up higher,
Didn't it rain, rain, rain.
VERSE #3
They tell me that the wind did blow and the ship did rock,
But Noah couldn't find nowhere to stop.
My God spoke and whispered low;
Told brother Noah where he wanted him to go.
He said look out Noah, the rain gone stop;
I want you to land on the mountain top.
God showed Noah a rainbow sign,
And said it won't be water but fire next time.
But Noah wasn't worried 'bout the rainbow sign;
He was worried 'bout the animals more.
CHORUS
Well, didn't it rain children?
God gonna send the water from Zion;
He gonna raise heaven up higher,
Didn't it rain, rain, rain.
*angels
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