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Didn't Old John Cross The Water?/Didn' Ol John Cross The Water On His Knees?
Traditional Spiritual;
ARTIST: Collected by John and Alan Lomax in 1934 from African-American convicts
YOUTUBE:
SHEET MUSIC: http://books.google.com/books?id=i_J4Ii9oArsC&pg=PA384&dq=%22didn'+ol+john+cross+the+water%22&hl=en&ei=mfYeTOrHFYL78AaXhN2UDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=re
sult&resnum=1&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22didn'%20ol%20john%20cross%20the%20water%22&f=false
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: probably 1800s; 1934
RECORDING INFO: Didn't Old John Cross the Water [on His Knees]
Leadbelly. Leadbelly's Last Sessions, Part 4, Folkways FA 2942, LP (196?), trk# 14
Negro Convicts. Lomax, John A. & Alan Lomax / Our Singing Country, MacMillan, Sof (2000/1941), p384 [1934]
OTHER NAMES: "Didn' Ol John Cross The Water On His Knees?"
RELATED TO: "Come On and Bow Down" Iron Head Baker
SOURCES: Folk index; Our Singing Country
NOTES: "Didn't Old John Cross The Water?" or "Didn' Ol John Cross The Water On His Knees?" is a traditional gospel song collected by John and Alan Lomax in 1934 from African-American convicts and published it in Our Singing Country. Apparently Leadbelly learned the song from the Lomaxes and recorded it in his 1941 Leadbelly's Last Sessions as "Didn't Old John Cross The Water?"
DIDN' OL' JOHN CROSS THE WATER ON HIS KNEES? No. 265. Negro convicts, Reed Camp, S.C., 1934. See Od.2, p. 193j Me, p. 154. Jo.2, 63; also "Pauline," this volume, p. 402. Responding to the prejudice against singing secular songs ("reels" or "sinful songs"), Negro convicts sometimes sing spirituals to the rhythm of their work. This nobly simple and restrained verse contains the text for a chapter of Negro history.
1. Didn' ol' John {huh!) cross the water, water on his knees? {huh!)
Didn' ol' John {huh!) cross the water {huh!) on his knees? {huh!)
Let us all huh!) bow down, {huh!) good Lawd, an' face, face de risin' sun. {huh!)
Didn't o' John {huh!) cross the water, water on his knees? {huh!)
2. Let us all sing together, 'gether on our knees.
Let us all sing together on our knees.
Let us all bow down, good Lawd, an' face, face de risin' sun,
Let us all sing together, 'gether on our knees.
3. (repeat verse 1)
4. Didn' ol' John wade the water, water on his knees?
Didn' ol' John wade the water on his knees?
Let us all bow down, good Lawd, an' face, face de risin' sun,
Didn' ol' John wade the water, water on his knees?
Didn't Old John Cross the Water (Leadbelly) "Last Sessions"
Didn't old John cross the water, on his knees?
Didn't old John cross the water, on his knees?
Let us all bow down and face the rising sun
Didn't old John cross the water, water on his knees?
Didn't old John swim the water, on his knees?
Didn't old John swim the water, on his knees?
Let us all bow down, good Lord, and face the rising sun
Didn't old John swim the water, water on his knees?
Didn't old John walk the water, on his knees?
Didn't old John walk the water, on his knees?
Let us all bow down, good Lord, and face the rising sun
Didn't old John walk the water, water on his knees?
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