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Down on Me
Traditional Spiritual and Gospel;
ARTIST: John W. Work, American Negro Songs and Spirituals, p. 115
SHEET MUSIC:
YOUTUBE:
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel
DATE: early 1900s; 1930 recording Eddie Head and His Family
RECORDING INFO: Down on Me
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p115b
Odetta. My Eyes Have Seen, Vanguard VRS-9059, LP (1960), trk# B.02
Pinckney, Mary. Carawan, Guy & Candie / Sing for Freedom, Sing Out, sof (1990), p235 [1965]
Pinckney, Mary. Carawan, Guy & Candie (eds.) / Ain't You Got A Right to the Tree of Life, Univ. of Georgia, Sof (1989/1966), p137 [1963-65]
Von Schmidt, Eric. Folk Blues of Eric Von Schmidt, Prestige 7717, LP (1963), trk# B.06
OTHER NAMES:
RELATED TO: Keep Your Hand on the Plow, Hold On
SOURCES: Folk Index;
NOTES: "Down on Me" is a traditional spiritual from John W. Work's book, American Negro Songs and Spirituals, p. 115. Perhaps the best known version was recorded by Janis Joplin. There is a 1930 recording of 'Down on Me', (vocal, guitar and tambourine) by obscure gospel group, Eddie Head and His Family, on the wonderful compilation CD: 'American Primitive Vol 1: Raw Pre-war Gospel' Revenant 206, the late John Fahey's label.
DOWN ON ME- John W. Work
Down on me, Down on me,
Looks like everybody in the whole round world's
Down on me.
Talk about me, much as you please,
I'll talk about you when I get on my knees
Looks like everybody in the whole round world's
Down on me.
Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down,
Sometimes I'm almost to the ground,
Looks like everybody in the whole wide world's
Down on me.
Heaven's so high, I'm so low,
Don't know if I'll ever get to Heaven or no.
Looks like everybody in the whole round world's
Down on me.
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