Freedom Songs by Jessie Montgomery

from Slave Songs of the United States: The Classic 1867 Anthology
Edited by William Francis Allen, Lucy McKim Garrison, and Charles Pinkard Ware
Southeastern Slave States: Including SouthCarolina, Georgia, and the Sea Islands
Gulf States: Including Florida and Louisiana, Miscellaneous

My Lord, What a Morning*

My Lord, what a morning, My Lord, what a morning, My Lord, what a morning, When the stars begin to fall.

You will hear the trumpet sound To wake the nations underground Looking to my God’s right hand When the stars begin to fall.

You will hear the people shout
To wake the nations underground Looking to my God’s right hand When the stars begin to fall.

*“My Lord, What a Morning” is based on “Stars Begin to Fall,” which is found as song No. 34 in the Slave Songs anthology. There are differences between the versions in text, rhythm, and melody, but it’s clear that the better-known, traditional Black spiritual isan iteration and evolution of “Stars Begin to Fall.”

I Want to Go Home

Dere’s no rain to wet you, O yes, I want to go home.

Dere’s no sun to burn you, O yes, I want to go home.

Dere’s no hard trials,

O yes, I want to go home.

Dere’s no whips a crackin’, O yes, I want to go home,

Dere’s no stormy weather, O yes, I want to go home.

Dere’s no slavery in de kingdom,* O yes, I want to go home.

All is gladness in the kingdom, O yes, I want to go home.

* Verse added after the Emancipation Proclamation (1863) Song No. 61 in the anthology

Lay This Body Down

O graveyard, o graveyard,

I’m walkin’ troo the graveyard, Lay dis body down.

I know moonlight, I know starlight, I’m walkin’ troo the star light

Lay dis body down.

O my soul, o your soul,

We’re walkin’ troo the moonlight Lay dis body down.

O moonlight, o starlight,

I’m walkin’ troo the starlight, Lay dis body down.

Song No. 26 in the anthology. Text further edited by Jessie Montgomery and Julia Bullock

My Father, How Long?*

My father, how long, My father how long, My father, how long,
Will our people suffer here?

My mother, how long, My mother, how long, My mother, how long,
Will our people suffer here?

We will soon be free, We will soon be free, We will soon be free, We will not suffer here.

We’ll walk de miry road, We’ll walk de gold streets, We’ll fight for liberty,

We will not suffer here!

My brudders do sing, My sisters do sing, My people do sing,

We will not suffer here.

Cause it won’t be long, No it won’t be long, No it won’t be long, No it won’t be long, We will not suffer here.

* “For singing this, ‘the negroes had been put in jail at Georgetown, SC,’ at the outbreak of the Rebellion. ‘We will soon be free’was too dangerous an assertion, and though the chant was an old one, it was no doubt sung with redoubled emphasis during the events.”

Song No. 112 in the anthology. Text further edited by Jessie Montgomery and Julia Bullock

The Day of Judgement

And de moon will turn to blood,
And de moon will turn to blood,
And de moon will turn to blood
In dat day—O-yoy, my soul!
And de moon will turn to blood in dat day

And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’,
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’,
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’,
In dat day—O-yoy, my soul!
And you’ll see de stars a-fallin’ in dat day

And de world will be on fire,
And de world will be on fire,
And de world will be on fire,
And de world will be on fire in dat day

And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’,
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’,
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’,
In dat day—O-yoy, my soul!
And you’ll hear de saints a-singin’ in dat day.

Song No. 72 in the anthology

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