I have loved this since I first heard it. Beautiful and appropriate today, I think.
2.
Violet
Oh, Alison Krauss has the most beautiful voice. Thanks for posting this. So appropriate today.
3.
SiubhanDuinne
That’s lovely, and helps with the healing.
4.
JPL
Thank you Sarah. It’s a soothing tune whether or not one is religious.
5.
Merrily
Time to give my cat his favorite food for a Tunch Lunch, in tender appreciation of his cattitude and as a way to hoist one in honor of our sorely missed friend.
(He’d getting his favorite form of tuna, chicken lunchmeat — as opposed to gushy food tuna, or hard tuna.)
6.
InternetDragons
Wow, beautiful and a balm to the soul.
It’s funny how music like this can walk into the hearts even of many like me who aren’t religious.
Some things just transcend those boundaries.
7.
Laura C
Last night by the time I saw the Tunch thread it was too long to comment from my phone. But wanted to say here on the site how terribly sad I am.
spent last night feeling grateful for our dogs and daughter. made sure that all of them knew it, too.
9.
Botsplainer
Learned something vaguely distressing last night – the lengths to which some young women will go to get band access. A cute little early 20s hardbody was trying to grind fat, old-enough-to-be-her-dad me in order to hitchhike onto my all access pass to dance right in front of the Black Keys and take off her shirt (told her I didn’t think it a good idea); or, in the alternative, for me to take her backstage. She hovered around me like a hungry horsefly; I’m pretty sure she’d have screwed me had I taken her back there. Happily, she found another friend, and stopped tempting me.
I went backstage and didn’t see her – I assumed her new friend was with her in a crew bus.
Besides, since the crew pass was a found item, I didn’t want to fuck up; going to see Robert Plant tonight, and backstage will be awesome. Avett Bros. to follow. Last night, I used it to hang with The Flaming Lips.
It was pretty neat to look out across the crowd from the stage – there were easily 40000 out there.
The traditional Appalachian song “Down in the River to Pray” is well-known, especially since Alison Krauss and the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”(released in 2000) popularized it. Yet, its composer remains a mystery, at least in some measure. Research indicates the song was written by slaves in the 19th Century who worked in the fields. Other people believe it was perhaps a derivative of a native American tribal song that was adapted with Christian lyrics. It was reportedly published in Southern Harmony, a 19th Century hymnal, prior to many African-American spiritual songs being gathered and published during the Civil War and the post-Civil War Reconstruction period. And, what if someone told you it was written by George H. Allan in Nashville, Tennessee during slavery in the South, and was published in a slave songbook in 1867? Its appearance in “Slave Songs of the United States” in 1867, with words uniquely colloquial to black slave spiritual songs of that period, seems to point us in that direction to this song’s genealogy. The song had a different name, too, than the one by which we commonly know it today.
The song as originally composed was known as “The Good Old Way”, and is attributed to a G.H. (George H.) Allan in the contents section of the slave song book of 1867. The song may also be known as “Come, Let Us All Go Down”, but has also been known as “Down to the River to Pray”, and alternately as “Down in the River to Pray”. However, as originally constructed by Mr. Allan (or perhaps some other contemporary, most likely a slave), the song entreats worshippers to go to a valley, not a river…
@Just Some Fuckhead: Just saw that in a previous thread. So sad. Such a young guy.
16.
currants
@raven: Thank you–I had the sense that it was a slave song (and river makes sense, if you think about baptism), and have some recollection of hearing it sing by maybe an AME choir (?), but maybe I’m just making shit up.
The whole Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is wonderful, as is the movie. One of my faves.
19.
scav
@currants: It’s sad that my first thought was eeeeeee, that’s way too many uniformly too white people in that choir, with the whiff of added xianist cringe. And I’ve adored that song since the movie. Weird what a few more years of life can do to a person, and given the pallor of my skin, it’s going to be rough if I start cringing around groups of the melanin deprived. Family reunions are right out. Probably too old and cranky to be adopted at this point.
For those like me who don’t like doing donations on the internet, if you go to the MARC site, they give their mailing address. I believe I’ve done this before — you can just send them a check made out to MARC. Don’t forget a note to tell them it’s in Tunch’s memory.
22.
La Caterina
We sang this today for Tunch and Trayvon:
Respond ye souls in endless rest,
Ye patriarchs and prophets blest,
Alleluia, alleluia
Ye holy twelve, ye martyrs strong,
All saints triumpha raise the song!
(Ralph Vaughn Williams adapt., Melody from Auserlesene Catholische Geistliche Kirchengeseng, 1623)
I’m going out now to do some constructive action feeding feral kitties. Everyone gets tuna today!
23.
raven
@currants: I saw Nina Simone in the early 70’s in Champaign-Urbana. The first thing she did was to have all the white folks move to the back of the auditorium. Then she said she was glad “we can have our song back” and sang Amazing Grace.
24.
PsiFighter37
After the BJ meetup, my buddy gave me energy strips and we raged. Destroyed the contents of the minibar, followed by an excursion to Zig Zag Cafe. I tossed and turned all night and have muscles that feel really tired right now.
What a night
25.
scav
@raven: Nina! Off to rummage for Cds, I’m on a news blackout except for this site and one for weather. thanks!
26.
currants
@raven: oh WOW: what I’d have given to have heard HER sing.
27.
elftx
no longer of the religious persuasion, but amen and thank you
That song is loaded with history. If you’ve never seen the documentary that PBS did on it, and you have even just a passing interest in ethnomusicology, it’s a good one.
29.
Yatsuno
@PsiFighter37: Ironically enough, we held a meet-up there with Southern Beale a couple years ago.
30.
Patricia Kayden
Gorgeous song. Best part of O Brother, Where Art Thou.
31.
Fred Fnord
@raven: Hah, awesome. Now if she could just reclaim it from the bagpipes…
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opie_jeanne
I have loved this since I first heard it. Beautiful and appropriate today, I think.
Violet
Oh, Alison Krauss has the most beautiful voice. Thanks for posting this. So appropriate today.
SiubhanDuinne
That’s lovely, and helps with the healing.
JPL
Thank you Sarah. It’s a soothing tune whether or not one is religious.
Merrily
Time to give my cat his favorite food for a Tunch Lunch, in tender appreciation of his cattitude and as a way to hoist one in honor of our sorely missed friend.
(He’d getting his favorite form of tuna, chicken lunchmeat — as opposed to gushy food tuna, or hard tuna.)
InternetDragons
Wow, beautiful and a balm to the soul.
It’s funny how music like this can walk into the hearts even of many like me who aren’t religious.
Some things just transcend those boundaries.
Laura C
Last night by the time I saw the Tunch thread it was too long to comment from my phone. But wanted to say here on the site how terribly sad I am.
ranchandsyrup
spent last night feeling grateful for our dogs and daughter. made sure that all of them knew it, too.
Botsplainer
Learned something vaguely distressing last night – the lengths to which some young women will go to get band access. A cute little early 20s hardbody was trying to grind fat, old-enough-to-be-her-dad me in order to hitchhike onto my all access pass to dance right in front of the Black Keys and take off her shirt (told her I didn’t think it a good idea); or, in the alternative, for me to take her backstage. She hovered around me like a hungry horsefly; I’m pretty sure she’d have screwed me had I taken her back there. Happily, she found another friend, and stopped tempting me.
I went backstage and didn’t see her – I assumed her new friend was with her in a crew bus.
Besides, since the crew pass was a found item, I didn’t want to fuck up; going to see Robert Plant tonight, and backstage will be awesome. Avett Bros. to follow. Last night, I used it to hang with The Flaming Lips.
It was pretty neat to look out across the crowd from the stage – there were easily 40000 out there.
MattF
And this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1wZVVMKojw
I think of them as the Three Graces.
currants
Anybody have a link to a version of this with a black choir? My google-fu appears to be weak today.
Jane2
Excellent musical choice for today.
Just Some Fuckhead
Looks like Finn from Glee completed the trifecta.
raven
@currants: No version but this info:
http://www.choralnet.org/view/257262
Violet
@Just Some Fuckhead: Just saw that in a previous thread. So sad. Such a young guy.
currants
@raven: Thank you–I had the sense that it was a slave song (and river makes sense, if you think about baptism), and have some recollection of hearing it sing by maybe an AME choir (?), but maybe I’m just making shit up.
ETA: PS Choralnet–very cool resource!
CarolDuhart2
http://aquariusmoon.info/aquariusmooncommunity/2013/07/14/what-now-i-dont-feel-like-giving-up-i-wanna-fight-for-trayvon/
Suggestions for constructive action.
Just Some Fuckhead
The whole Oh Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack is wonderful, as is the movie. One of my faves.
scav
@currants: It’s sad that my first thought was eeeeeee, that’s way too many uniformly too white people in that choir, with the whiff of added xianist cringe. And I’ve adored that song since the movie. Weird what a few more years of life can do to a person, and given the pallor of my skin, it’s going to be rough if I start cringing around groups of the melanin deprived. Family reunions are right out. Probably too old and cranky to be adopted at this point.
gogol's wife
@Just Some Fuckhead:
We agree on something! I have worn out that CD.
gogol's wife
For those like me who don’t like doing donations on the internet, if you go to the MARC site, they give their mailing address. I believe I’ve done this before — you can just send them a check made out to MARC. Don’t forget a note to tell them it’s in Tunch’s memory.
La Caterina
We sang this today for Tunch and Trayvon:
Respond ye souls in endless rest,
Ye patriarchs and prophets blest,
Alleluia, alleluia
Ye holy twelve, ye martyrs strong,
All saints triumpha raise the song!
(Ralph Vaughn Williams adapt., Melody from Auserlesene Catholische Geistliche Kirchengeseng, 1623)
I’m going out now to do some constructive action feeding feral kitties. Everyone gets tuna today!
raven
@currants: I saw Nina Simone in the early 70’s in Champaign-Urbana. The first thing she did was to have all the white folks move to the back of the auditorium. Then she said she was glad “we can have our song back” and sang Amazing Grace.
PsiFighter37
After the BJ meetup, my buddy gave me energy strips and we raged. Destroyed the contents of the minibar, followed by an excursion to Zig Zag Cafe. I tossed and turned all night and have muscles that feel really tired right now.
What a night
scav
@raven: Nina! Off to rummage for Cds, I’m on a news blackout except for this site and one for weather. thanks!
currants
@raven: oh WOW: what I’d have given to have heard HER sing.
elftx
no longer of the religious persuasion, but amen and thank you
Donut
@raven:
http://www.pbs.org/americanrootsmusic/pbs_arm_es_religious.html
That song is loaded with history. If you’ve never seen the documentary that PBS did on it, and you have even just a passing interest in ethnomusicology, it’s a good one.
Yatsuno
@PsiFighter37: Ironically enough, we held a meet-up there with Southern Beale a couple years ago.
Patricia Kayden
Gorgeous song. Best part of O Brother, Where Art Thou.
Fred Fnord
@raven: Hah, awesome. Now if she could just reclaim it from the bagpipes…