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    Down by The Riverside

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    Rnas Deiy Riv
    This document provides information about the Negro spiritual song "Down by the Riverside". It describes the song's origins in the pre-Civil War era and discusses its pacifistic lyrics and biblical imagery referring to baptism, crossing the River Jordan to the Promised Land, and escaping slavery. The document also lists many artists who have recorded versions of the song spanning from the 1920s to recent years.

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    Down by The Riverside

    Uploaded by

    Rnas Deiy Riv
    487 views2 pages
    This document provides information about the Negro spiritual song "Down by the Riverside". It describes the song's origins in the pre-Civil War era and discusses its pacifistic lyrics and biblical imagery referring to baptism, crossing the River Jordan to the Promised Land, and escaping slavery. The document also lists many artists who have recorded versions of the song spanning from the 1920s to recent years.

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    Down by the Riverside

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    This document provides information about the Negro spiritual song "Down by the Riverside". It describes the song's origins in the pre-Civil War era and discusses its pacifistic lyrics and biblical imagery referring to baptism, crossing the River Jordan to the Promised Land, and escaping slavery. The document also lists many artists who have recorded versions of the song spanning from the 1920s to recent years.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    487 views2 pages

    Down by The Riverside

    Uploaded by

    Rnas Deiy Riv
    This document provides information about the Negro spiritual song "Down by the Riverside". It describes the song's origins in the pre-Civil War era and discusses its pacifistic lyrics and biblical imagery referring to baptism, crossing the River Jordan to the Promised Land, and escaping slavery. The document also lists many artists who have recorded versions of the song spanning from the 1920s to recent years.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    Down by the Riverside

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


    For the film, see Down by the Riverside (film).
    For the short story by Richard Wright, see Uncle Tom's Children.
    "Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna
    lay down my burden") is a Negro spiritual song. Its roots date back to before
    the American Civil War,[1] though it was first published in 1918 in Plantation Melodies: A
    Collection of Modern, Popular and Old-time Negro-Songs of the Southland, Chicago, the
    Rodeheaver Company.[2] The song has alternatively been known as Ain' go'n' to study war
    no mo', Ain't Gwine to Study War No More, Down by de Ribberside, Going to Pull My
    War-Clothes and Study war no more. The song was first recorded by the Fisk University
    Jubilee Quartet in 1920 (published by Columbia in 1922). and there are at least 14 black
    gospel recordings before World War II.[3]
    Because of its pacifistic imagery, "Down by the Riverside" has also been used as an anti-
    war protest song, especially during the Vietnam War.[1]

    Contents
    [hide]

    1Lyrics
    2Meaning
    3Recordings
    4Soundtrack appearances
    5Parodies and alternate lyrics
    6References

    Lyrics[edit]
    The song has many lyrical variations, though usually each stanza follows a standard form,
    with one sentence that differs from one stanza to the next. The song often begins:
    Gonna lay down my sleepy head
    Down by the riverside (3)
    Gonna lay down my burden
    Down by the riverside
    With the chorus:
    I ain't gonna study war no more
    Study war no more
    Ain't gonna study war no more
    Other lines that can appear in stanzas, in place of "Gonna lay down my burden", include:

    Gonna lay down my sword and shield


    Gonna stick my sword in the golden sand
    Gonna try on my long white robe
    Gonna try on my starry crown
    Gonna put on my golden shoes
    Gonna talk with the Prince of Peace
    Gonna shake hands around the world
    Gonna cross the river Jordan
    Gonna climb upon that mountain
    Gonna climb the road to heaven
    Meaning[edit]
    The song's central image is of casting off negativity and aggression, and putting on spiritual
    garb, at the side of a river before crossing it. The image has several meanings: it refers
    to baptism, which in the Southern Baptist tradition usually involves wearing a white robe
    and being submerged in a body of water. It also refers to ascending to heaven after death,
    using the metaphor of the River Jordan, which in the Old Testament was the final passage
    before the Hebrews entered the Promised Land after their years in the desert.[4] As with
    many Negro spirituals, the biblical imagery can also be read as a hidden allusion to
    escaping slavery, with the river representing the Ohio River, which was a border between
    states where slavery was allowed and prohibited before the American Civil War.[5]
    The refrain of "ain't gonna study war no more" is a reference to a quotation found in the Old
    Testament: "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
    more."[1] This quote occurs twice in the Bible, in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, and is part of
    the swords to ploughshares motif.

    Recordings[edit]
    Artists who have recorded the song include:

    Al Hirt released a version on his 1961 album, He's the King and His Band[6] and a live
    version on his 1965 album, Live at Carnegie Hall[7]
    American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer Little Willie Littlefield recorded a
    version for his 1997 album The Red One.
    Arty Hall & His Radio Rubes, 1937
    Benjamin Luxton & David Willison, 1924
    Big Bill Broonzy, 1952
    Bill Haley & His Comets performed a live twist version on the 1962 album Twistin'
    Knights at the Roundtable.
    Bing Crosby and Gary Crosby (recorded November 4, 1953[8] - reached No. 28 in the
    UK charts).[9]
    The Blind Boys of Alabama (on Amazing Grace and Down in New Orleans)
    Bunk Johnson, 1942
    Cedarmont Kids
    Chimne Badi, 2011 (Gospel & Soul album)
    Chris Barbers Jazz Band, 1954
    Clara Ward
    Cliff Holland
    C. Mae Frierson Moore, 1925
    The Dirty Dozen Brass Band
    Dixie Jubilee Singers, 1928
    Dorothy Love Coates
    The Dustbowl Revival, 2014[10]
    Elvis Presley (on Frankie and Jo

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