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I'm Gwine Home on de Mornin' Train

About this recording

Performed by Dock Reed, Jesse Allison, and Hettie Godfrey. Recorded by John and Ruby Lomax, 1939.

Date created
1939
Duration
2:00
File
MP3
License
This work is believed to be in the public domain. Users are advised to make their own copyright assessment and to understand their rights to fair use.
Source
Original audio housed by Library of Congress

See this recording in context

  • Antebellum North Carolina: Primary sources and readings explore North Carolina in the antebellum period (1830–1860). Topics include slavery, daily life, agriculture, industry, technology, and the arts, as well as the events leading to secession and civil war. (Page 6.4)

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I’m Gwine Home on de Mornin’ Train is part of the John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip collection at the Library of Congress.

John Lomax was a folklorist and musicologist who traveled throughout the U.S. making field recordings of American folk music. In 1939, he and his wife, Ruby Lomax, made such a trip through the southern states and recorded more than 300 performers, representing a diverse array of traditional musical styles, including ballads, blues, children’s songs, cowboy songs, fiddle tunes, field hollers, lullabies, play-party songs, religious dramas, spirituals, and work songs.

I’m Gwine Home on de Mornin’ Train is a folk spiritual, part of an African American song tradition that arose during slavery. Spirituals were created by slaves using elements of African music such as clapping, drumming, repetition of lyrics, and call-and-response to express their religion and their experiences as slaves.

Transcript

I’m goin’ home on the morning train
Well I’m goin’ home on the morning train
I’m goin’ home on the morning train
If you don’t see me you can hear me singing
All of my sins been taken away, taken away

Sister Mary wore three lengths of chain
Sister Mary she wore three lengths of chain
Sister Mary she wore three lengths of chain
Every length was Jesus’ name
All of my sins been taken away, taken away

The tallest tree in paradise
Tallest tree in paradise
Tallest tree in paradise
The Christians call it the tree of life,
All of my sins been taken away, taken away

Jordan deep, and Jordan wide
Jordan deep, and Jordan wide
Jordan deep, and Jordan wide
Chill my body but not my soul
All of my sins been taken away, taken away