My Father, How Long?

cho: My father (mother, etc.), how long,
My father, how long
My father, how long
Poor sinner suffer here.

And it won't be long
And it won't be long
And it won't be long
Poor sinner suffer here.

We'll soon be free (3x)
De Lord will call us home.

We'll walk de miry road (3x)
Where pleasure never dies.

We'll walk de golden streets
Of de New Jerusalem.

My brudders do sing
De praises of de Lord.

We'll fight for liberty
When de Lord will call us home.

Several negroes were jailed for singing this in Georgetown, SC, t the outbreak
of the Civil War.

From Slave Songs of the United States, Allen Ware & Garrison (1867)
RG