See also on this site:
Rise Up Singing as a UU hymnal
Folkish hymns in SLT and STJ
Shape note hymns in SLT
Amazing Grace to a different tune
The tune New Britain was attached to the hymn “Amazing Grace” well after it was written. Here’s another tune that got attached to “Amazing Grace”; it comes with a chorus as well.
Amazing Grace to the tune Jewett
Apple Tree Wassail — Traditional English
For the Christmas season.
Intro: Lily, white lily, o lily-white pin [meaning, a bright silver pin]
Please to come down and let us come in.
Lily, white lily, o lily-white smock
Please to come down and pull back the lock.
Refrain:
For it’s our wassail, jolly wassail
Joy come to our jolly wassail.
Well they may bloom and well they may bear
That we may have apples and cider next year.
1. Master and mistress, oh are you within?
Please to come down and let us come in.
Refrain.
2-4. There was an old farmer who had an old cow
But for to milk her he didn’t know how
He put his old cow all in his old barn
And a little more liquor won’t do us no harm
Harm me boy harm, harm me boys harm
And a little more liquor won’t do us no harm.
Refrain.
Outro: Lily, white lily, o lily-white pin
Please to come down and let us come in.
Lily, white lily, o lily-white smock
Please to come down and pull back the lock.
Tag: Oh, the ringles and the jingles, and the tenor of the song goes:
Merrily — merrily — merrily;
Oh, the tenor of the song goes:
Merrily;–
(spoken) Hatfuls and capfuls and three bushel bags’ full
And little heaps under the stairs
Hip, hip, hooray!
Breathing In, Breathing Out — Thich Nhat Hanh
No longer stored here; song is under copyright.
Bright Morning Stars — Traditional European American
No longer stored here; the version of the song I know may be under copyright.
Consensus Song — Beth Corrigan
Written by Beth at a UU young adult conference in 1997. Arranged by DH.
Consensus (3x)
You sit around and talk about it, sit around and talk about it, sit around and talk about it,
Trying to reach…
Consensus (3x)
You sit around and talk about it, sit around and talk about it, sit around and talk about it,
Trying to reach…
But if you dig in your heels, and stick to your guns, and don’t budge an inch,
You don’t have to reach….
Yaddah (30x)
Country Life — Trad. English
No longer stored here.
Evening Breeze — Anonymous
No longer stored here.
The Friendly Beasts
No longer stored here.
Funga Alafia — Nigerian?
Lots of different transciprtions of this out there, and lots of alleged translations. Makes me wonder about the actual origins, but it’s a great song.
Funga alafia, a’che, a’che
Funga ilaya, a’che a’che
Funga alafia, a’che, a’che
Funga ilaya, a’che a’che
Get On Board
From the African American tradition. This is a Universalist version of the song which emphasizes the inherent worth of everybody. The chorus comes from Bryan Baker; verses one and three from The Book of American Negro Spirituals; verses two and four from white bluegrass singers.
Chorus:
Get on board, everybody,
Get on board, everybody,
Get on board, everybody,
There’s room for many-a more.
Get on board, everybody,
Get on board, everybody,
Get on board, everybody,
There’s room for many-a more.
1. The freedom train is comin’,
I hear it just at hand,
I hear them car wheels movin’,
And rumblin’ through the land.
2. I see that train a-coming,
A-coming round the curve,
She’s loosened all her steam and brakes,
And strainin’ every nerve.
3. The fare is cheap and all can go,
The rich and poor are there,
No second class aboard this train,
No difference in the fare.
4. It rolls across the trestle,
It spans the Jordan’s tide,
Behold the union depot,
That’s where this train will ride.
Go Ahead — Trad. African American
No longer stored here.
Graces
No longer stored here.
Helston Furry — Trad. Cornish May song
1. Oh, we were up as soon as day
for to fetch the summer home-ah.
Oh, the summer is a-coming on,
and winter is a-gone-ah.
Cho. With a halantow, sing merry-oh!
sing halantow, sing merry.
With a halantow, sing merry-oh!
sing halantow, sing merry.
2. Oh, we’ve been rambling half the night,
and almost all the day-ah.
And now returning back again,
we’ve brought you a branch of May-ah.
Cho.
3. Oh, Robin Hood and Little John,
they’ve both gone to the fair-ah.
And we will to the merry greenwood
for to hunt the buck and hare-ah.
Cho.
Hold On — Trad.
1. Paul and Silas bound in jail, had no money for to go their bail.
Paul and Silas began to shout, jail doors opened and they walked out.
Cho.: Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on, hold on!
Hold on! (hold on, hold on) Hold on!
Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on (hold on, hold on), hold on!
2. The only thing that we did wrong was staying in the wilderness too long,
The only thing that we did right, was the day we begun to fight.
3. The only chain that I can stand is the chain of a hand in hand,
Sound’s like freedom’s getting mighty near, hold my hand, got nothing to fear.
4. One of these days about 12 o’clock, this old world’s gonna reel and rock,
One of these days at the rising sun, weeping and sadness will be done.
5. Ain’t been to heaven but I been told, everyone there wears a crown of gold,
Ain’t been to heaven, here’s what I say: we could make a heaven on earth some day.
(There’s) Honey in the Rock — Trad.?
As learned from Nick Page. The chorus from Alice Wine of Johns Island, South Carolina. Verses from Nick and oral tradition.
Refrain:
There’s honey in the rock, for all God’s children,
Honey in the rock, honey in the rock.
There’s honey in the rock, for all God’s children,
Feed every child of God.
Verses:
Cho.: There’s honey in the rock for all God’s children,
Honey in the rock, honey in the rock,
There’s honey in the rock for all God’s children,
Feed every child of God.
1. Hypocrite, hypocrite, God despise,
Tongue so sweet yet s/he still tells lies
2. When I’m happy I’ll shout and sing! (Feed every child of God.)
Make the earth and heavens ring! (Feed every child of God.)
2. Heart to heart, and hand to hand,
Together we’ll push to the promised land.
3. We can have justice if we care,
Right is right and fair is fair.
4. One of these days about twelve o’clock,
this ol’ world’s gonna reel and rock.
5. If chains hold us down, gotta break the lock,
Then we’ll taste sweet honey in the rock.
Guitar chords:
Refrain: Em – – – /D – Em – /Em – – – /G Bm Em
Verses: Am – Em – / G Bm Em ://
I’ll Be All Right — trad. African American
In their book Sing for Freedom, Guy and Candie Carawan call this a variant of “We Shall Overcome.” However, David W. Stowe, in How Sweet the Sound, traces “We Shall Overcome” back to a gospel song arranged by Charles Tindley and printed in a song collection compiled by C. Austin Miles titled Songs of the Gospel. “I’ll Be All Right” may represent a separate evolution of an earlier song that was popular in African American churches in the late 19th C. Some of the verses below come from a 1946 food and tobacco workers strike in Charleston, S.C.
1. I’ll be all right, well I’ll be all right
Well, I’ll be all right some day.
All of my troubles will be over,
and I’ll be free at last
Well, I’ll be all right some day.
2. [Love/God] will see us through, yes love will see us through…
Well, love will see us through some day.
All of my troubles will be over,
and I’ll be free at last
Well, I’ll be all right some day.
3. I’ll sing my song…
4. We will overcome…
5. I’ll be all right…
Listen, Listen, Listen — Paramahansa Yogananda
No longer stored here; I learned this song is under copyright.
May Song — Trad. Cambridgeshire
1. Arise, arise, you pretty fair maids/men,
And take your May bush in, for
If it is gone before tomorrow morn
You will say we have brought you none.
2. O the hedges and the fields are growing green,
As green as green can be, our
God in heaven watereth them
With the heavenly dews so sweet.
3. God bless this house and all who live within,
Your riches and your store,
For summer springs so fresha nd green and gay,
Both for now and forevermore.
4. So now we’re going to leave you pretty maids/men,
In peace and plenty here,
We will return to you another year,
For to drive the winter cold away.
Oh How Lovely Is the Evening — Trad. German round
In spite of what the sheet music says, this appears to have originally been a German round.
Words for a morning version:
Greet the new day with our singing, with our singing
Set the freedom bells a-ringing, bells a-ringing
Ding, dong, ding, dong, ding, dong.
Souling Song — Traditional English
Refrain:
A soul, a soul, a soul cake, please good missus a soul cake,
An apple, a pear, a plum, or a cherry, any good thing to make us merry,
One for Peter, one for Paul, one for the One who made us all.
Verses:
1. God bless the master of this house, likewise the mistress too,
And all the pretty children that round your table go,
Likewise the maidens and young men, your cattle and your store,
And all that dwell within your gates, we wish you ten times more.
2. The lanes are very dirty, my shoes are very thin,
I’ve got a little pocket to put some silver in,
If you haven’t got some silver a ha’penny will do,
If you haven’t got a ha’penny then God bless you.
Chords (sounds good in dropped-D):
Chorus: Em D Em – – D Em – / – D Em D Em D Em D / Em D Em – – – D Em – /
Verses: Em D Em – – – D Em – / – D Em – – – D Em – / – D Em – – D Em – – / – D Em – – – D Em
Swimming to the Other Side — Pat Humphries
Lyrics on Pat Humphries’ Web site.
This Pretty Planet — Tom Chapin et al.
As learned from Michele Volleque.
This pretty planet, spinning through space, our garden, our harbor, our holy place.
Golden sun going down, gentle blue giant, spin us around.
All through the night, safe till the morning light.
Chords:
D G A D / ” / ” /
Yonder Come Day — Trad. African American or West Indies
Yondeh come day, day is a-breakin,
Yondeh come day, o mah soul.
Yondeh come day, day is a-breakin,
Sun is a risin, in mah soul!
As sung at All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C., during the processional, winter, 2005. World Music Press has published an arrangement by Judith Cook Tucker (with descant and low parts, as well as a percussion accompaniment). Tucker attributes the song as traditional African American from the Georgia Sea Islands; but I have also seen this song attributed to the West Indies.
On the Mudcat Web site, I found more verses to “Yonder Come Day”; there’s no tune, but the words sure sound the same. I took some of those verses and made some call-and-response verses, using basically the same tune (responses are in parentheses) — Sheet music. More verses to Yonder Come Day.