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Our Singing Country
D1DN' OL' JOHN CROSS THE WATER ON HIS KNEES?
b^>. No. 265. Negro convicts, Reed Camp, S.C., 1934. See Od.2, p. 193j Me, p. 154$ Jo.2, 63; also "Pauline," this volume, p. 402.
Responding to the prejudice against singing secular songs ("reels" or "sinful songs"), Negro convicts sometimes sing spirituals to the rhythm of their work. This nobly simple and restrained verse contains the text for a chapter of Negro history.
1 Didn' oP John {huh!) cross the water, water on his knees? {huh!) Didn' oP John {huh!) cross the water {huh!) on his knees? {huh!) Let us all {huh!) bow down, {huh!) good Lawd, an' face, face de risin5
sun. {huh!) DidnJ oP John {huh!) cross the water, water on his knees? {huh!)
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