Edited by Azizi Powell
This pancocojams post showcases the Spiritual* "You Better Mind" as led by Bessie Jones.
The content of this post is presented for historical, entertainment, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
*Read my comments below about the categorization of this song as a Spiritual and not a Gospel.
-snip-
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/09/bessie-jones-you-better-mind-old-time.html for a 2024 pancocojams post entitled "Bessie Jones - "You Better Mind" (old time African American Spiritual or Early African American Gospel song)."
****
FEATURED EXAMPLE - Bessie Jones You Better Mind
ulfullf, Uploaded on Feb 7, 2011
-snip-
Here's an interesting comment from that sound file's viewer comment thread: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8gUumtnfYU
"Reminds me of my grandparents church when I was growing up. My grandfather was a deacon and all of the deacons of the church of the church would get together and sing this song before the start of church."
-Darryl T. Hill, 2013
-snip-
I also remember this song from when my childhood Baptist church in Southern New Jersey in the 1950s. My grandfather was also a deacon in that church. But the deacons in my church didn't sing this song or any other song before the beginning of the Sunday church service.
****
LYRICS: YOU BETTER MIND
(as sung by Bessie Jones)
Chorus:
You better mind
You better mind
You got to give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
1. You better mind how you talk
You better mind what you talkin about
You got to give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
2. [Yeah] You better mind how you sing
[And] You better mind what you singin about
You got to give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
Chorus:
[Sing!] You better mind
You better mind
[Yes]You got to give an account at the judgment
[Oh Lord] You better mind.
3. I hear You goin down here from door to door
You talkin ‘bout the things that you really don’t know.
But you gonna give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
Chorus:
[Sing!] You better mind
[Children] You better mind
[Because] You got to give an account at the judgment
[Oh Lord] You better mind.
4. If your sister treats you wrong.
Take it to yourself and God alone
[Cause] You got to give an account at the judgment
[Oh Lord] You better mind.
Chorus
5. [I said] You goin down here from place to place
The way you livin is a really disgrace.
[But ] You gonna give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
Chorus
6. [Well] Before that stranger pass by you
[You know] You promised God you would do
You gonna give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
7. [Well] You get in the field and you don’t want to fight
You join the church but you won’t live right
But your gonna give an account at the judgment
You better mind
Chorus
8.[Well] I’m a Baptist bred and a Baptist born
And when I’m dead, I’ll be a Baptist gone
[Cause] You gonna give an account at the judgment
You better mind.
-snip-
Transcription from the recording by Azizi Powell. Additions & corrections are welcome.
In the sound file that is embedded in this post the song begins with the lyrics given as the first verse. However, every rendition of this song that I've heard begins with the chorus.
The verses are assigned numbers for the purpose of the explanation section given below. However, it's important to note that the order of verses and the verses themselves in this song aren’t fixed. That said, every version of this song that I’ve heard or read includes the “you better mind how you talk” etc verse. And most renditions of this song that I've heard or read include the "you better mind what you sing" verse.
The words in brackets are interjections that are optional and aren't fixed. Therefore these interjections don’t need to be sung or other interjections might be substituted for those that were sung.
CATEGORIZING "YOU BETTER MIND" AS A SPIRITUAL AND NOT A GOSPEL SONG
Although "You Better Mind" is sometimes categorized as a Gospel song, its lyrical structure, its lack of fixed verses or verse order, its open endedness [how long it is sung], and its lack of a known composer fit the description of a Spiritual.
I don't know anything about the history of this song such as its collection date or date it was first recorded. Any information about this song would be greatly appreciated.
Note that "You Better Mind" is categorized as a Spiritual in the 1960 book Negro Spirituals And Folk Songs by Jester Hairston & Harry Roberts Wilson http://www.wlym.com/archive/oakland/docs/SpiritualHairston.pdf.
****
NOTES ABOUT THE SONG'S TITLE, CERTAIN WORDS, AND CERTAIN VERSES
"You better mind" means you need to be mindful of what you do [mindful-aware of & careful about]
"You got to give an account at the judgment" means to answer to what you have done with your life on Judgment Day
The interjection "children" refers to members of the church regardless of age
Verse #3 - These lyrics refer to a person being a busybody know-it-all or a gossiper.
Verse #4 - These lyrics refer to not stirring up trouble even if your sister (or anyone else close to you) mistreats you
Verse #6 - These lyrics refer to the Biblical verse "Love thy neighbor as yourself" or the story of the Good Samaritan or other such stories in which a person is treated kindly.
Verse #7 - If this is the correct transcription of what was sung, my guess is that “being in the field” means being in service to God and “not wanting to fight” means not devoting the energy and commitment Christians are suppose to have to fighting against the sin that is in the world
Verse #8 - This is a version of a saying that was or still is quite common among Black Baptists and non-Black Baptist. The standard saying is "I'm Baptist born and Baptist bred/And when I die, I'll be Baptist died." That saying is made by those persons who are long time members of that Christian denomination, along with generations of their families. "Baptist born & Baptist bred [raised in the Baptist church] etc." is spoken with pride, fondness, and loyalty toward the Baptist denomination over any other Christian denomination.
****
Thanks to the composer/s of this song. Thanks to Bessie Jones for her musical legacy. Thanks also to all those who are also featured on this recording and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.
Thank you for visiting pancocojams.
Visitor comments are welcome.
I work at an Assisted Living in North Carolina in an Alzheimer's Unit and one of our resident (male) begin singing this song and pretty much the whole song and he repeated it all day long and he sang it with such great compassion and everyone around him could feel the Spirit of the Lord. God bless you! I had never heard of it.
ReplyDeleteThank you Anonymous for sharing that story.
ReplyDeleteI have personal knowledge of the terrible, sad disease of Alzheimer as my mother died of it. It's wonderful that your resident remembered this song and sung it as you described.
God bless all those with the patience and strength to care for those with that disease, and God bless those who have that disease.
My grandmother in South Carolina, where I was raised, used to sing this song around the house and while she puttered in her garden; in that way, I learned it informally by hearing her sing it over the years.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in high school, during the annual Booker T. Washington High School performance of the John Work Chorus, which was a program of spirituals, I was introduced to this song when it was done as a more formal number than the arrangement here -- one of the musical arrangers had "updated" the song and written it for three or four voices. Good arrangement, but not nearly as authentic as the original.
Thanks for sharing that information, anonymous.
DeleteWhile we learned about Booker T. Washington in public school but just became aware in the last couple of years of the African American archivist John Work. It's great that there was (is?) a John Work Chorus.
And yes, I prefer the less formal arrangements of Spirituals. But I really dislike people singing those songs with so -called Black dialect (such as "de", "dose", "heben", and "Lawd".)