Two Renditions Of The African American Spiritual "You Better Mind" From A Zimbabwean Choir & From An African-Belgium Choir

Edited by Azizi Powell

This post showcases an example of the African American Spiritual "You better Mind" as sung by a Seventh Day Adventist Choir from Zimbabwe, and an example of that sung that is sung by an African Belgium musical group. The lyrics for those renditions are also included in this post.

The content of this post is presented for religious, cultural, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

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SHOWCASE VIDEOS
(These videos are presented in chronological order with the oldest dated video given first.)

Example #1: You Better Mind - UNSHAKEN


mrvals, Uploaded on Apr 30, 2007

Video clip of Unshaken recorded at Aspindale SDA Church in March 2007.[Harare, Zimbabwe]
-snip-

BASIC LYRICS:
Chorus
You better mind
(You better mind)
You better mind
(You better mind)
You gonna give an account on the judgment*
You better mind


You better mind how you preach
You better mind what you're preaching about
You gotta give an account of the judgment
You better mind

Additional verses following that same pattern:
You better mind how you sing...

You better mind how you talk...

You better mind how your think...

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Example #2: The Brothers United, You Better Mind (Medley)




C Ndamnsa, uploaded on Mar 12, 2010

The Brothers United, Belgium, Gospel, Christian, Africa, African Acapella, Acappella, You Better Mind, Male, Choir, Cameroon, Antwerpen, Interview
-snip-
LYRICS

[Chorus:]
You better mind
(You better mind)
You better mind
(You better mind)
You got to give an account on the judgment
You better mind
[repeat 1x beginning with Oh you better mind]

You better mind
How you speak
(Yes)
You better mind what you speaking about
(Sure)
You got to give an account on the judgment
You better mind

Chorus 3x
You better mind how you preach etc.

[1:56 begins a version of the song “Good News”]

There is a Hallelujah songs
Hallelujah songs in the heaven I know [repeat 3 times]
And I don’t wanna be left behind

Chorus:
Good news
(Good news my Lord is coming)
So glad
(So glad my Lord is coming)
Ha Ha
(Ah ha my Lord is coming)
And I don’t wanna be left behind

[repeat chorus 1x]

There is a Hallelujah songs
Hallelujah songs in the heaven I know [repeat 3 times]
And I don’t wanna be left behind

Chorus [2x]

There is a Hallelujah songs etc

You better mind
(You better mind)
You better mind
(You better mind)
You got to give an account on the judgment
You better mind
-snip-
Transcription by Azizi Powell. Additions and corrections are welcome.

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EXPLANATION OF CERTAIN PHRASES
“You better mind” = be mindful of (be careful about, be aware of)
Give an account on the judgment= be judged by what you’ve done on judgment day;
In the version of "You Better Mind" that I learned and in other African American versions I've heard those words are "you gotta give an account at the judgment.
(Italics to highlight the difference in that word from those two versions given above.)

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RELATED LINK
Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2013/10/bessie-jones-you-better-mind-with-lyrics.html for a sound file of "You Better Mind" as sung by the Georgia Sea Island Singers (United States).

That post also includes the lyrics of that renditions and my comments about why I think it is a Spiritual and not a Gospel song.

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Thanks to these showcases vocalists for their renditions of "You Better Mind". Thanks also to the publishers of those videos on YouTube.

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