Edited by Azizi Powell
This is Part III of a three part pancocojams series about the song "Follow The Drinking Gourd" probably not being a historically authentic song about Black Americans escaping slavery.
Part III features lyrics for the song "Follow The Drinking Gourd" as sung by The Weavers and as sung by the New Christy Minstrels.
Part III also showcases four YouTube examples of "Follow The Drinking Gourd and features selected comments from the discussion thread for one of these YouTube examples.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/10/follow-drinking-gourd-is-probably.html for Part I of this series. Part I quotes the entire Wikipedia article about the song "Follow The Drinking Gourd".
Part I also quotes selected comments from a Mudcat folk music discussion forum thread about this song.
Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/10/excerpts-from-book-follow-drinking.html for Part II of this pancocojams series. Part II quotes two excerpts from the 2009 book Follow the Drinking Gourd: A Cultural History by Joel Bresler.
The content of this post is presented for folkloric, cultural, historical, and aesthetic purposes.
All copyrights remain with their owners.
Thanks to the all those who escaped slavery via the underground railroad and thanks to all those regardless of race who worked on or otherwise supported the underground railroad.
Thanks to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this pancocojams post, and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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PANCOCOJAMS EDITOR'S COMMENT
I agree with those who consider the song Follow The Drinking Gourd to be historically inauthentic. Those who take that position doubt that Follow The Drinking Gourd was ever sung during African American enslavement. Read Part I and Part II of this pancocojams series for information and comments about those positions regarding this song.
Although I consider most renditions of "Follow The Drinking Gourd" to be musically pleasing, I'm concerned that the lyrics of this song oversimplify the difficulties and dangers that African Americans trying to escape from slavery faced and inaccurately describe the complexity of the underground railroad.
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LYRICS: FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD
(as sung by The Weavers)
CHORUS
Follow the drinking gourd, follow the drinking gourd,
For the old man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom,
Follow the drinking gourd.
When the sun comes back and the first quail calls,
Follow the drinking gourd.
The old man is a-waitin' for to carry you to freedom,
Follow the drinking gourd.
The river bank'll make a mighty good road,
The dead trees will show you the way.
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on,
Follow the drinking gourd.
CHORUS
Now the river ends between two hills,
Follow the drinking gourd.
There's another river on the other side,
Follow the drinking gourd.
CHORUS
-snip-
These lyrics were posted by Joe Offer in this Mudcat discussion thread: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17760 Follow The Drinking Gourd.
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LYRICS: FOLLOW THE DRINKING GOURD
(New Christy Minstrels version)
Follow the drinking gourd,
We gotta follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd.
Think I heard the angel say,
Follow the drinking gourd.
Stars in the heavens gonna show you the way,
Follow the drinking gourd.
Step by step, keep a-travelin on.
Follow the drinking gourd.
Sleep in the holler till the daylight is gone.
Follow the drinking gourd.
Follow the drinking gourd,
We gotta follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd.
Keep on a-travelin that might road to freedom.
There s a good day comin and it won t be long.
Follow the drinking gourd.
All of God s children gotta sing this song.
Follow the drinking gourd.
Follow that river till the clouds roll by.
Follow the drinking gourd.
Keep on movin , better look to the sky.
Follow the drinking gourd.
Follow the drinking gourd,
We gotta follow the drinking gourd,
Follow the drinking gourd.
Keep on a-travelin that mighty road to freedom.
There s a little bit of heaven in that muddy road to freedom.
Follow the drinking gourd.
Keep on a-travelin that mighty road to freedom.
Step by step, keep a-travelin on.
Follow the drinking gourd
Source: https://www.flashlyrics.com/lyrics/the-new-christy-minstrels/the-drinkin-gourd-24
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SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLES
Example #1: The New Christy Minstrels & Gene Clark - 1963 - Part lll/V [video]
mcd220, Jun 16, 2008
AWESOME song!
"The Muddy Road To Freedom" (The Drinkin' Gourd).
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Example #2: Follow The Drinking Gourd - The Weavers - (Lyrics needed) [sound file]
Carlo Schena, Jun 14, 2011
LYRICS NEEDED: any help is really welcome
Album - Goodnight Irene 1949-1953 [Disc 2]
Track 19 of 30
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Example #3: "Follow the Drinking Gourd" - Chorus School Level II [video]
San Francisco Girls Chorus, Aug 17, 2011
Director Amy Fickenscher and Level II perform "Follow the Drinking Gourd" at SFGC's Spring Recital and Graduation, June 3, 2011.
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Example #4: Eric Bibb - Follow The Drinking Gourd
Riddle Films, Mar 19, 2013
From the television series, God's Greatest Hits, airing in Canada on VisionTV on Friday nights at 10:30pm.
-snip-
Here are selected comments from this video's discussion thread. Note my comment in the beginning of this post.
Numbers are added for referencing purposes only.
1. star gazer, 2015
"This was a song from slavery
The slaves made songs and there would be hidden messages in them"
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2. Nate 101, 2016
"This song is a spiritual. Also a code. It is telling you first thing in the morning leave follow the big diper. Than stay by trees and river. The river will keep the dogs of your sent. The trees have notes. Than (the old man) was a man at the ohio river and he will take you across. Than the conducters of the Underground Railroad will help u go to Canada"
**
REPLY
3. MrUnsprung, 2018
" "When the first quail call" is the time of year to run. Quail breeding calls are heard in mid-April in Alabama. "The dead trees show the way ... Left foot, Peg foot, Traveling on." The "Old Man" referred to was Peg Leg Joe, a conductor on the underground railroad, like Harriet Tubman. Peg Leg Joe marked trees and other landmarks with charcoal or mud shaped like a left foot and a round spot in place of the right foot. Runaways would be met on the banks of the Ohio and wait for conductors to take them to safety, perhaps Peg Leg Joe himself."
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4. Akai Smi, 2016
"Don't forget to mention it was a song to alert slaves when to run."
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REPLY
5. MrUnsprung, 2018
"It contains clues as to when to run, where to go, and how to get there."
**
6. bea g g, 2018
"Was watching the fresh prince of bel-air and in the 17th episode they talk about this song so now im obsessed with this song. And it's meaning. It's just amazing"
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This concludes Part III of this pancocojams series.
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