Ella Jenkins - Children's Songs "Who Fed The Chickens" And "Did You Feed My Cow?"

Smithsonian Folkways, Dec 5, 2012

Watch Ella Jenkins' performance of "Who Fed the Chickens?" from the Ella Jenkins Live at the Smithsonian DVD. Recorded with children from the Smithsonian Institution Early Enrichment Center, Ella made this video so kids at home could also participate. This song is included on her Smithsonian Folkways album 'Get Moving with Ella Jenkins.'...

All songs written or arranged by Ella Jenkins/Ell-Bern Publishing Co., ASCAP
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This isn't the first release date for this record.

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post showcases a YouTube video of  Ella Jenkins teaching the song "Who Fed The Chickens?" to a group of young children. This post also showcases a sound file of adults singing the song "Did You Feed My Cow?", a traditional African American song that  was arranged and popularized by Ella Jenkins.

In addition, this pancocojams post includes information about Ella Jenkins from her Wikipedia page and from an online tribute article about remarkable accomplishments to children's music.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.  

Thanks to Ella Jenkins for her music and thanks to all those who are featured in these YouTube examples. Thanks also to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of these examples on YouTube.
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Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2012/10/jambo-ella-jenkins-lyric-sound-file.html for a 2012 pancocojams post entitled "Jambo" - Ella Jenkins (Lyrics, Sound File, & Video).
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This post on Ella Jenkins is part of an ongoing pancocojams series that showcases African American performing artists whose last names are included on the United States Census (2010) list of  most common Black American surnames.

For the purpose of this series, I'm usually limiting these posts to African American performing artists with a last name that is listed as one of the top 100 most common Black surnames in the United States.

For example, the United States Census (2010) documents that "Jenkins" is the #44th most common surname (last name) among Black people in the United States. 

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2024/09/the-fifty-most-common-black-last-names.html for the pancocojams post entitled "The Fifty Most Common Black Last Names In The United States And The List Of Fifty Most Common White Last Names In The United States (US Census 2010)".

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SHOWCASE YOUTUBE EXAMPLE #2

Ella Jenkins - Topic, May 21, 2015

Provided to YouTube by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Did You Feed My Cow? · Ella Jenkins

African-American Folk Rhythms

℗ 1998 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

Released on: 1998-10-20
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This isn't the first release date for this record.

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INFORMATION ABOUT ELLA JENKINS
Excerpt #1
From  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ella_Jenkins
"Ella Jenkins (born August 6, 1924) is an American singer-songwriter. Called "The First Lady of the Children's Folk Song", she has been a leading performer of folk and children's music.[1][2] Her album,

Multicultural Children's Songs (1995), has long been the most popular Smithsonian Folkways release. She has appeared on numerous children's television programs and in 2004, she received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.[3][4] According to culture writer Mark Guarino, "across her 67-year career, Jenkins firmly established the genre of children’s music as a serious endeavor — not just for artists to pursue but also for the recording industry to embrace and promote."[5]

Family and personal life

Jenkins was born in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in predominantly lower-middle-class neighborhoods in the south side of Chicago. Although she received no formal musical training, she benefited from her rich musical surroundings. Her uncle Floyd Johnson introduced her to the harmonica and the blues of such renowned musicians as T-Bone Walker, Memphis Slim and Big Bill Broonzy. Her family frequently moved around the south side and, as she moved to different neighborhoods, she learned new children's rhythms, rhymes and games.[6] Gospel music became a part of her soundscape as neighborhood churches broadcast their services onto the street.[1] She also enjoyed tap dancing lessons at the local theater and was able to go to the Regal Theater to see such performers as Cab Calloway, Count Basie, and Peg Leg Bates. Cab Calloway is the person who she credits with getting her interested in call and response singing.[7] While attending Woodrow Wilson Junior College, she became interested in the music of other cultures through her Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican friends.[6] In 1951, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with minors in Child Psychology and Recreation from San Francisco State University.[1] Here, she picked up songs of the Jewish culture from her roommates. Upon graduating, she returned to Chicago where she began her career."...

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/smithsonian-center-folklife-cultural-heritage/2024/08/06/a-century-of-ella-jenkins-tributes-to-the-first-lady-of-childrens-music/ "A Century of Ella Jenkins: Tributes to the First Lady of Children’s Music"

Over her decades-long career as a beloved musical educator, Ella Jenkins has encouraged children to use participation and individual creativity to sing and learn together. Across forty albums, the “First Lady of Children’s Music” introduced the African American call-and-response form to an enormous audience of eager listeners and taught kids to sing, dance, count, share cultures and traditions, and play musical instruments of all kinds.

A GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award winner, she brought her music to the international stage, from our own Smithsonian Folklife Festival to Sesame Street, Barney and Friends, and Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Each of Ella’s albums is a monument to her legacy of fostering compassion and mutual understanding through music.
[...]

A Foundation of Folkways

The day Ella Jenkins brought a demo of herself singing a children’s song to Moses Asch in 1956 was important for her future and for Folkways Records. The label had always had children’s music as a major part of its catalog, but she became one of their bestselling artist for decades to come.  Ella’s sales made it possible for Asch to create a wide-ranging catalog of albums including tribal music and science sounds, which otherwise would not have supported themselves.

[...]

She went to San Francisco State University and studied sociology, child psychology, and recreation. She got a job at the YMCA in the 1950s singing with teens and creating programs that incorporated world music. She has always been good at getting children to sing along—frequently to call-and-response songs. These talents led her to host the Chicago public television show This Is Rhythm. The theme of rhythm was central to her programs and later work. By the time she went to see Asch at Folkways, she had decided to devote her life to music.

[...]

The first thing the Smithsonian did after acquiring Folkways in 1987 was make sure all of Ella’s records were in print. As soon as the compact disc appeared, Smithsonian Folkways created about forty titles in the format; roughly half were Ella’s."...
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Visitor comments are welcome.

The Meaning Behind The Lyrics To "Wade In The Water"

Ms.Fluzo, July 19, 2010

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Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents some information about the African American Spiritual "Wade In The Water" and presents various theories about what that song means and how it was used by enslaved African Americans.

This post showcases the version of Wade In The Water that was recorded by Ella Jenkins and the the Goodwill Spiritual Choir of Chicago in 1960s. The lyrics to that version of "Wade In The Water" are found at https://genius.com/Ella-jenkins-wade-in-the-water-lyrics .

The content of this post is presented for historical, religious, and cultural purposes/

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composers of "Wade In The Water". Thanks also to Ella Jenkins and the Goodwill Spiritual Choir of Chicago for their musical legacies. Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publisher of this sound file on YouTube.

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This post is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the African American Spiritual "Wade  In Water" and songs that are based on that Spiritual. Google "Wade In The Water Pancocojams  or click the "Wade In The Water" tag below for other pancocojams posts in that series.

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SPIRITUAL "WADE IN THE WATER" 
Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_in_the_Water

"Wade in the Water" (Roud 5439) is an African American jubilee song, a spiritual—in reference to a genre of music "created and first sung by African Americans in slavery.

[...]

In his 1925 book, Crisis, W. E. B. Du Bois mentioned "Wade in the Water" as performed by the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet. DuBois wrote that "You'll never tire of the melodious rich blended voices of the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, Sunset Four, and Harrod's Jubilee Singers."[18]: 155, 259 "...
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Read my comment in this post's discussion section about this meaning of the word "jubilee". 

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Excerpt #2
From https://yonamariemusic.com/yona/blog/249/the-meanings-behind-wade-in-the-water The Meanings Behind Wade In The Water, by Yona Marie, March 16 2022
..."Wade In The Water's Official Publishing

This popular song likely has origins that date at least back to the 1870s. John Wesley Work Jr. spent three decades at the HBCU Fisk University, collecting a series of songs from the original Fisk Jubilee Singers.

The original Fisk Jubilee Singers were active in the 1870s, and John decided to revive their works with a new smaller group called The Sunset Four Jubilee Singers.

The lyrics to this song were first published in 1901 in New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers by John Wesley Work Jr. and his brother Frederick J. Work.

The first recording of it was performed by the Sunset Four Jubilee Singers and released by Paramount Records in 1925. "....

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ONLINE EXCERPTS ABOUT THE MEANINGS OF THE SPIRITUAL "WADE IN THE WATER"
These excerpts are given in no particular order. and are numbered for referencing purposes only.

More than one of these viewpoints about the meaning of the Spiritual "Wade In The Water" can be true at the same time.    

I. THE "WADE IN THE WATER" SPIRITUAL REFER TO THE ISREALITES FLEEING EGYPT 
Excerpt 1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_in_the_Water

Interpretations of the lyrics

Many of the songs in the original Fisk Jubilee Singers songbooks dealt with themes from both the Old and New Testament. According to a 2002 article written by Dave Watermulder, J. Amber Hudlin, and Ellie Kaufman at George Washington University, the song reflects the Israelites' escape out of Egypt as found in Exodus.[29]"...

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Excerpt #2
From https://artandtheology.org/2020/09/07/wade-in-the-water-artful-devotion/
..."Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”....
—Exodus 14:19–31

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II. THE "WADE IN THE WATER" LYRICS ARE CODED INSTRUCTIONS TO PEOPLE TRYING TO ESCAPE SLAVERY (THIS THEORY IS ASSOCIATED WITH HARRIET TUBMAN & THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD) 

Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_in_the_Water
...."Songs of the Underground Railroad

According the PBS Newshour—while it "has not been proven, it is believed"—that "Wade in the Water" was one of the songs associated with the Underground Railroad—a network of secret routes and safe houses used by slaves in the United States to find freedom.[5]

It is believed that Harriet Tubman, who made thirteen trips to the South and helped free more than 70 people, used this song to warn slaves to get off the trail and into the water to prevent dogs—used by the slavers—from finding them.[5][7][6][30]: 18 

In 1993, Arthur C. Jones—a University of Denver Professor in the Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Theory Department, published the first edition of this book, Wade in the water: the wisdom of the spirituals.[7] Jones established "The Spirituals Project" in 1998 at the university's Lamont School of Music, to preserve and revitalize the "music and teachings of the sacred folk songs called spirituals"—"created and first sung by African Americans in slavery."[1] Jones referenced "Wade in the water" in describing how Harriet Tubman and others improvised on "already existing spirituals", employing them "clandestinely in the multilayered struggle for freedom."[7]: 51, 55 

In 2002, Maryland Public Television in collaboration with the Maryland Historical Society and Maryland State Archives, produced "Pathways to Freedom: Maryland and the Underground Railroad" as a teaching guide, which included a section on how songs that many slaves knew had "secret meanings" that they could be "used to signal many things." They cited the example of Harriet Tubman using "Wade in the Water" to "tell escaping slaves to get off the trail and into the water to make sure the dogs slavecatchers used couldn’t sniff out their trail. People walking through water did not leave a scent trail that dogs could follow."[31] Certain songs were believed to have contained explicit instructions to fugitive slaves on how to avoid capture and the route to take to successfully make their way to freedom.[32]"

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.proz.com/kudoz/english/religion/739524-%22god%E2%80%99s-a-gonna-trouble-the-water%22.html WADE IN THE WATER ON THE UGRR by Calvin Earl |  posted in: African American History, Blog, Spirituals, Underground Railroad |  1, June 1, 2017
" “Wade In The Water is one of the spirituals that has many secret codes embedded within the song that was used to give guidance to the slave as he embarked on his journey to freedom on the Underground Railroad. The lyrics in this spiritual talk not only about the religious ceremony as it pertains to the Christian Church where the religious rite of sprinkling water onto a person’s forehead or of immersion in water, or as John the Baptist baptized people in the river symbolizing purification or regeneration and admission into life as a Christian. ‘Wade in the water, ‘God’s gonna trouble the water’ for the slaves trying to escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad, meant the first thing the slave master would do would be to send out the bloodhounds to track the slaves down. The bloodhounds could track the slaves easily on land, but the lyrics “God’s gonna trouble the water” tell the slave to actually find a body of water and then walk or wade in the water in that way the bloodhounds would lose the scent of the escaping slave and the slave would be safe from the dogs tracking them down.

Also in the lyrics ‘See that band all dressed in red, looks like the band that Moses led’ -It is thought that the lyrics reference Harriet Tubman whose nickname was ‘Moses of her people’. Many of the spirituals lyrics have dual meanings in the songs and in this song Moses and Harriet Tubman’s names are interchangeable because Harriet like the story in the Bible where Moses led the slaves to freedom, Harriet did the same for the slaves in the 1800’s in America.”…

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Excerpt #3
From https://yonamariemusic.com/yona/blog/249/the-meanings-behind-wade-in-the-water The Meanings Behind Wade In The Water, by Yona Marie, March 16 2022
…”Wade In The Water And The Underground Railroad

Although it is not confirmed, it is widely taught that Harriet Tubman, who made several trips to the South and helped free more than 70 people in the mid-19th century, used this song as a part of the journey.

 While the lyrics generally have a more religious interpretation, this song was used as a code for the slaves to get off the trail and into the water. Slavers used dogs to find escaped slaves, and the water helped hide their scent.

It is important to note that spirituals like these were already popular in the black community even before Harriet Tubman took this journey.

She is said to have taken several spirituals that were well-known and could be used to signal many different messages. Since blacks were often known to sing, white people wouldn't be alarmed by hearing it."...

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Excerpt #4
From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg_8L96E3eU Wade In The Water- Ella Jenkins

[This is the link for the YouTube sound file of "Wade In The Water" that is embedded in this pancocojams post.]  

P La, 2017 [comment]
"This beautiful song help slaves escape to freedom by telling them to run to the river because the dogs can not pick up your scent once your in the water 😊 not only this song but many other songs slaves sung to help give them instructions to freedom so the master would not know what they were talking about bout think they were just singing a song 😊this is a very powerful message"

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Excerpt #5
From https://artandtheology.org/2020/09/07/wade-in-the-water-artful-devotion/ "Wade in the Water (Artful Devotion)", Posted on September 7, 2020 by Victoria Emily Jones
..."According to oral lore, Harriet Tubman used the song “Wade in the Water” to communicate strategy to slaves traveling the Underground Railroad: its coded language alerted freedom seekers that bounty hunters were on their trail with bloodhounds and that they should jump into the river so that the dogs couldn’t track their scent. This popular myth about the song has not been confirmed, and the National Park Service, which preserves historical sites associated with the Underground Railroad and promotes research on the topic, suggests that it’s probably not true."...
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The hyperlinked words "probably not true" leads to the website https://www.nps.gov/hatu/planyourvisit/upload/MD_TubmanFactSheet_MythsFacts_2.pdf Myths & Facts About Harriet Tubman

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III. THE "GOD'S GONNA TROUBLE THE WATER" LYRICS OF WADE IN THE WATER REFER THE BIBLE CHAPTER /VERSE JOHN 5: Verses 2-9 
Excerpt #1
From https://yonamariemusic.com/yona/blog/249/the-meanings-behind-wade-in-the-water The Meanings Behind Wade In The Water, by Yona Marie, March 16 2022

..."This song ["Wade In TheWater"] references the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan River into the promised land. Deuteronomy 30 verses 11-16 is a message from Moses directly to those who were following him to freedom

[…]

The new testament also gives us more insight into what it means when God is going to trouble the water when you look at the King James version. John 5:4 explains these waters below:

"For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had."

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-wade-in-the-water History of Hymns: "Wade in the Water" by C. Michael Hawn, Oct. 14, 2015
..."The refrain of “Wade in the Water” is based upon the narrative of John 5:2-9. It is the story of the pool by the Sheep Gate—Bethzatha in Hebrew. A portion of this passage follows: “Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had ”(John 5:2-4, KJV) Perhaps, among other possibilities, this is a reference of healing in body and soul."...

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IV. THE "WADE IN THE WATER" SPIRITUAL HAS RELIGIOUS MEANINGS FOR PEOPLE'S EVERY DAY LIFE
Excerpt #1
From https://yonamariemusic.com/yona/blog/249/the-meanings-behind-wade-in-the-water The Meanings Behind Wade In The Water, by Yona Marie, March 16 2022

...."Deeper Religious Interpretation

The waters of the Jordan represent freedom from oppression, breakthrough, and deliverance that we all can relate to in some way. Howard Thurman, a well-known dean at HBCU Howard University, described the troubled waters in his book "The Negro Spiritual Speaks of Life and Death" as a huge moment of transformation.

Howard wrote, "The ‘troubled waters’ meant the ups and downs, the vicissitudes of life. Within the context of the ‘troubled’ waters of life, there are healing waters, because God is in the midst of the turmoil.” God is going to trouble the water, and you may be uncomfortable, but it's ultimately what will make you a better person on the other side.

[…]

Stirred or troubled waters may shake up your faith, but God calls us to wade in the water and go through the troubling with faith in Him in order to get to the other side, the Promise Land.”…

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Excerpt #2
From https://blackhistory360.wordpress.com/2011/02/18/decoding-wade-in-the-water/ "DECODING WADE IN THE WATER" published by WALTER RHETT, 8 FEBRUARY 2011
….”People think the song is about Moses and Exodus, but the troubled waters the spiritual refers to are in a New Testament verse. The conventional wisdom of history contends the song sent a signal to runaway slaves: Use the river so the hounds can’t trace you. Tonight is the moment for flight; move swiftly; the reaction will be fierce.

[…]

You can’t imagine the joy of my surprise. When I found out what following that trouble meant.

[...]

The fourth verse of John 5 that describes how the angel stirs the waters of the pool is left out of several excellent bible manuscripts and a debate rages about whether it was actually in the original manuscript written by John. The word, “troubled” or “stirred,” in the original Greek refers to “an uncertain affinity.” In other words, the angel brings forth a power whose source was unknown by observation or direct sensory means.

But its results were consistent and clear. This affinity had the ability to heal afflictions and was transferred to the waters; its blessing received by the first one in. Christ transfers this blessing, by word and deed, to all who believe in faith. But like the healing at the Bethesda pool, often the benefits of god’s grace only come in certain seasons.

The spiritual, “Wade in the Water,” tells how to practice faith; and, like algebra, it re-orders the events. In the bible story, the water is troubled first. In the spiritual, those who will be blessed are urged to step into the waters first, before the angel of god comes. The song stresses meeting hardships with courage and “stiddy” faith; gather now and get ready, the healing is promised. Gather now, so that all will be among the first received and delivered by the gifts of grace that spring forth in dark times.

[…]

So in the legacy of “Wade in the Water,” we know, dramatic change can come to our lives. John, the youngest of the disciples, in just 22 days of his life, records the dramatic witness of Christ. The miracle John describes in Jerusalem at the Bethesda pool waters is not recorded in any of the other three gospels.

So “Wade in the Water” is more than instructions for running away, which only a small number of border state slaves were able to do. It is a song text of a dramatic story of god’s ability to restore and redeem. The African songs known as the spirituals are witness and memory. They are a text for the inner heart. They express its highest calling.”…

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Excerpt
From  https://artandtheology.org/2020/09/07/wade-in-the-water-artful-devotion/ Wade In The Water ("Artful Devotion)" by Victoria Emily Jones, Sept. 7, 2020
..."In the documentary God’s Greatest Hits, pastor and gospel recording artist Wintley Phipps says, “‘Wade in the Water,’ to me, . . . means people who are afraid of moving forward, progressing, taking a step, and facing uncertainty—go ahead, wade in the water. Take that step. As terrifying as it may seem at that very moment, it’s gonna be alright, and the miracle we seek is gonna happen.”

[...]

“Wade in the Water” affirms that God is going to stir things up; he’s going to do something big. Just like he did when he brought Israel up out of Egypt."...

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Ella Jenkins and the Goodwill Spiritual Choir - This Is The Way I Pray In My Home (sound file, lyrics)

Edited by Azizi Powell

This pancocojams post presents an example of the African American Spiritual "This Is The Way I Pray In My Home" (also known as "This Is The Way I Pray"). I'm using the longer song title to differentiate it from secular or religious songs with similar titles.

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

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to the unknown composer of this song. Thanks also to the arranger and vocalists of the version of this version of "This Is The Way I Pray" that is embedded in this post. And thanks to the publisher of this YouTube sound file.

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EDITOR'S COMMENT
I woke up with the song "This Is The Way I Pray In My Home" in my head. I think that I remember learning it in my childhood or early teen years at Union Baptist Temple Church (Atlantic City, New Jersey 1950s, 1960s). However, I'm not sure about that.

The sound file that is embedded in this post is the only YouTube example of this song that I've found to date. I haven't found any lyrics for "This Is The Way I Pray In My Home" online. I also haven't found any information about this song* and I'm not sure if it is a Spiritual or an early Gospel song.

The lyrics that are included in this post are my transcription of the sound file. Since this song is a Spiritual, its lyrics or their order aren't fixed. As such, I've included two additional verses after the transcribed lyrics.

*For example, "This Is The Way I Pray" isn't included in the negrospirituals.com song index http://www.negrospirituals.com/songs/index.htm. This song also isn't included in Mudcat folk music forum's African-American Spirituals Permathread http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=38686.

If you have any information about this song or remember singing it, please share that information in the comment section below. Thanks!

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INFORMATION ABOUT THIS SOUND FILE
From http://www.folkways.si.edu/ella-jenkins/african-american-folk-rhythms/childrens/music/album/smithsonian African-American Folk Rhythms; Ella Jenkins SFW45003
"Ella Jenkins and the Goodwill Spiritual Choir collaborate in this lively presentation of African- American music for adults and older children. The choral arrangements of spirituals, work songs, children's rhymes, and other forms present a cross-section of African-American experience and music in a variety of styles. Originally released in 1960, the songs on this recording continue to be exciting to sing, to think about, and to enjoy as a remarkable collaboration between a gifted artist and a community choir.

YEAR RELEASED 1998
RECORD LABEL Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
SOURCE ARCHIVE Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage
COPYRIGHT 1998 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings"
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Initially I wrote that I wasn't sure if "This Is The Way I Pray" is an African American Spiritual or an early African American Gospel song. After publishing this post, it occurred to me to look up information about this sound file. Since the "Goodwill Spiritual Choir" is the name of the choir that recorded this song with folk singer Ella Jenkins, it's likely that "This Is The Way I Pray" is a Spiritual (meaning, an African American religious song that was composed prior to the 20th century).

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LYRICS: THIS IS THE WAY I PRAY IN MY HOME
(composer?)

This is the way I pray in my home
[Oh, Lord]
This is the way I pray in my home.
[In my home, oh, Lord]
This is the way I pray in my home,
in my home
[Oh, Lord]
This is the way I pray in my home.

I pray just like this
[Lord, have mercy]
I pray just like this in my home
[In my home, oh Lord]
I pray just like this
[Lord have mercy]
This is the way I pray in my home

This is the way I sing in my home.
[Oh, Lord]
This is the way I sing in my home.
[In my home, oh Lord]
This is the way I sing in my home,
in my home
[Oh, Lord]
This is the way I sing in my home.

I sing just like this
[Praise His name]
I sing just like this in my home
[In my home, oh Lord]
I sing just like this
[Praise His name]
This is the way I sing
in my home.

This is the way I mourn in my home
[Oh, Lord]
This is the way I mourn in my home.
[In my home, oh Lord]
This is the way I mourn in my home,
in my home
[Oh, Lord]
This is the mourn in my home.

I mourn just like this
[Mmm mmm]
I mourn just like this in my home
[In my home, oh Lord]
I mourn just like this
[Mmm mmm]
This is the way I mourn in my home.
-snip-
This is my transcription from Ella Jenkins sound file found below.

Here are two additional verses using this same pattern:
This is the way I shout in my home
[Oh, Lord]
This is the way I shout in my home.
[In my home, oh, Lord]
This is the way I shout in my home,
in my home
{Oh Lord]
This is the way I shout in my home.

I pray just like this
[Hallelujah]
I shout just like this in my home
[In my home, oh Lord]
I shout just like this
[Hallelujah]
This is the way I shout in my home

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SHOWCASE SOUND FILE

This is the Way I Pray



Ella Jenkins - Topic Published on May 21, 2015

Provided to YouTube by Smithsonian Folkways Recordings

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