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"Down in the River to Pray" (also known as "Down to the River to Pray," "Down in the Valley to Pray," "The Good Old Way," and "Come, Let Us All Go Down") is a traditional American song variously described as a Christian folk hymn, an African-American spiritual, an Appalachian song, and a gospel song. It gained popularity in 2000 after Alison Krauss performed it for the soundtrack of the Coen Brothers film, ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?''〔("Let's Go Down in the River to Pray" ), Martin Barillas, SperoNews, April 13, 2011〕 The exact origin of the song is unknown. Research suggests that it was composed by an African-American slave.〔''(Slave Songs of the United States )'' at Internet Archive〕 ==Lyrics and versions== The earliest known version of the song, titled "The Good Old Way," was published in ''Slave Songs of the United States'' in 1867.〔 The song (#104) is credited to "Mr. G. H. Allan" of Nashville, Tennessee, who was likely the transcriber rather than the author. The lyrics appear in the book as follows: :As I went down in de valley to pray, :Studying about dat good old way, :When you shall wear de starry crown, :Good Lord, show me de way. :O mourner, * let's go down, :let's go down, let's go down, :O mourner, let's go down, :Down in de valley to pray. : * According to some sources, the song was published in ''The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion'' in 1835, decades before the effort to gather and publish African-American spirituals gained momentum in the Reconstruction Era.〔 There is in fact a song called "The Good Old Way" in the Southern Harmony Hymnal.〔("The Good Old Way" ), Southern Harmony Online〕 That song, however, is a Manx hymn with a completely different melody and lyrics.〔("The Good Old Way / Sweet Hope of Glory" ), Mainly Norfolk: English Folk and Other Good Music〕 The lyrics begin as follows: :Lift up your heads, Immanuel's friends, :And taste the pleasure Jesus sends, :Let nothing cause you to delay, :But hasten on the good old way Another version, titled "Come, Let Us All Go Down," was published in 1880 in ''The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs'', a book about the Fisk Jubilee Singers.〔("Come, Let Us All Go Down" ) in ''The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs'', NIU Libraries Digitization Projects〕 That version also refers to a valley rather than a river. In some versions, "''in'' the river" is replaced by "''to'' the river". The phrase "in the river" is significant, for two reasons. The more obvious reason is that the song has often been sung at outdoor baptisms (such as the full-immersion baptism depicted in ''O Brother, Where Art Thou?'').〔 Another reason is that many slave songs contained coded messages for escaping. When the slaves escaped, they would walk ''in the river'' because the water would cover their scent from the bounty-hunters' dogs. Similarly, the "starry crown" could refer to navigating their escape by the stars.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.spiritualsproject.org/sweetchariot/Freedom/coded.php )〕 And "Good Lord, show me the way" could be a prayer for God's guidance to find the escape route, commonly known as "the Underground Railroad." Visitors to the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington D. C. have reported hearing a Hupa song played there which has the same melody as "Down in the River to Pray". It has also been suggested that certain features of the melody and phrasing are more typical of Native American music than gospel music or spirituals.〔("Down to the River to Pray" ), Musical Perceptions, July 8, 2004. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Down in the River to Pray」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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