Down to The River To Pray by Allison Krause from the movie, O Brother Where Art Thou.
It's a song from the movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou?" The popular title today of the song is "Down to the River to Pray". You have probably heard the song and even seen the movie. The history of the song is quite interesting. Originally it was a slave song sung by African-Americans as they worked in the fields and farms around the country. No one knows the true writer of the song but it was made popular in 1867 when it was published by a hymn writer by the name of G.H. Alan. The name of the song wasn't "Down to the River" though. The original published name was "The Good Old Way". If you look up scripture to see where this phrase is used in the Bible, you will come to only one verse out of the thousands that fits. Yes, it is Jeremiah 6:16. Walking in the Good Old Ways was written with this scripture in mind. The first verse goes like this:
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.
Well, that's the rest of the story. I couldn't pass this up because it is one the songs we often play at our congregation.
It's a song from the movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou?" The popular title today of the song is "Down to the River to Pray". You have probably heard the song and even seen the movie. The history of the song is quite interesting. Originally it was a slave song sung by African-Americans as they worked in the fields and farms around the country. No one knows the true writer of the song but it was made popular in 1867 when it was published by a hymn writer by the name of G.H. Alan. The name of the song wasn't "Down to the River" though. The original published name was "The Good Old Way". If you look up scripture to see where this phrase is used in the Bible, you will come to only one verse out of the thousands that fits. Yes, it is Jeremiah 6:16. Walking in the Good Old Ways was written with this scripture in mind. The first verse goes like this:
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.
Well, that's the rest of the story. I couldn't pass this up because it is one the songs we often play at our congregation.
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