08 July 2021

"Bye and Bye" (Punch Baldwin, with the Georgia Mass Choir)

 
Hard to sit still while listening to this music.  Here are the lyrics:

(Bye and bye) Bye and bye
(Bye and bye) Bye and bye
(When I reach) When I reach
(That home) That home
(Beyond) Beyond the sky
(Where the) Wicked will cease from troubling
(And the) Weary will be at rest
(Every day) Every day will be Sunday
Bye and bye

When I reach that city (oh yes)
City so bright and fair (oh yes)
When all my friends and loved ones (oh yes)
Are gonna welcome me up there (oh yes)
Put on my long white robe
Lay down my heavy load
(Everyday) Everyday will be Sunday, bye and bye

Chorus

Verse
When I reach that city (oh yes)
City so bright and fair (oh yes)
Well all my friends and loved ones (oh yes)
Are gonna welcome me up there (oh yes)
Gonna look up Job, John, and Elijah
God told them to prophesy
(Everyday) Everyday will be Sunday, bye and bye

Chorus

When I reach that city (oh yes)
City so bright and fair (oh yes)
Well all my friends and loved ones (oh yes)
Are gonna welcome me up there (oh yes)
Gonna look up Job, John, and Elijah
God sent them to prophesy
(Every day) Every day will be Sunday, bye and bye

Chorus

(Every day) Every day will be Sunday (4 times)

(Oh Everyday ) Every day- (Will be Sunday) Every day
(Every day) Every day- (Will be Sunday) Every day (3 times)
(No more crying) Every day- (Over yonder) Every day
(No more dying) Every day- (Over yonder) Every day
(No more sickness) Every day- (Over there) Every day
(No more pain) Every day- (Over there) Every day
(Nothing but Joy) Every day
(Joy) Every day (7 times)
(Joy Joy) Every day-(Joy Joy) Every day-(Joy Joy) Every day-(Joy Joy) Every day
(Will you) Every day - (Be There) Every day (2 times)
(Wave your hands) Every day- (If you?re going) Every day (2 times)
(Will you) Every day- (Be There) Every day (2 times)
(Over Yonder) Every day (4 times)
( I feel like Praising) Every day ( I feel like dancing) Every day( I feel like Dancing) Every day
(When I get to Heaven) Every day- (Gonna shout) Every day (2 times)
(Nobody there) Every day- (Nobody) Every day- (Nobody there) Every day- (Will put me out) Every day
(Every day) Every day- (will be Sunday) Every day
(Every day) Every day will be Sunday bye and bye
bye and bye

"The Georgia Mass Choir is an American Gospel music choir from Macon, Georgia.  The ensemble, which numbers 150 members, was founded in 1983 by Rev. Milton Biggham, the lead vocalist and songwriter for the group. He put together the group from over 600 applicants, and recorded with them on his label Savoy Records in the middle of the decade.  In 1996 the ensemble appeared in the Whitney Houston movie The Preacher's Wife and performed at the 1996 Olympic Games."

This gospel song is different from the Christian hymn (and country western favorite) In The Sweet By and By that has been covered by Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Elvis Presley et al, but I wonder if there might be some relationship between the two.

5 comments:

  1. Here's another one that will impress you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OpO6EL2kbM

    It's called the "The Presence of the Lord is Here." I am impressed at how the choir director gets everyone involved.

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  2. Replies
    1. I think so. The dictionary lists "bye and bye" as "dated", and a Google search with the terms + "spiritual" yields a million hits for the "bye and bye" form vs. ten million for "by and by." I left it that way to match the title on the video and the text of the lyrics.

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    2. Ah, got it. Thanks! I'm not a native speaker, so I wondered if this was an idiom I'm just unfamiliar with.

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    3. As I understand it, the phrase refers to a future time ("as time goes by") but when used for the afterlife/heaven etc it becomes conflated with "goodbye" and thus the alternative spelling.

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