This song was originally collected in the Bahamas, where Alan Lomax and Mary Elizabeth Barnicle recorded it in 1935, sung in Nassau by a group of men from Andros Island. It appeared in Our Singing Country (1941) by John and Alan Lomax. Around 1942, it was issued on an album by the Library of Congress (#5, LP #L5). Pete Seeger recorded it on his first Folkways LP in the early 1950's. I learned it from Joe and Lynn Hickerson. (ET)
Go and dig my grave
Both long and narrow;
Make my coffin
Neat and strong.
(repeat)
Two to my head,
Two to my feet,
Two to carry me, Lord,
When I die.
(repeat)
hMy soul's gonna shine like a star,
My soul's gonna shine like a star,
like a star,
My soul's gonna shine like a star,
Lord, I'm bound for heaven when I die.
My soul's gonna shine like a star,
Gonna twinkle and twinkle like a
little star,
My soul's gonna shine like a star,
Lord, I'm bound for heaven when I die.
(repeat from beginning)