Since this song is a "spiritual" I'm choosing to favor the latter version, with its colloquial, and hopefully-not-too-offensive, dialect, to give the song more authenticity.
When I ponder the difficult lives of the colonial slaves on our early-American soils, I rejoice that some of them knew the mercies of Jesus, and kept their Faith alive, even through sometimes horrible and harrowing circumstances, by singing such simple, arrows-from-the-heart, hymns of Hope.
May we also, amid the deluge of our social media, choose daily to be active SING-ers of simple songs that move our hearts, and stir our spirits toward God.
I Kneel Beside the Jordan River
Feel the lonely billows rollin' over me,
Know that I will soon be on the other side,
Free— forever free;
Listen! Do you hear the angel sayin',
"Wontcha come along without delayin'?
Soon you'll leave your sins behind, and all your prayin'—
Walk on through with me."
I tremble on the brink, I take the Angel's hand,
Thinkin' of the family I leave behind,
Turn my meditation to the Promised Land,
To my Savior kind;
Listen! Do you hear what I am hearin'?
"Dontcha see the Majesty a-nearin'?
Dontcha want to wash away this awful fearin'?
Step into the sea."
I step into the waters that are rollin' on,
Longin' for the loved ones all a-gone before,
Steppin' ever deeper till my footing's gone,
To the brighter Shore;
Listen! Do you hear the happy singin'?
See the glory Angels 'round me wingin'?
In my Savior's loving arms [loving arms] I'll soon be clingin'—
Bless-ed evermore!
____________________________
Composed on March 30, 2007. © 2007 Stanley K. Brubaker / Brooksong LLC
REQUEST: If you happen to have, or know someone who has, a trained, or gifted/ high-quality voice, and especially if you live reasonably close to me, I would be glad to have some volunteers. See the Contact page on this site for our address and a map of where Janice and I live.
___________________________
Technical Notes: I shot this video using an iPhone 6, while simultaneously recording audio from an old E303 Yamaha Keyboard (Nylon Harp and Air Choir voices)into an iPad Pro 12.9, via the Auria Pro app, connected through an iRig Duo Pro interface. I hope to do a little video before too long showing how some of that works.