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Cheer the Weary Traveler/Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler
Spiritual and Gospel Hymn;
ARTIST: Heavenly Gospel Singers on Bluebird in 1938
Dett: http://books.google.com/books?id=KsaBwK8f6DIC&pg=PA30&dq=%22Cheer+the+Weary+Traveler%22&lr=&cd=22#v=onepage&q=%22Cheer%20the%20Weary%20Traveler%22&f=false
CATEGORY: Traditional and Shape-Note Gospel;
DATE: 1800s
RECORDING INFO: Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveller
Dett, R. Nathaniel. Religious Folk-songs of the Negro: As Sung at Hampton Institute
Heavenly Gospel Singers "Cheer the Weary Traveler" Bluebird 1938
Tartt Collection "Show De Weary Traveler"
Work, John W. / American Negro Songs and Spirituals, Dover, Bk (1998/1940), p190
OTHER NAMES: "Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler;" "Weary Traveler" "Show De Weary Traveler"
RELATED TO: "Don't Be Weary, Traveler" by R. Nathaniel Dett
Don't be weary traveler
Come along home
SOURCES: Religious Folk-songs of the Negro: As Sung at Hampton Institute" by R. Nathaniel Dett.
John W. Work, "American Negro Songs and Spirituals"
Tartt Collection "Show De Weary Traveler."
NOTES: "Cheer the Weary Traveler" or "Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler" is an African-American spiritual first recorded by Heavenly Gospel Singers on Bluebird in 1938. The basic spiritual is old and in repertoire of WC Handy (Handy's Sacred Singers "Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveler") and also in Tartt Collection as "Show De Weary Traveler."
The standard lyrics below (Weary Traveler) are from "Religious Folk-songs of the Negro: As Sung at Hampton Institute" by R. Nathaniel Dett.
Cheer the Weary Traveler- Heavenly Gospel Singers Bluebird 1938
VERSE: [solo] And I wouldn't be
[All] You- - -
And this is the reason
Why- - -
I'm gonna pray my lord on my
knees- - -
And I wouldn't be ready to
die- - -
CHORUS: Oh Brother come and cheer
(Cheer the weary traveler)
Brother come and cheer
(Cheer the weary traveler
Brother come and cheer
(Cheer the weary traveler)
Because we're goin' on the heavenly road
VERSE: [solo] And I wouldn't be
[All] You- - -
And this is the reason
Why- - -
I'm gonna pray my lord on my
Knees- - -
And I wouldn't be ready to
die- - -
CHORUS: Oh Brother come and cheer
(Cheer the weary traveler)
Brother come and cheer
(Cheer the weary traveler
Brother come and cheer
(Cheer the weary traveler)
Because we're goin' on the heavenly road
Repeat CHORUS:
TAG: We are goin' on, the heavenly, road
WEARY TRAVELER- Ashley Bryant "I'm Going To Sing-Black American Spirituals Volume II." {New York, Atheneum, 1982; Pg. 17} From Religious Folk-songs of the Negro: As Sung at Hampton Institute By R. Nathaniel Dett
Let us cheer the weary traveler
Cheer the weary traveler.
Let us cheer the weary traveler
Along the heavenly way.
Verse 1
I'll take my gospel trumpet,
And I'll begin to blow,
And if my Savior helps me,
I'll blow wheever I go.
Verse 2
And if you meet with crosses,
And trials along the way,
Just keep your trust in Je-sus
And don't forget to pray.
Verse 3.
If you cannot sing like Angels,
If you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus
And say He died for all.
From John Work: "Aunt Ailsie" was a slave in Augusta County, Virginia. She was a powerful specimen of womanhood; her face was brown and sweet; her voice was soft and mellow; she was a woman of few words, but capable, and as a servant, invaluable. Her disposition was wholly lovable until she was angered, and then she was a lioness robbed of her cubs. "Aunt Ailsie" had greatly provoked her master, who would have killed her had she not been too valuable. He decided to sell her South. The slave trader bought her, placed her in his "gang" and went to Staunton on the first stage of the journey. They pitched camp on Sunny Hill, on the outskirts of the town. "Uncle Chester Bowling," her brother, heard the news and went out to Sunny Hill, and begged the trader to let him keep his sister in his cabin over night. The trader yielded, and that night the cabin was full of prayers and songs. Her slave friends came in and stayed all night. Not an eyed closed that night. They sang and prayed for help and comfort for "Aunt Ailsie," and when the bright morn of nature broke upon the world, "Aunt Ailsie" turned her way to the slave gang, bound for the South. The weary, heart-bowed slaves, in weird vioce, sang:
"Let us cheer the Weary Traveler,
Let us cheer the Weary Traveler,
Let us cheer the Weary Traveler,
Along the lonesome Way."
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