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Day Has Passed And Gone/Evening Shade
Traditional/Public Domain Old-Time Folk Hymn, Bluegrass Gospel; William Walker's Southern Harmony in 1844; John Leland, 1804
ARTIST: Wash Nelson, vocal (Rec: Mark Wilson, Annadeene Fraley and Mary Nelson, Ashland, Ky, May, 1973).
SHHET MUSIC: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/walker/harmony/files/hymn/Evening_Shade.html
CATEGORY: Traditional and Public Domain Gospel;
DATE: John Leland, 1804; William Walker's Southern Harmony in 1844
RECORDING INFO: Day Has Passed And Gone/Evening Shade (Hymn)-Anonymous/Leland, John
Alabama Sacred Harp Convention Singers. Sacred Harp Singing, Library of Congress AFS L11, LP (1959), trk# A.10 [1942/08]
McIntosh County Shouters. Fwys FE 4344 "Watch That Star"
Indian Bottom Regular Baptist church. Smithsonian-Folkways "Evening Shade"
Matteson, Richard- [Solo guitar] Mel Bay "Evening Shade"
Staple Singers on VeeJay
Traveling Echoes Days Passed and Gone Jewel 1966
http://wfmu.org/playlists/shows/7105 (They sing "The day has passed and gone")
OTHER NAMES: "Evening Shade" "Watch That Star"
SOURCES: Meade; E D Thomas' Hymns and Spiritual Songs- John Leland, 1804; E W Billups' The Sweet Songster- 'Dupuy'
NOTES: "The Day Has Passed And Gone" or "Evening Shade" is a traditional folk hymn that first apeared in William Walker's Southern Harmony in 1844. I arranged and published it in the 1990s in my Early Hymns of America book by Mel Bay. It's a fuging hymn in Walker's edition.
SONG NOTES: The Day Has Passed And Gone - Wash Nelson, vocal (Rec: Mark Wilson, Annadeene Fraley and Mary Nelson, Ashland, Ky, May, 1973). “I learned that when I was three years old”, Wash told us. “I don't forget bad.” And he was right: at ninety-three his memory was very impressive. Apparently, his ability to remember complex songs and texts at a young age gained him some local notoriety as a 'child preacher'. The tune is usually called Evening Shade and is found as such in William Walker's celebrated Southern Harmony. and elsewhere. A beautiful lined out version by the Indian Bottom Regular Baptist church can be heard on one (SF 40106) of the two important Smithsonian-Folkways CD collections that have been recorded by Jeff Titon. Titon reports that E D Thomas' Hymns and Spiritual Songs (usually called 'The Thomas Hymnal' by my informants) credits our text to John Leland, 1804, whereas E W Billups' The Sweet Songster consigns it to one 'Dupuy'. These two books are the most important sources and unifiers of tradition in our section of Kentucky, but I unfortunately don't have direct access to either one. Both tended to be printed and peddled quite locally within our region (the Thomas collection was first published in 1877 by a Regular Baptist pastor from Danville, Indiana whereas Billups published his collection in 1854 and lived in a number of locales along the Ohio River). Mary Lozier drew mainly upon The Sweet Songster as did Roscoe Holcomb (I believe), whereas Nimrod and the Garlands leaned more to the Thomas compilation (in fact, Sarah's religious repertory was very wide, ranging, as can be witnessed here, from the shape note repertory to Holiness shouts). The song itself is also common in black tradition, ranging from Watch That Star by the McIntosh County Shouters on Fwys FE 4344 to the eerie (and nearly unrecognizable) treatment by the Staple Singers on VeeJay. Wash includes two verses not included on the Indian Bottom recording.
The day has passed and gone, the evening shades appear
Oh, may we all remember well, the night of death draws near.
Now we'll lay our garments by, down on our beds to rest
But death may soon disrobe us all of what we now possess.
Lord, keep us safe this night, secure from all our fears
And angels guide us while we sleep 'til morning light appears.
But when we early rise and view the weary sun
May we set out to win the prize and after glory run.
But when our days are past and we from time removed
Oh, may we in the bosom rest, the bosom of our Lord.
EVENING SHADE- William Walker's Southern Harmony
Southern Harmony no. 46; First Line: The day is past and gone
Source: Baptist Harmony, p. 373; Meter: S.M.
Midi: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/walker/harmony/files/midi/Evening_Shade.midi
1. The day is past and gone,
The evening shades appear;
O may we all remember well
The night of death is near.
2. We lay our garments by,
Upon our beds to rest;
So death will soon disrobe us all
Of what we've here possessed.
3. Lord, keep us safe this night,
Secure from all our fears;
May angels guard us while we sleep,
Till morning light appears.
4. And when we early rise,
And view the unwearied sun,
May we set out to win the prize,
And after glory run.
5. And when our days are past,
And we from time remove,
O may we in thy bosom rest,
The bosom of thy love.
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