Midi version of the bar of music.
Bright Sparkles in the Churchyard
Midi version of the bar of music.
| May de Lord--He will be glad of me May de Lord--He will be glad of me May de Lord--He will be glad of me; In de heaven He'll rejoice. In de heaven, once, In de heaven, twice, In de heaven He'll rejoice, In de heaven, once, In de heaven, twice, In de heaven He'll rejoice. Bright sparkles in de churchyard, Give light unto de tomb, Bright summer, spring's over, Sweet flowers in de'r bloom. Bright sparkles in de church-yard, Give light unto de tomb, Bright summer, spring's over, Sweet flowers in de'r bloom. My mother, once, my mother, twice, my mother she'll rejoice. In de heaven, once, in de heaven, twice, In de heaven she'll rejoice. Mother, rock me in de cradle all de day Mother, rock me in de cradle all de day Mother, rock me in de cradle all de day Mother, rock me in de cradle all de day, |
All de day, all de day Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day, all de day, all de day, Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day. Oh, mother, don't ye love yer darlin' child, Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day Oh, mother, don't ye love yer darlin' child? Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day Mother, rock me in de cradle, rock me in de cradle, rock me in de cradle all de day All de day, all de day Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day, all de day, all de day, Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day. You may lay me down to sleep, my mother dear, Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day, You may lay me down to sleep, my mother dear, Oh, rock me in de cradle all de day |
Sundquist argues that this song contains a clear reference to Africa. The
"bright sparkles in the graveyard" refer to the Central African and
African American practice of putting broken glass and other sparkly things
around a grave. The mother of the song could be a mother church, a slave mother
or mother Africa. It represents work because it was a popular worksong. The
graveyard here is the post-reconstruction South. The song, argues Sundquist,
acts as for Du Bois as a link to the ancestors (To Wake the Nations
508-510).
| Chapter | Title of Chapter | Chapter's Song | Significance of the song | Author | Title | Comment |
| 7 | Of the Black Belt | Bright Sparkles in the Churchyard | "a step removed from the more primitive types: there is the maze-like medley" | Song of Solomon | "" | Work for others |