[Music]
And let this feeble body fail,
And let it faint or die;
My soul shall quit this mournful vale
And soar to worlds on high.
And I'll sing hallelujah,
And you'll sing hallelujah,
And we'll all sing hallelujah,
When we arrive at home.
This text by Charles Wesley, supplemented by the infectious chorus and
sung to this swingful tune, was widely popular in the first part of
the nineteenth century. It is given more fully under 'Pleasant Hill'.
The song is found, SOH 107 and HH 102.
The tune had qualities which made it widely popular. There is of
course no knowing whether the many variant forms which I have found
derive from the above tune; but I have given them collectively the
name the 'Hallelujah' tune family. Other members of the family in this
collection are 'Stephens', 'Pilgrim's Triumph', 'Faithful Soldier',
'Tender Care', 'Sawyer's Exit', 'O I'm So Happy', and 'Converted Thief
(a)'. Related melodies with secular texts are 'The Reilly Song',
Thomas, p. 166; 'Chickens They are Crowing', Sharp, ii., 378; 'Lord
Thomas and Fair Eleanor', Sharp, i., 125; 'Virginian Lover', Sharp,
ii., 149f.; 'Banks of Sweet Dundee', Sharp, i., 399; 'The Pinery Boy',
Shoemaker, p. 262; 'Kilrush Air' Petrie, Nos. 167 and 283; and 'Tweed
Side', SMM, p. 9.
No. 226
FEW DAYS, SOC 209