All My Trials

"All My Trials" was an important folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains: "All my trials, Lord,/Soon be over." This message, that no matter how bleak the situation seemed, the struggle would "soon be over," propelled the song to the status of an anthem, recorded by many of the leading artists of the era.

Related Topics:
1950s - 1960s - Bahamian

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The song is often classified as a spiritual for its apparent sentiment that the Bible offers a promise of hope and liberty, even in the darkest hour: "I had a little book, was given to me,/And every page spelled liberty". Nevertheless, the identity of the "little book" remains ambiguous, and the reference to class divisions makes the liberty seems as much political as religious. According to the song, this hope is something that cannot be stolen from the people, no matter how poor or oppressed they are: "If religion was a thing that money could buy,/The rich would live and the poor would die."

Related Topics:
Spiritual - Bible

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The song was recorded numerous times by folk artists, including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Another version of the song, "All My Sorrows," was made popular by the Kingston Trio. A fragment of the song is used in the Elvis Presley anthem An American Trilogy.

Related Topics:
Pete Seeger - Joan Baez - Peter, Paul and Mary - Kingston Trio - Elvis Presley - An American Trilogy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~