Topic: Lonnie McIntorsh - Lion and the Tribes of Judah-Lonnie McIntorsh Lyrics

[Johnm]

Hi all,
Lonnie McIntorsh recorded "Arise And Shine" the same day he recorded the other three songs in this thread, on January 31, 1928, in Memphis. He accompanied himself in C position in standard tuning and his playing had nice rhythmic push to it. I'd very much appreciate help with any bent bracketed passages or other places you think i've transcribed incorrectly. Here is "Arise And Shine":



Oh, I'd a soul that feel like, "There's nothing you can do."
Awake, your harvest is waiting, is a-waiting now for you
Arise, searchin' that sickle, and reap the golden grain
And you will 'ceive a starry crown, fadeth not away

REFRAIN: Arise and shine, for the light has come at last
For Jesus is here, and the cloudy day is past
What a joy in my soul, since Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

REFRAIN: Arise and shine, for the light has come at (guitar)
For Jesus is here, then the cloudy day (guitar)
What a joy in my soul, since Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

I owe my life to Jesus, he died to set me free
I have a home in Heaven, therein with Him I shall be
I join the angels singin', through eternity
And now I'm with the loved ones, who waited to welcome me

REFRAIN: Arise and shine, for the light has come at last
Jesus is here, for the cloudy day is past
What a joy in my soul, for the Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

REFRAIN: Arise and shine, for the light has come at last
For Jesus is here, and the cloudy day is past
What a joy in my soul, since Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

The Gospel light is ringin', almost in every land
You'll hear the voice of Jesus, that calls to every man
So get your ticket ready and don't delay the band
I'm on my way with Jesus, arise and take a stand

REFRAIN: Rise and shine, for the light has come at last
For Jesus is here, and the cloudy day is past
What a joy in my soul, since Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

REFRAIN: Rise and shine, for the light has come at last
For Jesus is here, and the cloudy day is past
What a joy in my soul, since Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

SOLO

REFRAIN: Arise and shine, for the light has come at last
Jesus is here, and the cloudy day is (guitar)
What a joy in my soul, since Comforter has come
He's brighter than the morning star, sweeter than the honeycomb

CODA

Edited 3/9 to pick up corrections from Blues Vintage

All best,
Johnm
 

[Blues Vintage]

Tough one, hope this helps,


Oh, I have a soul that feel like there's nothing you can do
Awake, your harvest is waiting, just waiting now for you
Arise searchin’ (circlin’ ?) that/thy sickle, and reap the golden green (dream?)
And you will ‘ceive a starry crown, (fate is not awake ?)


So get your ticket ready and don’t  delay the band
Be on thy way with Jesus, to rise and take a stand


I hear rise not arise in the last couple verses but not the final one.

[MarkC]

I’d never heard McIntorsh before, but the moment I heard him he reminded me of Joseph Pindar. The song that was discussed previously in this thread, “Sleep on Mother, Sleep On”, is very similar to “I Bid You Goodnight”, that was recorded (later) by the Pindar Family with Joseph Spence. It makes me wonder if McIntorsh was from the Bahamas. Here are the two songs, along with some info about their shared roots/similarities:





https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/DTbidgni.html

[Doug]

I agree with Blues Vintage... this is a tough one.  Especially that first verse.  (For the "don't delay the band" and "Be on thy way with Jesus" I agree with Blues Vintage).

For the first verse I'm hearing something inbetween the two of you:

Oh, I was told that feel like there's nothing you can do,
Awake your harvest is waiting, is waiting now for you,
Arise, 'sert in the sickle, and reap the golden grain,
And you will 'ceive a starry crown, fadeth not away.

I'm wondering if the weird word in line 3 is a clipped version of "insert."  And the end of that line I'm probably letting my guess at the meaning influence what I'm hearing... I suspect without context it does sound more like green or dream than grain.  And I have no idea what that first line says... or means. 

I appreciate you highlighting songs I wouldn't normally encounter, Johnm.  It's fun listening and trying to decipher them!  (Especially when you've done most of the work!)

[Johnm]

Thanks Blues Vintage and Doug, for the suggestions. I've incorporated most of what you suggested, Blues Vintage. I believe that the last word in 1.3 is "grain", but pronounced "green". Grain is harvested but green is not--I'll make a note in Weeniepedia about that pronunciation. I sure like this song, and like all of Lonnie McIntorsh's songs. It would have been interesting to hear him in his later life.

[Johnm]

Hi all,
We never really finished off "The Lion and the Tribes of Judah", which opened this thread. Uncle Bud really did the heavy lifting on this one a number of years ago. Lonnie McIntorsh once again accompanied himself out of C position in standard tuning. Here is an effort at finalizing the transcription, with a couple of minor changes from what uncle bud had posted. Thanks for any additional suggestions. It may help to go back to the beginning of the thread and read the process that led the transcription up to this point. The Biblical citations at the end of the transcription are from uncle bud's original post. Here is the song:



REFRAIN: The lion in the tribes of Judah
The root and the offsprings of David
The lily of the valley
He's the bright and the morning star

REFRAIN: The lion in the tribes of Judah
The root and the offspring of David
The lily of the valley
He's the bright and the morning star

He's the fairest of ten thousand
He's altogether loving
He's sweet as Roses Sharon
He's the bright and the morning star

He was seen in the fiery furnace
That protected three Hebrews
It was Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego*
Who the fire could do them no harm

REFRAIN: The lion in the tribes of Judah
The root and the offspring of David
The lily of the valley
He's the bright and the morning star

REFRAIN: The lion in the tribes of Judah
The root and the offspring of David
The lily of the valley
He's the bright and the morn' (guitar)

He's the fairest of ten thousand
He's altogether loving
He's sweet as Roses Sharon
He's the bright and the morning star

SOLO

Well, who's that comin' from Edom?**
With a garment dyed from Boz'ah**
Says it's Jesus Christ from Nazareth
I am His and He is mine

REFRAIN: The lion in the tribes of Judah
The root and the offspring of David
The lily of the valley
He's the bright and the morning star

Turn unto the Lord, oh backslidin' heathens
Who healest all of our diseases
And forgiveth our transgressions
And remember them anymore

CODA

*see Book of Daniel 3:23
**Bozrah. See Book of Isaiah 63:1

Edited 3/9 to pick up corrections from Blues Vintage and banjochris
Edited 3/10 to pick up corrections from Johnm
All best,
Johnm

[Blues Vintage]

Refrain, seems to alternate between “the” and “he’s” in the refrain in the “lion” and “lily’ lines. I hear the one below more often,

He’s a lion in the tribes of Judah
He ruled in the offspring of David
The lily of the valley
He's as bright as the morning star


The sweetest Rose in Sharon

4.4 Who the fire could do them no harm

8.3 Says it's Jesus Christ from Nazareth

This is what I got so far. I look into that last verse more in-depth later.

[banjochris]

In "Lion," John, I would suggest that for the last line of the refrain and other places the line appears, it should be
"He's the bright and the morning star."

Also for the last verse I'm pretty sure it begins "Turn unto" and I think it might be something like "Turn unto the Lord, you backsliding heathen" – less sure about the "heathen" but more so with the "you backsliding"
Chris

[banjochris]

Blues Vintage,
"root and offspring of David" is a definite biblical phrase, if you Google it it comes from Revelation and root of David comes from several places in the Bible – I think it's part of "Little Bitty Baby" as well.
Chris

[Blues Vintage]

Hi Chris, I thought about that last line in the refrain too but like this;

He's a bright and a morning star

For the offspring line I hear "in" not "and". But it's probably the biblical phrase indeed.

I had "backslide" too in my notes for the last verse.

[Johnm]

Thanks very much for the help, Blues Vintage and banjochris. I will incorporate some of your suggestions now, and I suspect will have to keep refining the transcription from there. Thanks!

[Johnm]

Re-listening, I know the phrase from the Bible is the Rose of Sharon, but I think Lonnie sang "Roses Sharon".

[Blues Vintage]

Some suggestions but far from sure, "our" two times in the verse can't be right, it sounds different in those spots.

Turn unto the Lord, oh backslidin' heathens
Who healest (eases?) all dire diseases
And forgive us our transgression   /   And forgive this dark transgression     
And remember them anymore

[Johnm]

Hi Blues Vintage,
Thanks for the suggestions. I'm leaving the last verse as I had it. The are a lot of "ours" in prayers--the Lord's Prayer has them in consecutive lines, so I don't see that as being out of the ordinary when addressing God.