Where can I find complete lyrics to Mahalia Jackson song?
August 19, 2008 6:04 PM Subscribe
How do I find the complete lyrics of "Sometime I Wonder" aka "Will I Ever Rest?" I have a recording by Mahalia Jackson but cannot understand some of the words.
Best answer: This chap makes available on his site a 350 page PDF discography of Mahalia Jackson. It doesn't contain either of those titles. Searching the PDF does reveal this entry though:
I wonder if I will ever rest (531012B)
I wonder wether the day will ever come when I'll have rest,
Lord I wonder wether the day will ever come, Lord,
when I'll have rest, oh Lord.
Ever since I, Lord, can remember I had to toil,
struggle so hard,
Lord I don't know wether the day will ever come
When I'll have rest m-m have rest
I never, never shall forget,
What my poor father, oh, he said to me
"Child I want you always be mindful
Of obstruction well sure 'nuff in your way".
Lord as that goes for flesh to play,
Sleep at the door, close in my face,
God I wonder, will rest ever,
Come my way, oh Lord my way.
posted by tellurian at 9:09 PM on August 19, 2008
I wonder if I will ever restCould that be the song you're looking for? If so, the same site has a 69 page PDF of lyrics which has this in it:
Alberta Hunter wrote the song “Will The Day Ever Come Won [sic] I Can Rest” in 1948 and published it in 1950. She asked Mahalia’s record label president (Bess Berman, Apollo Records) if she would have Mahalia record it. Mahalia recorded the song as “I Wonder If I Will Ever Rest” but Hunter was not given credit by the record company so no royalties would be paid. At a concert in Brooklyn, at which both Berman and Hunter were present, Mahalia announced the song as “My next song, ladies and gentlemen was written by this lady sitting right here, Alberta Hunter, a good friend of mine.” Bess Berman had to relinquish her writes to the song back to Hunter and paid her retroactive royalties.
Alberta Hunter: A Celebration In Blues by Frank C. Taylor & Gerald Cook, McGraw-Hill 1987.
I wonder if I will ever rest (531012B)
I wonder wether the day will ever come when I'll have rest,
Lord I wonder wether the day will ever come, Lord,
when I'll have rest, oh Lord.
Ever since I, Lord, can remember I had to toil,
struggle so hard,
Lord I don't know wether the day will ever come
When I'll have rest m-m have rest
I never, never shall forget,
What my poor father, oh, he said to me
"Child I want you always be mindful
Of obstruction well sure 'nuff in your way".
Lord as that goes for flesh to play,
Sleep at the door, close in my face,
God I wonder, will rest ever,
Come my way, oh Lord my way.
posted by tellurian at 9:09 PM on August 19, 2008
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posted by TomMelee at 7:22 PM on August 19, 2008