From the recording Bound To Go: African-American Spirituals and Secular Folk Songs
Found in Spirituals of the South Carolina Low Country, available from the Avery Institue in Charleston, SC.
A rare and powerful fugitive song. "Egypt" was the enslaved Africans' literal term for the South and the system of slavery, here personified as a bloodhound. Freedom seekers often hid in graveyards. Harriet Tubman carried a rifle with her and offered to shoot runaways who wanted to turn back. "Ol' Egyp'" is the song equivalent of that rifle.
Order of singers: Andrew Calhoun, Valerie Carter-Brown, Runako Robinson, Tony Dale, Fred Campeau, Katherine Davis
Fred Campeau, gourd banjo
Dave Moore, harmonica
Chorus: Big Llou Johnson
Lyrics
Keep a-runnin', keep a-runnin', fire gonna overtake you
Keep a-runnin' keep a-runnin', fire gonna overtake you
Keep a-runnin', keep a-runnin', fire gonna overtake you
Way down yonder in that lonesome graveyard
Keep a-runnin', keep a-runnin', hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Keep a-runnin', keep a-runnin' hear ol' Egyp' a-howling'
Keep a-runnin', keep a-runnin', hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Way down yonder in that lonesome graveyard
Brother, brother, don't let your sister condemn you
Brother, brother don't let your sister condemn you
Brother, brother, don't let you sister condemn you
Way down yonder in that lonesome graveyard
Mother, don't let your daughter condemn you
Mother, don't let your daughter condemn you
Mother, don't let your daughter condemn you
Way down yonder in that lonesome graveyard
Mmm, mmm, hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Mmm, mmm, hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Mmm, mmm, hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Way down yonder in that lonesome graveyard
Ah-hoo, ah-hoo, hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Ah-hoo, ah-hoo, hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Ah-hoo, ah-hoo, hear ol' Egyp' a-howling
Way down yonder in that lonesome graveyard