From the recording Bound To Go: African-American Spirituals and Secular Folk Songs
from Calhoun Plantation Songs, Emily Hallowell, 1907
Andrew Calhoun, vocal and guitar
featuring Tony Dale and Katherine Davis, verse vocals
also: Andrew/Runako, Tony/David Young, Katherine/Valerie Carter-Brown, Darwin McBeth Walton/Big Llou Johnson. Chorus: Bruce Roper
David Young, trumpet
Lyrics
You got a right—I got a right,
We all got a right to the tree of life;
You got a right—I got a right,
We all got a right to the tree of life.
The very time i thought i was lost,
We all got a right to the tree of life.
The dungeon shook and my chains fell off,
We all got a right to the tree of life.
You may hinder me here but you cannot there,
We all got a right to the tree of life;
Cause god in the heaven’s gonna answer prayer,
We all got a right to the tree of life.