Nobody knows the trouble I see

Nobody knows the trouble I see. African American spiritual*. This is found in the a post-Civil War book, immediately following Emancipation, entitled Slave Songs of the United States (1867), edited by the abolitionists William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison. It began ‘Nobody knows de trouble I’ve had’. It was described as ‘a favourite in the colored schools of Charleston in 1865’ (p. 55). A variant to ‘I’ve had’ is noted as ‘I see’, which has become better known. The Chorus was as follows: Nobody knows de trouble I’ve had,Nobody knows but Jesus,Nobody knows de trouble I’ve had,Glory hallelu! The stanzas were: One morning I was a-walking down, O yes, Lord!I saw...

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