Wrestle On, Jacob

DESCRIPTION: ""I hold my brother with a trembling hand, The Lord will bless my soul, Wrestle on, Jacob, Jacob, day is a-breaking." "I will not let you go, My Lord. "Fisherman Peter out to sea" "He cast all night...." "He catch no fish, but catch some soul."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates)
KEYWORDS: religious fishing fight
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates, p. 4, "Wrestle On, Jacob" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #11836
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wrestlin' Jacob" (lyrics, theme)
cf. "Wrestling Jacob" (lyrics, subject)
NOTES [119 words]: This bears a great deal of similarity to "Wrestlin' Jacob," in the Brown collection. Both refer to Jacob's wrestling with God, described in Genesis 32:22-32 (thought by many to be a converted folktale, since it sounds as if Jacob is wrestling with a night-demon, and it ends with a "just so" story about why the Israelites don't eat a certain muscle of the body).
The two, however, have somewhat different forms, and Brown lacks a tune to link them. Plus this song has a second incident, Peter's miraculous catch, derived from John 21:3-6 or Luke 5:3-6 or some combination of the two. On this basis, I am very tentatively splitting the song, while admitting that they could easily be lumped. (Roud lumps them). - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG004B

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