Jacob's Ladder (V)

DESCRIPTION: "I want to climb up Jacob's ladder, Jacob's ladder, O Jacob's ladder, I want to climb up Jacob's ladder, But I can't climb it till I make my peace with the Lord." "O praise ye the Lord, I'll praise him till I die... And sing Jerusalem."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1867 (Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates, p. 96, "Jacob's Ladder" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #2286
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Jacob's Ladder (I)" (lyrics, theme)
NOTES [108 words]: In Gen. 28:12, Jacob dreams of a "ladder" (ramp/stairway) from earth with its top "reaching to heaven, and the angels of God climbing up and down it."
Roud and others have lumped this with the common "Jacob's Ladder (I)," which is the commonly-known "Jacon's Ladder." Obviously they share a theme, But there are very few words in common except "climb" and "Jacob's Ladder," and the tune of this is not the "Jacob's Ladder" tune I know. It's perfectly possible that the same image could have inspired two songs, or that one inspired but was not the actual source of the other. Certainly they strike me as distinct songs *now*. So I split them. - RBW
Last updated in version 2.4
File: AWG096

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