Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen

DESCRIPTION: "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Nobody knows but Jesus." "Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down, Oh, yes, Lord, Sometimes I'm almost to the ground...." The rest of the song describes the singer's life, usually in spiritual terms
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1865 (diary of William Francis Allen; printed 1867 in Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE)
REFERENCES (15 citations):
Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates, p. 55, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Had" (1 text, with some rather unusual verses but clearly this; 1 tune)
Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute, p. 232, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (1 text, 1 tune; p. 181 in the 1874 edition)
Work-FolkSongOfTheAmericanNegro, p. 50, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (1 text); pp. 57-58, "Oh, Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (1 text)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 615, "Nobody Knows" (1 short text)
Gainer-FolkSongsFromTheWestVirginiaHills, pp. 211-212, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (1 text, 1 tune)
Warren-EveryTimeIFeelTheSpirit, pp. 68-69, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett-IHearAmericaSinging, p. 110, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Greenway-AmericanFolksongsOfProtest, p. 97, "Nobody Knows" (1 text)
Fireside-Book-of-Folk-Songs, p. 302, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I See" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber/Silber-FolksingersWordbook, p. 358, "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen" (1 text)
GirlScouts-SingTogether, p. 92, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (1 text, 1 tune)
Rodeheaver-SociabilitySongs, p. 55, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (1 text, 1 tune)
Fuld, pp. 391-391+, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen"
DT, NBDYKNWS
ADDITIONAL: Robert J. Morgan, _Then Sings My Soul, Book 2: 150 of the World's Greatest Hymn Stories_, Nelson, 2004, pp. 136-137, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #5438
RECORDINGS:
A. W. Adams, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (OKeh 8361, 1926)
Marian Anderson, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Victor 19560, 1925; rec. 1924)
Louis Armstrong, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Decca 2085, 1938)
Mildred Bailey w. Alec Wilder, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Columbia 35348, 1939)
Cotton Pickers Quartet, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Conqueror 8360, 1934; rec. 1931)
Vernon Dalhart, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Edison [BA] 3470, 1918)
Elkins Sacred Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" (Cameo 830, 1925)
Excelsior Quartet, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (OKeh 4636, 1922)
Fisk University Jubilee Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Rainbow 724, c. 1922)
Caroline & May Floyd, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I See" (Champion 15103, 1926)
Jimmie Gordon's Vip Vop Band ("Nobody Knows the Trouble I See", Decca 7764, 1940; rec. 1939)
Musical Artists Quartet, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Columbia 1953-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Paramount Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Trilon 234, n.d. but probably c. 1939)
James Garfield Smalls, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I Seen" (on USSeaIsland03)
Paul Robeson, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Victor 20068, 1926)
Southernaires Male Quartet, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen" (Decca 2859, 1939)
Edna Thomas, "Nobody Knows de Trouble I Sees" (Columbia 1863-D, 1929; rec. 1928)
Tuskegee Institute Singers, "Nobody Knows the Trouble I See" (Victor 18237, 1917; rec. 1915)
NOTES [44 words]: According to Jon W. Finson, The Voices That Are Gone: Themes in Nineteenth-Century American Popular Song, Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 235, Bob Coel's tune for Cole and Johnson's famous song "Under the Bamboo Tree" uses an inversion of the melody of this song.
Last updated in version 6.3
File: Arn110

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