I'm Working On a Building

DESCRIPTION: Chorus: "I'm working on a building (x3), For my lord (x2)." "It's a Holy Ghost building (x3), For my lord (x2)."Verses: If the singer were a liar (drunkard, preacher) he'd quit lying (quit drinking, keep preaching) and work on a building too
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Odum and Johnson)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
McNeil-SouthernMountainFolksong, pp. 106-108, "I'm Workin' on a Building" (1 text, 1 tune)
ADDITIONAL: John W. Work, American Negro Songs (New York: Crown Publishers, 1940 (republished by Mineola: Dover Publications, 1998)), p. 97, "Workin' on the Building" (1 text, 1 tune)
Howard W. Odum and Guy B. Johnson, The Negro and his Songs (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1925 ("Digitized by Internet Archive")), p. 72, "(no title)" (1 text)
Roud #4276
RECORDINGS:
Carter Family, "I'm Working On a Building" (on "The Carter Family 1927-1934," JSP Records JSP7701E CD (2010))
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "For My Lord" (some lines, "working on a building" theme)
cf. "Working on the Building" ("working on a building" theme)
File: JWW097

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