I Have a Father Gone to Glory (I Am Alone in this World)

DESCRIPTION: "I have a father gone to glory, I am alone in this world. I have a father gone to glory, I am alone.... Take me home, bless the Savior, take me home." Repeat with mother, sister, etc. with a conclusion that there is room in heaven for all.
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1934 (Henry, from Granville Gadsey)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad home
FOUND IN: US(Ap)
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Henry-SongsSungInTheSouthernAppalachians, pp. 201-202, "I Have a Father Gone to Glory" (1 text)
Roberts-SangBranchSettlers, #44, "I'm All Alone in This World" (1 text, 1 tune)
Boette-SingaHipsyDoodle, p. 79, "I'm All Alone" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #4213, 3407, and 7519
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Other Bright Shore" (lyrics)
cf. "Some Have Fathers Gone to Glory" (lyrics)
NOTES [112 words]: Roud lumps this with "Where Is Old Elijah? (The Hebrew Children, The Promised Land)," which seems a bit strong, and also with "The Other Bright Shore" and other material. The link to "The Other Bright Shore" is obvious, but there are no shores of any sort in Henry's version, so I think they have to be separated. I do, however, think it is the same as Roberts-SangBranchSettlers's #44 and the Boette-SingaHipsyDoodle piece, although Roud assigns different numbers to all of them. Roberts lumps his piece with a piece in Allen/Ware/Garrison-SlaveSongsUnitedStates. Which just shows how hard it is to classify all these "Life is lousy but I'M going to heaven" pieces. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: MHAp201

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