Reborn Again

DESCRIPTION: "Reborn, soldier, going to reborn again, Oh, going to reborn again...." "Reborn again, reborn again, Oh, you can't get to Heaven till you're reborn again." "Paul, and Silas, dar in de jail... One watch while de other pray."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough)
KEYWORDS: religious nonballad Bible floatingverses
FOUND IN: US
REFERENCES (3 citations):
Scarborough-OnTheTrailOfNegroFolkSongs, pp. 256-257, "Reborn Again" (1 text)
Carawan/Carawan-AintYouGotARight, p. 15, "Reborn Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
Hutson/Pinckney/Rutledge-SomeSongsTheNegroSang, pp. 316-317, "Rebawn Again" (1 text, 1 tune)
RECORDINGS:
Benjamin Bilgen, "Reborn, Reborn Again" (on BeenStorm1)
NOTES [166 words]: The King James Bible refers to the need to be "born again" in John 3:3, 7 -- though most scholars now consider this a mistranslation. The Greek word (ανωθεν, "anothen") means "again" and "from above," with the latter being the primary meaning, and the structure of the passage makes it clear that this is deliberate wordplay: Jesus is saying "You must be born from above"; Nicodemus interprets it as "born again." (The Gospel of John uses this sort of wordplay frequently.) - RBW
Benjamin Bilgen leads a congregation on BeenStorm1. The response to his lead is the clearest example I've heard to illustrate Sea Island "cross-rhythmic clapping." Dargan stresses the point in his book and writes, "The question arises as to why a shout style with various cross-rhythmic clapping patterns should be found only in Gullah-speaking coastal areas. In sum, the singing is no less unique than the language." [William T Dargan, Lining Out the Word (Chicago: Center for Black Music Research,2006), p. 41]. - BS
Last updated in version 5.1
File: ScNF256B

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