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Cissy Drinkard & The Sweet Inspirations - Down By The River Side [HD]

481 views · Published 22 December 2017 · 2:22 · Indexed 30 October 2026

Channel: Gary Larson · 2017 · People & Blogs

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Cissy Drinkard & The Sweet Inspirations sing the traditional spiritual 'Down By The River Side' from their 1968 Atlantic album 'Songs Of Faith & Inspiration'. The group's singers were the leader Cissy Houston (mother of Whitney Houston), Sylvia Shemwell, Myrna Smith and the lead singer for this song, Estelle Brown. The song was arranged by Cissy Houston and is also known as 'Down By The Riverside' and other names. The Sweet Inspirations were backup vocalists for many singers including Otis Redding and Elvis Presley and can be heard on songs like Van Morrison's 'Brown Eyed Girl'. This song has been recorded by countless singers from Mahalia Jackson to Elvis and this version certainly is sung with inspiration that this video attempts to capture. The video contains most of the lyrics. Some notes from Wikipedia are below.

[Vinyl/Lyrics/4-Images/WAV]

Emily "Cissy" Houston (née Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Elvis Presley and Aretha Franklin, Houston embarked on a solo career, winning two Grammy Awards for her work. Houston is the mother of singer Whitney Houston, grandmother of Whitney's daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, aunt of singers Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, and a cousin of opera singer Leontyne Price.

"Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna lay down my burden") is a Negro spiritual song. Its roots date back to before the American Civil War, though it was first published in 1918 in Plantation Melodies: A Collection of Modern, Popular and Old-time Negro-Songs of the Southland, Chicago, the Rodeheaver Company. The song has alternatively been known as “Ain' go'n' to study war no mo'”, “Ain't Gwine to Study War No More”, “Down by de Ribberside”, “Going to Pull My War-Clothes” and “Study war no more”. Because of its pacifistic imagery, "Down by the Riverside" has also been used as an anti-war protest song, especially during the Vietnam War.

The song's central image is of casting off negativity and aggression, and putting on spiritual garb, at the side of a river before crossing it. The image has several meanings: it refers to baptism, which in the Southern Baptist tradition usually involves wearing a white robe and being submerged in a body of water. It also refers to ascending to heaven after death, using the metaphor of the River Jordan, which in the Old Testament was the final passage before the Hebrews entered the Promised Land after their years in the desert. As with many Negro spirituals, the biblical imagery can also be read as a hidden allusion to escaping slavery, with the river representing the Ohio River, which was a border between states where slavery was allowed and prohibited before the American Civil War. The refrain of "ain't gonna study war no more" is a reference to a quotation found in the Old Testament: "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." This quote occurs twice in the Bible, in Isaiah 2:4 and Micah 4:3, and is part of the swords to ploughshares motif.

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