Down in the Valley

A Lullaby with Profound Merit

Annie McCune

The Kodály Center at Holy Names University

MUSC 243A: Folk Music

Director Maree Henessey

November 6, 2020
 2

A lullaby can have a powerful effect on many, not just a tired infant. In my experience,

no other music affects me quite like a lullaby. Simple and yet profound, these tunes stick with us

throughout our lives and their message remains dear to our hearts. One such lullaby that has

stuck with me is Down in the Valley. As a baby and young child, my mother would sing this

song to me before I went to sleep. In the first house I remember living in, we were located near a

train track that ran through the valley. There was nothing more hauntingly beautiful than when

my mother would sing “Late in the evening, hear the train blow” and a locomotive running along

the tracks near our house would answer in long, echoing sounds. The song always felt mournful

yet peaceful to me, even though my mother never sang any of the verses that revealed the song

was sung from the perspective of a prisoner. Now after having studied the background and

musicality of Down in the Valley as well as several variants in greater detail, I understand where

this mood of sorrow amidst calm comes from. This paper will discuss the origins of the song and

successive lyrics and variants that emerged over time, then compare the musical similarities and

differences of a select number of variants and conclude with an outline of the pedagogical uses

of the song in the music classroom, both for literacy and performance as well as a tool for social-

emotional learning.

Song Origins and Early Development

As far as song origins go, there seem to be a couple possibilities for Down in the Valley.

According to Stephen Griffith (2013) and Jane Keefer (2013) as well as a contributor to the

Mudcat.org blog (2015), the tune comes from the Happy Home Waltz No. 1. A couple other

online sources suggest it descended from a British air (Down in the Valley), (Down in the

Valley: About the Song, n.d.). The lyrics have largely evolved over time and verses blend from

one variant into another. Henry Marvin Belden, a folklorist and professor at the University of
 3

Missouri, appears to be the first person to transcribe the tune and the words in 1909 (Down in the

Valley, 2003-2020). G. L. Kittredge (1917) recorded his lyrics in the Journal of American

Folklore as the following:

1. Down in the valley, valley so low,

Late in the evening, hear the train blow;
The train, love, hear the train blow;
Late in the evening, hear the train blow.

2. Go build me a mansion, build it so high,

So I can see my true love go by,
See her go by, love, see her go by,
So I can see my true love go by.

3. Go write me a letter, send it by mail;

Bake it and stamp it to the Birmingham jail
Birmingham jail, love, to the Birmingham jail,
Bake it and stamp it to the Birmingham jail

4. Roses are red, love, violets are blue;

God and his angels know I love you,
Know I love you, know I love you,
God and his angels know I love you.

It was interesting to me that in this version the refrain contains the lines, “Late in the evening,

hear the train blow.” This appears to be the less commonly sung refrain, as opposed to “Hang

your head over, hear the wind blow,” although the former are the lines I grew up listening to my

mother sing to me. Nearly twenty years later, the song was made widely popular by country

singer duo Tom Darby and Jimmie Tarleton, who recorded themselves singing the song under

the name, Birmingham Jail (Kahn, 1995). Interestingly enough, both Darby and Tarleton

separately claimed authorship of the song, Darby declaring to have sung it while he was jailed in

Birmingham during World War I and Tarleton asserting that he came up with the lyrics while he

was serving time in Birmingham for moonshining (Kahn, 1995). Their version is slightly
 4

different to Belden’s, using the phrase “Down in the levee” in place of “Down in the valley” and

including an entirely new verse:

Bessie my darling, Bessie my dear

Bessie I love you, foolish I do
Down in the meadow, down on my knees
Prayin' to heaven to give my heart ease
Bird in a cage love, bird is so low
Kiss me once more love, then I must go.

Other notable versions were blues singer Lead Belly’s rendering on his album Shout On (Belly,

1941) and the variant of Bird in a Cage, of which the origin is hard to pinpoint, but the Swedish-

American poet Carl Sandburg collected and printed a version in 1927 and stated:

In the mountains of Kentucky there was sung and old lyric of English origin, Down In
The Valley. And there were jailbirds in Lexington, Kentucky who built and wove from
this older song with lines telling their sweethearts where to send letters [Birmingham
Jail]... Charles Hoening, working with a threshing crew near Lexington, heard four
Negroes, harvest hands go off by themselves after supper, among straw stacks to sing.
The gloaming crept on, an evening star came, a rising moon climbed the horizon dusk
and mist. They sang [Bird in A Cage] over and over and they knew how to sing it.
(Matteson Jr., 2008-2020)

An Anthem for the Afflicted and Further Usage in Culture

Down in the Valley took on a life of its own as more populations of suffering people

resonated with the plight of the prisoner condemned to captivity, yearning to be free and return

to his loved one. Two variants discussed for their musicality in this paper, Twenty-One Years

and Little Willie’s My Darlin’, are early variants that helped to promote this spirit and sparked

subsequent variants of similar nature. Bob Miller, a popular country songwriter, wrote Twenty-

One Years in 1930. Bill C. Malone (1975) states, “As an event-song writer Miller was always

alive to the possibility of exploiting any incident that struck the fancy of the people.” Little

Willie’s My Darlin’ was first collected in 1934 by John and Alan Lomax. Their informant was

an African-American inmate, George W. Smith, imprisoned in Raleigh, North Carolina (Lomax,

1941/2000). Later notable versions born from the plight of the oppressed include a World War II
 5

rendition, Down in Ruhr Valley, which was sung by American bombers possibly imprisoned in

Stalag Luft III, a German prison camp for captured Allied fliers (Work, 2004). In 1960, a version

centered around the imprisonment of young offenders in the British Borstal Institute emerged

(Roberts, 2004). One source also linked the song to the Civil Rights Movement, particularly

Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, a letter urging nonviolent action

against racism (Down in the Valley). King wrote the letter while he was imprisoned in

Birmingham Jail in 1963 (Oppenheimer, 1993).

Other embodiments of the song took the form of a one-act radio opera written by

composer Kurt Weill in 1945 (Rockwell, 1984), and an Irish lullaby called the Connemara

Cradle Song that appears to have been written and recorded in 1953 by Delia Murphy, an Irish

singer and collector of Irish ballads, whose various recordings “ ‘borrowed freely not merely

from standard Irish ballads but from obscure songs that had their origin in tinker folklore’ ”

(Petric, 2003). The Connemara Cradle Song is another variant that is subsequently discussed in

this paper for its musicality.

Discussion of Variants: Musical Characteristics

All variants are written in 3$meter and have several motifs of stepwise motion. Twenty-

One Years is the most expansive in melody, using the full diatonic scale plus two more scale

degrees above high do. The Connemara Cradle Song and Little Willie’s My Darlin’ have similar

scale degrees, both written in diatonic major with the only differences being that Little Willie’s

My Darlin’ has an extra half step between re and mi and the Connemara Cradle Song has the la.

In contrast, Down in the Valley is a hexatonic scale type, most similar to Little Willie’s My

Darlin’ and the Connemara Cradle Song in that all possess a low sol and ti. All variants are

overall a strophic form, each verse sung on practically the same melody with possible
 6

ornamentation in subsequent verses, most notably with Little Willie’s My Darlin.’ Down in the

Valley could be considered a question/answer form as well, more microscopically. Interestingly,

every variant of Down in the Valley has a pickup measure of one beat, but Down in the Valley

has no pickup measure, yet the first measure could be felt as a pickup and most likely would be if

written in 6*. Down in the Valley and the Connemara Cradle Song both have an overt swaying,

rocking feel that can be felt more subtly in Little Willie’s My Darlin’ and Twenty-One Years.

All variants have very similar rhythms, the most common motif being

qqqtfollowed by either a quarter note, half note or a dotted half note tied to a half

note.

Discussion of Variants: Text Comparison

In terms of text, it seems like all variants run into one another. Down in the Valley is

clearly the root of all of them, possessing the verse “hang your head over, hear the wind blow”

that appears in the Connemara Cradle Song as well as the plea from a prison inmate to their lover

to send them a letter that is present both in Little Willie’s My Darlin’ and Twenty-One Years.

Down in the Valley and the Connemara Cradle song are more clearly lullabies, which can be

inferenced by how they are performed as well as the presence of longer, held notes. The text in

each also returns to the refrain of “hear the wind blow, hang/lean your head over, hear the wind

blow.” In Twenty-One Years and Little Willie’s My Darlin,’ the performance is more lively and

the lyrics are more centered around the plight of a prison inmate, one jailed in Raleigh, North

Carolina in Little Willie’s My Darlin’ and one jailed in Nashville, Tennessee in Twenty-One

Years. In Little Willie’s My Darlin’, the prisoner seems to be guilty of some crime involving old

corn whisky and mourns the fact that he is losing his darling Willie while he’s locked up. In

Twenty-One Years, the convict appears to bemoan the fact that he went to prison for his
 7

sweetheart, who said she would get him a parole but never does. Despite their mournful message,

both are performed in a faster, buoyant tempo that tempers the sadness for the listener.

Selection for Use in an Elementary Music Class

In deciding which variant to use in my classroom, I would choose to use the original

Down in the Valley as transcribed by Sylvia and John Kolb in A Treasury of Folk Songs most

frequently. It lends itself most readily to teaching musical elements, particularly 3$meter, and

has the simplest melody and rhythm, making it the most accessible to children’s voices. During

the youngest grades it should be used primarily as a song for listening and for rocking, perhaps

accompanied by a picture book. In grade two, it could be used for teaching question/answer

form, then in third grade, a low so and do baseline harmony on recorder could be approached.

Fourth grade has the most potential in regards to literacy and partwork expansion. I would

mainly use it to teach 3$meter, then possibly low ti following this. Additionally, the low so and

do baseline could be transferred to ukuleles as well as recorders and a descant could be added.

During fifth grade, a discussion about anacrusis and the diatonic structure would be appropriate..

The following table outlines each technical and performance use for K-5 grade levels:
 8

Kindergarten-1st Grade
Listening A song to
A lullaby to teach song/story song experience a
the piano dynamic to conclude a rocking
lesson motion
2nd-3rd Grade
s,-d baseline on
Question/Answer
recorder (3rd
form
grade)
4th Grade
s,-d baseline
3$meter t, Descant
on ukulele
5th Grade

Diatonic
Anacrusis
structure/function

Social-Emotional Teaching Use

Although I would choose to use Down in the Valley across the grades primarily for

technical teaching, the subject matter and background of Down in the Valley and subsequent

variants such as Twenty-One Years and Little Willie’s My Darlin’ present a teaching opportunity

for delving into how people handle hard situations. I would save this discussion till the upper

elementary grades, most likely fourth grade at the earliest, so that the students could be

emotionally mature enough to have a foundational understanding of more difficult and complex

realities. The discussion could first begin by teaching the students some additional verses or

variants. Once the students heard these verses, the teacher could begin facilitating discussion by

asking a variety of closed and open questions such as “Who is singing this?,” “Why do you think

these people went to jail?,” and “How does this song make you feel?” From there, the teacher

could present the origins of Down in the Valley and its ensuing adoption by multiple suffering

people groups, which could lead to further discussion about the use of song and melody to cope
 9

with difficult realities such as cultural displacement, trauma, and depression. If the teacher was

careful to create a safe space, students might be willing to share about harder life experiences

and maybe some songs that proved helpful to them. By starting to expose the students to Down

in the Valley in kindergarten, this dialogue may come more readily in fourth or fifth grade since

the students will have had years to digest the lyrics and music.

Conclusion

Like many folk songs, Down in the Valley is a song with a complex history that has

shaped it as well as the society of which it's a part. The sorrowful plight of the prisoner comes

through not only lyrically but also musically in the lilting patterns of three and the rising then

falling melody. This mood and message holds true in the majority of variants, providing a

profound opportunity for discussion about coping with suffering and hard times. As the song is

first and foremost a lullaby, it can presented early in a child’s life and brought back for further

teaching as the child grows and matures. This song has only grown dearer to me as I have gotten

older and is still a song I would consider a comfort in trouble. Music like this that is so richly

equipped to be used for music education, social emotional learning, and most importantly to

meet a person in their deepest needs is a true treasure.

 10

Bibliography
Belly, L. (1941). Shout On, Lead Belly Legacy Vol. 3. New York, New York, United States.

Down in the Valley. (n.d.). Retrieved from Songs As You Go:

https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/055bba_408fa87e018342a0a0640975f825f302.pdf?index
=true

Down in the Valley. (2003-2020). Retrieved from Second Hand Songs:

https://secondhandsongs.com/work/157364

Down in the Valley: About the Song. (n.d.). Retrieved from Ballad of America:
https://www.balladofamerica.org/down-in-the-valley/

Engle, R. B. (2020). Down in the Valley. Retrieved from The Ballad Index:
http://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/R772.html

Griffith, S. (2013, November 8). Down in the Valley. Retrieved from FolkSongIndex.com:
http://www.stephengriffith.com/folksongindex/down-in-the-valley/

Guest, S. (2015, March 17). Lyr Req/Add: Connemara Cradle Song (Delia Murphy) . Retrieved
from Mudcat.com: https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7787#3694709

Kahn, E. (1995). Birmingham Jail. Darby & Tarlton, Complete Recordings. Bear Family
Records.

Keefer, J. (2013, November 14). Folk Music Index: Doo to Down N. Retrieved from Folk Music
Index: http://www.ibiblio.org/keefer/d08.htm#Dowinthv

Kittredge, G. L. (1917). Down in the Valley. The Journal of American Folklore, 347-348.

Lomax, J. A. (1941/2000). Our Singing Country. Mineola: Dover Publications, Inc.

Malone, B. C. (1975). The Songs of Bob Miller. Retrieved from Folk Archive (History in Song):
http://www.folkarchive.de/bmiller.html

Matteson Jr., R. L. (2008-2020). Bird in a Cage. Retrieved from Matteson Art:

http://www.mattesonart.com/bird-in-a-cage-history.aspx

Oppenheimer, D. B. (1993). Martin Luther King, Walker v. City of Birmingham, and the Letter
from Birmingham Jail. U.C. Davis Law Review Vol. 26 No. 4, 791-833.

Petric, F. (2003). The Connemara Cradle Song. Sing Out! Vol. 47 No. 3, 74-76.

Roberts, B. (2004, September 15). Down in the Valley. Retrieved from Mudcat.org:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17109
 11

Rockwell, J. (1984, April 16). Weill's Opera 'Down in the Valley'. Retrieved from The New York
Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/16/arts/weill-s-opera-down-in-the-valley.html

SoRelle, T. (2013, March 11). Little Willie's My Darlin'. Retrieved from Terry's Songs:
http://songs.2quakers.net/little-willie

Work, L. a. (2004, September 15). Down in the Valley. Retrieved from Mudcat.org:
https://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=17109
 12
Title Down in the Valley

Source
Down in the Valley
Sylvia and John Kolb, A Treasury of Folk Songs, New York: Bantam Books, 1948

  
Ethnicity

          

Down in the val ley, val ley so low,

         
  
7

Hang your head ov er, hear the wind blow.

2. Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind 7. Writing this letter, containing three lines,
blow; Hang your head over, hear the wind blow. Answer my question, "Will you be mine?"

3. If you don't love me, love whom you 8. Will you be mine, dear, will you be mine?
please; Throw your arms round me, give my heart Answer my question, "Will you be mine?"
ease.
9. Build me a castle forty feet high,
4. Give my heart ease, love, give my heart So I can see her as she goes by.
ease; Throw your arms round me, give my heart
ease. 10. As she goes by, dear, as she goes by,
So I can see her as she goes by.
5. Write me a letter, send it by mail, Send it in
care of Birmingham Jail. 11. Roses love sunshine, violets love dew;
Angels in Heaven know I love you.
6. Birmingham Jail, love, Birmingham Jail,
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail. 12. Know I love you, dear, know I love you;
Angels in Heaven know I love you.

Tone set s, t,drmf Scale type Hexatonic

Meter 3$ Rhythm set twtwqQ

Form type Question-Answer, Strophic Form analysis A (a, b), B (c, d) Song type Lullaby

Subject Love and courtship, Loss/Displacement Game type

# of measures 12 range m7 grade K-5 CSP s,=C-E

M. element t, context s, t, r f r motives s, drm d, mrdr, s, t, r f r, t,drd

R. element tcontext qqqtw

motives qqqtwQ, qqqtwQ

Part work Harmonization Other uses Teaching 3$, story song, soft/loud, question/answer
 13
Title Connemara Cradle Song

Source
Connemara Cradle Song
Lisa Yannucci, <https://www.mamalisa.com/?t=es&p=3499> Retrieved Oct. 29th, 2020

Ethnicity Irish, Celtic

 
             
On the wings of the wind o'er the dark rol ling deep,
Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,

          
 
7

ang els are com ing to watch o'er thy sleep.

Lean your head ov er and hear the wind blow.

       
    
13

Ang els are com ing to watch ov er thee, so

Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,

  
        
19

list to the wind com ing ov er the sea.

Lean your head ov er and hear the wind blow.

3. Oh, winds of the night may your fury be

crossed,
May no one who’s dear to our island be lost,
Blow the winds gently, calm be the foam,
Shine thy light brightly and guide them back
home.
4. Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
Lean your head over and hear the wind blow.
Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
Lean your head over and hear the wind blow.
5. The currachs are sailing way out in the blue,
Laden with herring of silvery hue.
Silver the herring and silver the sea,
And soon there’ll be silver for baby and me.
6. Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
Hang your head over and hear the wind blow.
Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
Hang your head over and hear the wind blow.
7. The currachs tomorrow will stand on the shore
And daddy goes sailing, sailing no more
The nets will be drying, the nets heaven blessed
And safe in my arms, dear, contented he'll rest.
8. Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
Lean your head over and hear the wind blow.
Hear the wind blow, love, hear the wind blow,
Lean your head over and hear the wind blow.
 14

Tone set s, t,drmfsl Scale type Diatonic, major

Meter 3$ Rhythm set sdqQwt tw

Form type Strophic Form analysis A (a, b) B (av, c) A (a,b ) Bv (av, cv) Song type Lullaby

Subject Nature, home and family, sleep Game type

# of measures 24 range M9 grade K-5 CSP s,=C-D

M. element t, context mfs t, motives s, drm, mfs t, , s, t, r s, lsfmrm, lsfmrd

tcontext qqqtwQmotives sdqqqtw,

R. element
qqqtwQ, qqqtw

Part work Harmonization Other uses Teaching 3$, soft/loud, pickup measure
 15
Title Little Willie’s My Darlin’

Source Little Willie's My Darlin'

George W. Smith, recorded in Raleigh, NC, 1934 by John and Alan Lomax


Ethnicity

        
      
   
Lit tle Wil lie's my dar lin' Lit tle Wil lie's my dear,

  
                
6

If you think I don't love her, Got a fool ish i dea.

   
          
  
12

2.She said that she loved me, Just to give my heart ease

  
                

18

Just as soon as my back was turned, she loved who she pleased.

3. I rapped on her window, I knocked on her door
She give me short answer, "Don't knock there
no more."
4. Little Willie's my darling, Little Willie’s my
dear.
If you think I don’t love her, got a foolish idea.
5. The judge said, "Stand up, George, and dry up
your tears;
You're sentenced to Raleigh for twenty-two
years."
6. She wrote me one letter, she sent it by mail
She sent it in care of the Washington jail.
7. Sitting in the prison with my back to the wall
Old corn whisky was the cause of it all.
8. Little Willie's my darling, Little Willie’s my
dear.
If you think I don’t love her, got a foolish idea.
9. Gonna build me one steeple on a mountain so
high
So I can see Willie passin' on by.

10. If I'd only listened to what mother said

I'd have been there today in her feather bed.
-

Tone set s, t,drrimfs Scale type Diatonic major

Meter 3$ Rhythm set qsd gcsdwwtQW

Form type Strophic Form analysis A (a, av), B (b, c), C (d, e, ) D (f, g), Av (h, av), Bv (bv, c), Cv (dv, ev), Dv (fv, g)
 16
Song type Ballad

Subject Love and courtship, crime and punishment Game type Dramatic play/improvisation

# of measures 24 range P8 grade 3-6 CSP m=A-B

M. element ri context mrim d s, motives mrim d s, m d, s, d s, m s r, rdr t, r fs rd, s, t, rrird, s, d s, d m d,

r t, r fs rd

gc context gc qqgc motives gcqqq wqQ,

R. element
sdqqqsdwW, gcqqqwqsdQ, gcqqgctW,
qqqqtqQ, gcqqqsdwW, gcqqqwqarA,
aqqgctW
Part work Ostinato, melodic ostinato, harmonization Other uses Pickup measure, story song
 17
Title Twenty-One Years

Source
Twenty-One Years
Ozark Folksongs, Randolph, collected from Lillian Short, MO 1942

Ethnicity Ozark, Appalachian

    
           
The judge said, "Stand up, boy, and dry up your tears. You're sen tenced to


             
7

Nash ville for twen ty one years." So dry up your eyes, babe, and

       
        
14

say you'll be mine, for twen ty one years, babe, is a migh ty long time.

2. I hear the train whistling, it'll be here on 5. I've counted the days, babe, I've counted the
time, nights
To take me to Nashville to serve out my I've counted the footsteps, I've counted the
time; lights;
The steam from the whistle, the smoke I've counted the minutes, I've counted the
from the stack, stars,
I know you'll be true blue, until I get back. I've counted a million of these prison bars.

3. Go the governor, upon your sweet soul, 6. I've counted on you, babe, to get me a break
If you can't get a pardon, try to get a parole; I guess you've forgot, babe, I'm here for
If I had the governor where the governor's your sake
got me You know who is guilty, you know it too
Before Tuesday morning the governor'd be well
free. But I'll rot in this jailhouse before I will tell.

4. Six months have gone by, babe, I wish I 7. Come all you young fellows, with a heart
was dead brave and true
This dirty old jailhouse, the floor for a bed; Don't believe any woman, you're doomed if
It's raining, it's hailing, stars give me no you do;
light Don't trust any woman, no matter what
Darlin', please tell me why you never write. kind,
For twenty-one years, boys, is a mighty
long time.

Tone set drmfsltd’r’m’ Scale type Diatonic, major

 18
Meter 3$ Rhythm set sdqwt
Form type Strophic Form analysis A (a, b), B (c, d), C (av, e), Bv (c, f) Song type Ballad

Subject Crime and punishment, love and courtship Game type Dramatic play/improvisation

# of measures 20 range M10 grade 4-8 CSP d=C

M. element m’ context d m s m’ d’ motives d m s d s, s t l s r, rmf tl, slsfm, m d m s m’ d’, d’ r’ d’ r, sfmrd

tcontext qqqqtwmotives qqqtw,

R. element
qqqqw, sdqqqw
Part work Ostinato, melodic ostinato Other uses Pickup measure