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Guthrie, Woody - Ain'ta Gonna Grieve
Identifier
020805
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Mermaid Avenue
The years living on Mermaid Avenue were among Guthrie's most productive periods as a writer. His extensive writings from this time were archived and maintained by Marjorie , his second wife, and later his estate, mostly handled by Guthrie's daughter, Nora. Several of the manuscripts contain scribblings by a young Arlo and the other Guthrie offspring.
During this time Ramblin' Jack Elliott studied extensively under Guthrie, visiting his home and observing how he wrote and performed. Elliott idolized Guthrie and was inspired by his idiomatic performance style and repertoire.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, a new generation of young people was inspired by folk singers such as Guthrie. These "folk revivalists" became more politically aware in their music than those of the previous generation. The American Folk Revival was beginning to take place, focused on the issues of the day, such as the Civil Rights Movement and Free Speech Movement. Pockets of folk singers were forming around the country in places such as Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. One of Guthrie's visitors at Greystone Park was the 19-year-old Bob Dylan who idolized Guthrie in much the same way that Elliott had. Dylan wrote of Guthrie's repertoire:
"The songs themselves were really beyond category. They had the infinite sweep of humanity in them."
A description of the experience
Ain'ta Gonna Grieve
Words by Woody Guthrie,
I long to fly away to heaven
Pass beyond that shining door
See my master and my savior
High away to heaven soar
I have made myself my promise
Never again to grieve my lord
I will live his gospel story
Sweetest story ever told
CHORUS:
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord any more, not any more.
Guess I’ve lived my life in blindness
I have lived a life of wrong
Now my heart runs full with gladness
Singing out my gospel song
Many a faith’s too easy shaken
Many a heart too full of fear
Many an eye is too mistaken
Grievous to my savior dear
CHORUS
Make today this golden promise
Make this vow forever more
Live the story and the glory
Dwell in peace forever more
Make today this one agreement
Change my thoughts from greed to love
Enter soft into my chamber
Pray for light to show me through