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How Can I Keep From Schadenfreude?

Perhaps you are familiar with the beautiful hymn / folk song “How Do I Keep From Singing?”

“How Can I Keep From Singing?” (also known by its first line “My Life Flows On in Endless Song”) is an American folksong originating as a Christian hymn. The author of the lyrics was known only as ‘Pauline T’, and the original tune was composed by American Baptist minister Robert Lowry. The song is frequently, though erroneously, cited as a traditional Quaker or Shaker hymn. The original composition has now entered into the public domain, and appears in several hymnals and song collections, both in its original form and with a revised text [1] that omits most of the explicitly Christian content and adds a verse about solidarity in the face of oppression. Though it was not originally a Quaker hymn, Quakers adopted it as their own in the twentieth century and use it widely today.

Wikipedia

Our favorite version is by Enya:


Semi-Sequitur: Robert Lowry

Robert Lowry (March 12, 1826 – 25 November 1899) was an American preacher who became a popular writer of gospel music in the mid- to late-19th century. His best-known hymns include “Shall We Gather at the River”, “Christ Arose!”, “How Can I Keep from Singing?” and “Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus”.

Wikipedia

[1] Revised Text

“The original composition has now entered into the public domain, and appears in several hymnals and song collections, both in its original form and with a revised text.”

by Annalee @flowerhorne.com

Big WLBOTT thanks to Annalee!


AI Imagines Annalee’s Verbatim Poem



Hear Then The Verdict

Poem by Lorin Ludlow (via The Library of Congress)

Rhyming misogyny, circa 1902.



As far as we can tell, Ludlow is a major buzz-kill, and the poem has two major themes:

  • keep it zipped
  • if you don’t, it’s her fault




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