The Healing Journey

June 17, 2025

“O mourners, let’s go down, let’s go down, let’s go down,
O mourners, let’s go down, down in the valley to pray.”

“Down in the River to Pray” is a traditional Christian spiritual, which has been described as an African-American gospel, an Appalachian song and a Southern hymn. While there have been several variations of the song, the earliest known one, titled “The Good Old Way,” appeared in the book “Slave Songs of the United States” in 1867 and has been attributed to George H. Allan of Nashville.

The words in that song made reference to mourners who went into the valley to pray:

“As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studying about that good old way,
When you shall wear the starry crown,
Good Lord, show me the way.
O mourners, let’s go down, let’s go down, let’s go down,
O mourners, let’s go down,
Down in the valley to pray”

In the modern era, the song became popular when Alison Kraus sang it for the 2000 film, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”

The theme of the song has been described as “keeping faith in a time of darkness and sorrow,” with the refrain of going down in the river, referring to baptism, and studying the “good old way,” as the Bible, and the “starry crown” and “robe” as references to our eternal reward in Heaven. During periods of revival, the song has typically been sung during full-immersion baptisms in a river.

Hear Alison Kraus sing “Down in the River to Pray
https://youtu.be/zSif77IVQdY?si=UtK8ZRxqvlaVCgzx

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