An' I Cry

“An’ I Cry” is a spiritual arrangement for voice and piano by Eva Jessye. The song is the third arrangement included in Jessye’s book My Spirituals (1927). In the song’s preface, Jessye describes how this song reminds her of Ezra Moreland, or “Mistah Mo’lan.” Mistah Mo’lan was idolized by all the children on Jessye’s block, as he was employed by the city to haul trash away from downtown Coffeyville. On his way to the dump, he would drive past his home and stop to eat breakfast, and the children would take this time to search through the trash and collect boxes, ribbons, and playthings. Jessye writes, “He enjoyed it as much as the children and would not drive away until the tiniest mite had discovered a souvenir...Early in the morning before daybreak, in the silence before sunrise, we could hear him across the alley, hitching up old Betsy and singing softly to himself:—’Sometime I feel lak, I nevah been bawn again…’”

Date: 1927Composer: Eva JessyeText: SpiritualSong Collection: My Spirituals

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