“Kumbaya, my Lord” was first recorded by an out-of-work English professor, Robert Winslow Gordon, in 1927. Gordon went on a search for black spirituals and recorded a song “Come by Here, My Lord”, sung by H. Wylie. The song was sung in Gullah (creole language) on the islands of South Carolina between Charleston and Beaufort. “Come by here, my Lord” in Gullah is “Kum by (h)yuh, my lawd.” (source)

Lyrics

Kum ba yah, my Lord, kum ba ya. (repeat twice)
Oh Lord, kum ba ya.

Someone’s crying, Lord…

Someone’s laughing…

Someone’s singing…

Someone’s praying…

Links

• more Spirituals
• more songs with I IV V chords
• more songs with the tonic triad in the melody
• more songs with dotted eighth note – sixteenth note patterns

The following content is available below to Plus Members:

• PDF includes:
  • Song with chords
• MIDI file
• MP3