Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning

"Keep Your Lamp(s) Trimmed and Burning" is a traditional gospel blues song. It alludes to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, found in the Gospel of Matthew at 25:1-13, and also to a verse in the Gospel of Luke, at 12:35.

The song has been attributed to Blind Willie Johnson, who recorded it in 1928; to Mississippi Fred McDowell, who recorded it in 1959; and to Reverend Gary Davis, who recorded it sometime before 1961.

The song has been included in several hymnals.^[1]

Lyrics

The song is in call-and-response format. As is common with traditional songs, lyrics vary between performers – in this instance, often very widely. A usual first verse is:

Keep your lamp trimmed and burning,
The world (or, work) is nearly done – or, The time is drawing nigh.

"The world" and "the time" relate to the apocalyptic prophecies of the New Testament. "The work" can do so also, but suggests that the song may derive from an African-American work song.

Recordings

Recordings by people with Wikipedia articles include:

• 1928 – Blind Willie Johnson ^[2]
• 1959 – Mississippi Fred McDowell ^[3]
• Before 1961 – Pink Anderson and Reverend Gary Davis ^[4]
• 1967 – Skip James ^[5]
• 1970 – Wizz Jones, on the album The Legendary Me
• 1971 – Hot Tuna, on the album First Pull Up, Then Pull Down ^[6]
• 1975 – Pearly Brown, on the album It's a Mean Old World to Try to Live In
• 1975 – John Fahey and his Orchestra, on the album Old Fashioned Love
• 1984 – Hot Tuna, on the album Splashdown
• 1986 – Hot Rize, on the album Traditional Ties
• 1993 – Wizz Jones, on the album Late Nights and Long Days
• 1996 – Hot Rize, on the 2002 album So Long of a Journey: Live at the Bouder Theater ^[7]
• 2001 – The Word, on the album The Word Album
• 2002 – Andrew Bird, on the album Fingerlings
• 2008 – The 77s, on the album Holy Ghost Building
• 2013 – Luke Winslow-King on the album The Coming Tide
• 2013 – Marisa Anderson on the album Traditional and Public Domain Songs
• 2015 – Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, on the album Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
• 2016 – Hugh and Katy Moffatt, on the album Now and Then
• 2016 – Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, on the album God Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson

See also

• "The Man Comes Around", a song based on the same biblical passages

References

1. "Keep Your Lamps Trimmed and Burning". hymnary.org. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
2. Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning at AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
3. Downhome Blues 1959 at AllMusic. Retrieved January 2015.
4. Gospel, Blues and Street Songs at AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
5. Studio Sessions: Rare and Unreleased at AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
6. First Pull Up, Then Pull Down at AllMusic. Retrieved January 28, 2015.
7. So Long of a Journey: Live at the Bouder Theater at AllMusic. Retrieved January 2015.