My Carnal Life I Will Lay Down: A Song History
"My Carnal Life I Will Lay Down" is a Shaker song from South Union, Kentucky; Edward D. Andrews, in his 1940 study The Gift to Be Simple, printed it from a source dated June 1838.[1] Andrews observed that its melody leans briefly toward C major for two bars before returning to A minor, unlike most Shaker tunes, which hold to one key.[1] He also named it, alongside "Come Life, Shaker Life" and "'Tis the Gift to Be Simple," among the popular pieces that came to stand for a distinctive Shaker folk culture.[1] True to its title, the text is a stern vow of self-denial and repentance.[2]
United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (Shakers), Retiring Room from the North Family Dwelling, New Lebanon, New York, wood, about 1830–40. A Shaker retiring room from New Lebanon, New York, shown for the Shakers who sang the song; it is not South Union, Kentucky.
Dulcimer player Rob Brereton writes that he first came across it in a book of Shaker hymns borrowed from fellow player Thomasina Levy, calls it a "haunting minor melody," and recorded it as an instrumental; he adds that his arrangement appears in Neal Hellman's Mel Bay collection of Shaker music for the dulcimer.[2] It is also among the fifteen Shaker songs and hymns that Roger Hall, writing about Arlene Hutton's play As It Is in Heaven, lists as quoted in the play; he identifies it as a South Union song of 1838, the year in which the play is set, and cites Andrews as his source.[3]
Shelley Stevens includes it in Baker's Dozen #4: Shaker Music, a Fingers Of Steel book of thirteen Shaker melodies in DAD tuning, each given in both standard notation and tablature; the book's listing describes it as a Shaker tune from 1838, played with a capo at the first fret.[4]
Sources
- Internet Archive: Edward D. Andrews, "The Gift to Be Simple: Songs, Dances and Rituals of the American Shakers" (1940).
- Rob Brereton: "My Carnal Life".
- American Music Preservation (Roger Hall): "As It Is In Heaven".
- Fingers Of Steel: "Shelley Stevens, Baker's Dozen #4: Shaker Music".
- Image: United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing (Shakers), Retiring Room from the North Family Dwelling, New Lebanon, New York, wood, about 1830–40. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.