12 replies to this topic

[Jehovah_of_Jive]

Just about every online version of 'The Old Landmark' lyrics sounds wrong to me... Is it my ears or is James Brown and the choir singing...

"Kneel and pray... in that old-fashioned way" (with the words "old-fashioned" sung rather quickly to scan)

J_o_J

[bbcentral]

And now people.
And now, people.
When I woke up this mornin' I heard a disturbin' sound.
I said, when I woke up this mornin', I heard a disturbin' sound.
What I heard was the jingle-jangle of a thousand lost souls!
I'm talkin' about the souls of mortal men and women departed from this life!
Wait a minute!
Those lost, anguished souls roamin' unseen over the earth, seekin' the divine light they'll not find, because it's too late.
Too late! Yeah!
Too late for them to ever see again, the light they once chose not to follow.
All right, all right.
Don't be lost when your time comes!
"For the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night"
Amen!
Say Amen! (Amen!)
Can I get Amen? (Amen!)
Well, well, well!

Let us all (All go back)
To the old (Old landmark)
Let us all (All go back)
To the old (Old landmark)
Let us all (All go back)
To the old (Old landmark)
As we stay in the service of the Lord

Let us kneel (Kneel in prayer)
Gonna hold (Hold my breath)
Let us kneel (Kneel in prayer)
Gonna hold (Hold my breath)
Let us feel (Feel that prayer)
Gonna hold (Hold my breath)
Feel it, know it, I will, it will

Now, those are from the subtitles on the Anniversary DVD (USA Region 1).
They sound WAY off. The second chorus sounded more like this to me:
Let us kneel (Kneel and pray)
In the old (Old town way)
Let us kneel (Kneel and pray)
In the old (Old town way)
Let us! (Feel that prayer)
In the old (Old town way)

Next I checked my 1998 Collector's Edition DVD (Australia Region 4). Those were even worse, 100% wrong!

Next I checked the Theatrical version on the Anniversary DVD (USA Region 1). That version of the song skips the 'let us kneel' verse and goes right to the 'let us preach' verse.

To be honest, I have no idea what the lyrics really are.

[dixiesquare]

that is such a great number , some times i cant decide what to watch either james brown dancing or listen to the music with my eyes closed , crank it up and listen !!

when i was at the church it kept running through my head and i was humming it .

[bluesbrowannabe]

This is from my blues bros. music book -

Let us all - all go back
To the old - old landmark
Let us all - all go back
To the old - old landmark
Let us all - all go back
To the old -old landmark
And we'll stay in the service of the Lord.

Let us kneel - kneel and pray
In the old - old time way
We got to kneel - kneel and pray
In the old - old time way
Let us kneel - kneel and pray
In the old - old time way
He will - hear us
And be - near us
We'll be - given
Bread from - Heaven
He will feed us until we want no more.

We can - preach the word
In the old - old time way
We can - preach the word
In the old - old time way
We can preach - preach the word
In the old - old timeway
Tell the - story
Of his - glory
It will - warn you
It will - turn you
It will save you so welcome to the church.

Let us kneel - bring our voice
In the - old time way
Yeah - bring our voice
In the old - old time way.
Come on bring - bring our voice
In the old - old timeway
I'm gon' kneel with everybody - sweeter singing
Bells - ringing.
It will ring ring way down in your soul.

Let's go - down to the river
To the river - old time way
Let's go down - down to the river
In the old - old time way.
I'm gon kneel with everybody - sweeter singing
Bells - ringing.
Everybody coming to live in the service of the Lord.

Let us all - all go back
To the old - old landmark
Let us - all go back
To the old - old landmark
Let us go - all go back
To the old - old landmark.
He will - hear us
And be - near us
We'll be - given
Bread from - Heaven
Tell the - story
Of his - glory
It will - won you
It will - turn you
It will - save you
Everybody - sweeter
We're all - singing
Bells - ringing
He will - hear us
And be - near us
Oh golly - shout it
Everybody - Shout it
Shout it - shout it
Ah - shout it
Ah shout we've got to shout it, shout it ah - oh------
Lord take me - oh-----
Take me Lord take me - oh ------
Take me Lord take me - oh ------
My my my my my my - oh ------
Well well well well stay in the service of the Lord-------------

[Jehovah_of_Jive]

This is the most convincing set of lyrics to The Old Landmark I've yet seen. Thanks.

J_o_J

[bbcentral]

They're close but not spot-on. Definitely the closest we have, but I think we may have to combine several sets together to come up with a 100% accurate version
Keep in mind, James Brown never sings the same way twice. I get the feeling he improvised a lot of lyrics, but if we can find out what he was supposed to be singing then it might help

[bluesbrowannabe]

Well those lyrics I have typed there are the copyrighted lyrics by Adeline Brunner. But I agree that James Brown may have improvised around with the lyrics.

[Guitarman5151]

Who knows with James Brown? To me when I hear it he sounds mush mouthed. Then agian some of what he sings sounds that way anyway depending on the song.

[basetapes]

You guys are gonna "fill your pants" when you hear the version that is going to be on the Bonus disc for the reissue!!!

[JacobSteinAFM]

Thanks for the update, Basetapes!

I can tell it's going to be incredible! :D

[Mike]

basetapes said:

You guys are gonna "fill your pants" when you hear the version that is going to be on the Bonus disc for the reissue!!!

why? what will it be like. getting to impatient wating for the CD:roll:

[bluesharp]

basetapes said:

You guys are gonna "fill your pants" when you hear the version that is going to be on the Bonus disc for the reissue!!!

I already filled me pants when i heard Can't Turn You Loose:roll:
God only knows what i'll do when i get the cd!!

[ChAnOoD_bLuEs]

basetapes said:

You guys are gonna "fill your pants" when you hear the version that is going to be on the Bonus disc for the reissue!!!

Great! I dislike the album version of The Old Landmark...what happend with the drums? You can see somebody playing the drums on the scene in the movie but the album version doesn´t have it! If you pay attention, you can listen to some percursion things like claps and tambourine, but not to the "real" drums!