Song View

The oldest known publication of the song took place in 1867 on page 84 of the song collection "Slave Songs of the United States" by William Francis Allen under the title "The Good Old Way". The first line of the song, "As I Went Down in the Valley to Pray" was later taken over as the title. The song is also known with slight modifications of the text, "to the Valley" is occasionally replaced by "to the River" or "in the River".