I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay!
I've got the love of Jesus down in my heart
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
I've got the love of Jesus down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay!
I've got the peace that passeth understanding down in my heart
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
I've got the peace that passeth understanding down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay!
And there'll be therefore now no condemnation down in my heart
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
And there'll be therefore now no condemnation down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay!
And if the Devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack!
Sit on a tack!
Sit on a tack!
And if the Devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack!
Sit on a tack to stay!
Now I'm not so sure that the last verse was in the original song. I seriously suspect that my father or some other choir director made it up to entertain kids, and it was for sure our favorite verse. The two verses before it were tongue twisters for little kids and after we struggled through them, it was a real pleasure to belt out the Devil verse.
You would be surprised how hard it is to find the music for this little song that is so etched on my brain. It was a common song used in the children portion of revivals back in my day, but for some reason it only appears rarely in old hymnals and not at all in present day hymnals. In fact the last time I saw it in print was in a very old Youth! spiral-bound book many years ago. Guess I'm going to have to try to find a copy of it now that it's come to mind. I only have a small mountain of hymnals in the corner of the closet and not a one of them has this particular song in it.
I can remember vividly sitting in the front row of the San Gabriel First Baptist Church when I was about 5 years old. We would have a children's sing-a-long about a half hour before the real revival service began and we were called the Baptist Boosters. It helped entertain us and keep us a little happier about spending every night of a week in the summer cooped up inside listening to evangelists. Some of us, who shall remain nameless but who had the distinction of being the Preacher's Kids got to attend additional morning services every day that week. This is why I do not feel guilty about not attending church now. I put in so much time in a church pew as a kid that I still haven't caught up to normal church-attending folks.
Anyway, I digress. We were speaking about a particular little song that we kids loved to sing. While I don't have very many memories from the age of 5 and earlier, I do remember one of those sing-a-longs so clearly. Daddy introduced a new verse to the song. I wonder how many of the other kids, now middle-aged adults, remember this particular version:
I've got the Baptist Booster Spizirinctum down in my heart
Down in my heart
Down in my heart
I've got the Baptist Booster Spizirinctum down in my heart
Down in my heart to stay!
It's a memory that only a select few who attended the San Gabriel First Baptist Church would share.
LSW
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