(or, at least his grammar....)

Nick & Jessica:  OK, this sent me to Wikipedia (which is, of course, always correct!!!).  And it's actually quite an interesting history, with a lot of misinformation picked up along the way.

 

"How Can I Keep From Singing?" (also known by its incipit "My Life Flows On in Endless Song") is a Christian hymn with music written by American Baptist minister Robert Wadsworth Lowry. The song is frequently, though erroneously, cited as a traditional Quaker hymn. The original composition has now entered into the public domain, and appears in several hymnals and song collections, both in its original form and with a revised text."

 

So Jessica, no question that the tune and the ORIGINAL words are public domain and you may do whatever you want with them.

 

"Doris Plenn learned the original hymn from her grandmother, who reportedly believed that it dated from the early days of the Quaker movement. Plenn contributed the following verse around 1950, which was taken up by Pete Seeger and other folk revivalists:[2]

When tyrants tremble, sick with fear,

And hear their death-knell ringing,

When friends rejoice both far and near,

How can I keep from singing?

In prison cell and dungeon vile,

Our thoughts to them go winging;

When friends by shame are undefiled,

How can I keep from singing?"

 

 

So THOSE words are still protected by copyright.

 

"Pete Seeger learned a version of this song from Doris Plenn, a family friend, who had it from her North Carolina family. His version made this song fairly well known in the folk revival of the 1960s. Seeger's version omits or modifies much of the Christian wording of the original, and adds Plenn's verse above. The reference in the added verse intended by Seeger and by Plenn - both active in left-wing causes - is to 'witch hunts' of the House Un-American Activities Committee (Seeger himself was sentenced to a year in jail in 1955 as a result of his testimony before the Committee, which he did not serve due to a technicality). Most folk singers, including Enya, have followed Seeger's version."

 

Which means that Pete's version was not his own words, unless he made folkisth changes in Doris's words.

 

And for finding it in print, this:

 

"In the late 1970s and early 80s, How Can I Keep From Singing was recorded by Catholic Folk musician Ed Gutfreund (on an album called "From An Indirect Love"), and the music was published in a widely used Catholic Hymnal called "Glory and Praise," and was popular among Catholic liturgical music ministers, especially those who used guitar. In this, and in an 1993 recording by Marty Haugen, Jeanne Cotter, and David Haas, the quatrain beginning: "No storm can shake my inmost calm..." is used as a repeated refrain."

 

All the best,

John

Actually, while it may have appeared in a Quaker hymnal, it is actually written by Robert Lowry -- at least he claims the music.  The words were not attributed in his hymnal, (see Wikipedia article for more than you wanted to know).  Bottom line, everyone else has written new stanzas for it, why not you?

 

Chuck Jonah