God’s Gonna Cut You Down - American Folk Song

God’s Gonna Cut You Down is an American folk gospel song first recorded in 1937. The original forms of the song were quite different and were usually sung in the major scale by a quartet. This version instead owes a lot to Johnny Cash’s now legendary rendition. Now I wasn’t even gonna try and compete with the master himself, and far better singers than I have covered it in the past; my interest was more in providing a classic example of American folk music from the Southern United States. This region’s music often revolves around the use of pentatonic scales combined with triad chords that cover the entire musical scale--in other words, the main melody uses five notes out of the seven notes in the scale, but the accompanying chord progression underneath may use all seven notes. Lyrics as in this case are often religious in nature. Lyrics: You can run on for a long time Run on for a long time Run on for a long time Sooner or later God’ll cut you down Sooner or later God’ll cut you down Go tell that long tongue liar Go and tell that midnight rider Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down Well my goodness gracious let me tell you the news My head’s been wet with the midnight dew I’ve been down on bended knee Talkin’ to the man from Galilee He spoke to me in a voice so sweet I thought I heard the shuffle of angels’ feet He called my name and my heart stood still When he said, “John, go do my will!“ Go tell that long tongue liar Go and tell that midnight rider Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut ’em down You can run on for a long time Run on for a long time Run on for a long time Sooner or later God’ll cut you down Sooner or later God’ll cut you down Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand Workin’ in the dark against your fellow man But as sure as God made black and white What’s down in the dark will be brought to the light You can run on for a long time Run on for a long time Run on for a long time Sooner or later God’ll cut you down Sooner or later God’ll cut you down Go tell that long tongue liar Go and tell that midnight rider Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down Tell ’em that God’s gonna cut you down