Leave It There


"Leave It There" is a Christian hymn composed in 1916 by African-American Methodist minister Charles A. Tindley. It has become popular enough to have been included in 12 hymnals; and even to be attributed to "traditional" or "anonymous". The title is sometimes given as "Take Your Burden to the Lord and Leave It There" or as "Take Your Burden to the Lord" or as "Take Your Burden", words taken from the song's refrain; the plurals "burdens" and "them" are sometimes used, and "God" instead of "the Lord":

Origins of the lyrics

The song relates to Psalm :
and to Christ's words in the Gospel of Matthew at :
It also relates to the Gospel of Matthew at :

Recording history

On December 2, 1927, the song was recorded in gospel blues style by Washington Phillips. According to the book Country Music Records : A Discography, 1921-1942: A Discography, 1921-1942, on December 13, 1927, it was recorded by Frank and James McCravy. On June 30, 1928, it was recorded in gospel style by the Pace Jubilee Singers with Hattie Parker and piano accompaniment. On December 11, 1929, it was recorded in gospel blues style by Blind Willie Johnson and Willie B. Harris, who is thought to have been his first wife. Despite their closeness in time both to each other and to the date of composition, those three early versions are stylistically very different.
The song has since been recorded many times in a wide variety of styles; mostly gospel-based, but a few blues- or country-based. Some recordings misattribute authorship to Johnson or to Phillips instead of to Tindley; some artists have even claimed that it was their own composition.

Recordings

These songs have related titles to the Tindley song, but differ from it and from each other: