Level: 2
Tuning: Standard

"Oh Mary Don't You Weep" is a Negro spiritual that originates from before the American Civil War. It is what scholars call a "slave song," a label that describes their origins among the enslaved, and it contains"coded messages of hope and resistance." It is one of the most important of Negro spirituals. The first recording of the song was by the Fisk Jubilee Singers in 1915. It became very popular in the Folk Revival of the 1960s. Pete Seeger gave it additional visibility by performing it at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, and playing it many times throughout his career, adapting the lyrics and stating the song's relevance as an American song, not just a spiritual. My arrangement is very much influenced by the playing of Mississippi John Hurt. And like John I play it in the key of E.