Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
Encyclopedia
Spiritual (music)
Spirituals are religious songs which were created by enslaved African people in America.-Terminology and origin:...
. The song is well known and many cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
s of it have been produced, although the rendition by Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
is the best known. Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson
Marian Anderson was an African-American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century...
had her first successful recording with a version of this song on the Victor label in 1925. Lena Horne
Lena Horne
Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the...
recorded a version of the song in 1946. Deep River Boys
Deep River Boys
The Deep River Boys were an American gospel music group active from the mid 1930s and into the 1980s. The group performed spirituals, gospel, and R&B.-Members:...
recorded their version in Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
on August 29, 1958. It was released on the extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
Negro Spirituals Vol. 1 (HMV 7EGN 27). The song was arranged by Harry Douglas.
Traditional Lyrics
- Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
- Nobody knows my sorrow
- Nobody knows the trouble I've seen
- Glory hallelujah!
- Sometimes I'm up, sometimes I'm down
- Oh, yes, Lord
- Sometimes I'm almost to the ground
- Oh, yes, Lord
- Although you see me going 'long so
- Oh, yes, Lord
- I have my trials here below
- Oh, yes, Lord
- If you get there before I do
- Oh, yes, Lord
- Tell all-a my friends I'm coming too
- Oh, yes, Lord
Variations
- The second line ("Nobody knows my sorrow") is changed in some renditions to be "Nobody knows but Jesus".
In popular culture
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory is an American sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady, both of whom serve as executive producers on the show, along with Steven Molaro. All three also serve as head writers...
, character Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon Cooper
Sheldon Lee Cooper, B.S., M.S., M.A., Ph.D., Sc.D. is a fictional character from Texas on the CBS television series The Big Bang Theory, portrayed by actor Jim Parsons...
sings this song while playing a theremin
Theremin
The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...
.
Red vs. Blue
Red vs. Blue, often abbreviated as RvB, is a set of related comic science fiction video series created by Rooster Teeth Productions and distributed through the Internet and on DVD...
, in the Season 3 bloopers, Private Grif sings the first line during the prison scene in Sidewinder.
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
(1994), Zazu sings the first two lines; 'Nobody knows the trouble I've seen, Nobody knows my sorrow'.
Spaceballs
Spaceballs is a 1987 American science fiction comedy parody film co-written by, directed by, Mel Brooks and starring Bill Pullman, John Candy, Mel Brooks & Rick Moranis. It also features, Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and the voice of Joan Rivers. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on...
(1987), Princess Vespa sings this while being held prisoner, revealing her bass singing voice
Bass (voice type)
A bass is a type of male singing voice and possesses the lowest vocal range of all voice types. According to The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, a bass is typically classified as having a range extending from around the second E below middle C to the E above middle C...
.