> Martin Carthy > Songs > Wood—Wilson—Carthy: You Must Unload

You Must Unload

[ Roud 22511 ; John B. Vaughan (1862-1918)]

You Must Unload is a hymn written by John B. Vaughan of Elbert County, Georgia (1862-1918).

Blind Alfred Reed from Floyd County, Virginia, sang You Must Unload at the Bristol Sessions on 28 July 1927. This recording was released on Victor 20939 and later included on his anthology Completed Recorded Works on Document Records.

Chris Wood sang You Must Unload to a different tune of his own on the 1988 album Wood—Wilson—Carthy. He was accompanied by Martin Carthy on guitar. He noted:

You offshore trusting Christians you refuse to pay your due
There’ll be no place in God’s Tuscan holiday villa for you!

Ry Cooder sang You Must Unload on his 2018 album Prodigal Son.

Lyrics

Blind Alfred Reed sings You Must Unload

You fashion-loving Christians, you will surely be denied
You must unload, you must unload
You are robbing God’s own treasure if you feed yourselves with pride
You must, you must unload

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
The way is straight and narrow and but few are in the road
My brother and my sister there’s no other mode
If you want to get to heaven, your future abode
You must, you must unload

You money-loving Christians, you refuse to pay your share
You must unload, you must unload
You want to get to heaven on the cheapest kind of fare
You must, you must unload

You puffer of the cigarettes, you’ve made your fate secure
You must unload, you must unload
There’ll be no more tobacco in the land where all is pure
You must, you must unload

You Christians with card parties, you are far from being true
You must unload, you must unload
There’ll be no playing euchre in the land where all is true
You must, you must unload

Chris Wood sings You Must Unload

You fashion loving Christians, you’ll surely be denied
You’re robbing God of treasure when you feed yourselves with pride

Chorus (repeated after each verse):
The way is straight and narrow and few are in the road
My brother and my sister there’s no other mode
If you want to get to heaven, your future abode
You must, you must unload

You puffer of the cigarettes, you’ve made your fate secure
There’ll be no more tobacco in the land where all is pure.

You Christians with card parties, there’ll be no place for you
There’ll be no playing poker in the land where all is true.