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"An American Trilogy" is a song arranged by country songwriter Mickey Newbury and made popular by Elvis Presley. Presley began performing the song in concert in 1972≈a February recording was released by RCA as a single.

Presley performed the song in his 1973 international satellite telecast "Elvis≈Aloha from Hawaii". "An American Trilogy" is a medley of three 19th century songs≈"Dixie", a blackface minstrel song that became the unofficial anthem of the U.S. South since the Civil War; "All My Trials", originally a Bahamian lullaby, but closely related to African American spirituals, and well-known through folk music revivalists; and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic", the marching song of the U.S. North during the Civil War.

The song is referenced and partially sung in the Manic Street Preachers' song "Elvis Impersonator: Blackpool Pier" from the Everything Must Go album, and is covered by Manowar on their 'Warriors Of The World' album.

Lyrics for An American Trilogy

performed by Elvis Presley

Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton
Old things they are not forgotten
Look away, look away, look away Dixieland
Oh I wish I was in Dixie, away, away
In Dixieland I take my stand to live and die in Dixie
Cause Dixieland, that's where I was born
Early Lord one frosty morning
Look away, look away, look away Dixieland

So hush little baby
Don't you cry
You know your daddy's bound to die
But all my trials, Lord will soon be over

All My Trials

"All My Trials" was an important folk song during the social protest movements of the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on a Bahamian lullaby that tells the story of a mother on her death bed, comforting her children, "Hush little baby, don't you cry./You know your mama's bound to die," because, as she explains: "All my trials, Lord,/Soon be over." This message, that no matter how bleak the situation seemed, the struggle would "soon be over," propelled the song to the status of an anthem, recorded by many of the leading artists of the era.

The song is often classified as a spiritual for its apparent sentiment that the Bible offers a promise of hope and liberty, even in the darkest hour: "I had a little book, was given to me,/And every page spelled liberty". Nevertheless, in some versions the identity of the "little book" remains ambiguous, and the reference to class divisions makes the liberty seems as much political as religious.

According to the song, this hope is something that cannot be stolen from the people, no matter how poor or oppressed they are: "If religion was a thing that money could buy,/The rich would live and the poor would die."The song was recorded numerous times by folk artists, including Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul and Mary. Nick Drake and Gabrielle Drake sang it as a duet. Another version of the song, "All My Sorrows," was made popular by the Kingston Trio. A fragment of the song is used in the Elvis Presley anthem An American Trilogy. More recently it was sung by Cerys Matthews on her album Cockahoop.

Lyrics
Lyrics to All My Trials:
If religion was a thing that money could buy,
The rich would live and the poor would die.
All my trials, Lord, Will soon be over.

Bridge:
Too late my brothers,
Too late but never mind,
All my trials, Lord, Will soon be over.
Go to sleep, my little baby, and don't you cry,
Your daddy was born, just to live and die.
All my trials, Lord, Will soon be over.

Oh I have a little book that sets me free,
My bible, it spells "Liberty".

All my trials, Lord, Will soon be over.
Yes, a man was born to suffer agony,
His will to live Spells "Victory".
All my trials, Lord, Will soon be over.

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