Down by the Riverside is an African-American spiritual with roots before the Civil War. Its first published form appeared in 1918 in Plantation Melodies, and the earliest known recording was by the Fisk University Jubilee Quartet in 1920, with the sheet music issued by Columbia in 1922. Also known as Ain’t Gonna Study War No More and Gonna Lay Down My Burden, the song is rich with biblical imagery, and its refrain “I ain’t gonna study war no more” helped it become associated with pacifism and anti-war protest, especially during the Vietnam era. It sits in the gospel and traditional spiritual genres and has appeared in socialist and labor song collections. Over the years it has been recorded by many artists on numerous albums, including Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Peter, Paul and Mary, the Million Dollar Quartet, and the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
