"Bye and Bye We're (or, I'm) Going to See the King" is a Christian song from the African-American musical tradition. It is known under a variety of titles, including "I Wouldn't Mind Dying (If Dying Was All)" and "A Mother's Last Word to Her Daughter". It was recorded seven times before 1930 under all three of those titles (and variants).
It has been most often recorded in gospel or gospel blues style, but also in other styles such as country.
The song consists of several four-line verses (quatrains) and a repeated refrain. The words both of verses and of refrain often differ from one artist to another. A standard feature is that the refrain consists of four lines, the first three of which are identical. Common variants of those three lines include "Bye and bye we're (or, I'm) going to see the King" and "Holy, holy, holy is His name". The fourth line almost always begins "(I) wouldn't (or, don't) mind dying". It concludes in various ways in different versions, for example "If dying was all", or "But I gotta go by myself", or "Because I'm a child of God".
"The King" is a title of the Christian God.
Many versions include a verse which refers to the vision of the chariot in the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 1.
A line found in many versions, "He said he saw him coming with his dyed garments on", alludes to the Book of Isaiah at 63:1:
Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?
Titles like "Bye and Bye We're Going to See the King" and "I Wouldn't Mind Dying (If Dying Was All)" are taken from the refrain. The title of the 1929 version by Washington Phillips, "A Mother's Last Word to Her Daughter", whose verses differ markedly from other versions, was presumably chosen to indicate that he intended it as a companion song to his "Mother's Last Word to Her Son" of 1927.
1926 – Arizona Dranes, "Bye and Bye We're Going to See the King" 10" 78rpm single Okeh 8438-B
1927 – Blind Mamie Forehand, "Wouldn't Mind Dying If Dying Was All" 10" 78rpm single Victor 20574-A
1927 – Norfolk Jubilee Quartet, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying If Dying Was All" 10" 78rpm single Paramount 12630-B
1928 – Golden Leaf Quartet, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying" 10" 78rpm single Brunswick 7050
1928 – Rev. I. B. Ware with Wife and Son, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying (but I Gotta Go by Myself)" 10" 78rpm single Vocalion 1235
1929 – Blind Willie Johnson, "Bye and Bye I'm Goin' to See the King" 10" 78rpm single Columbia 14504-D
1929 – Washington Phillips, "A Mother's Last Word to Her Daughter" 10" 78rpm single Columbia 14511-D
1932 – Carter Family, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying" 10" 78rpm single Victor 23807
1939 – Carter Family, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying" radio broadcast
1939 – Smith Casey, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying If Dying Was All"
1939 – The Dixie Hummingbirds, "Wouldn't Mind Dying" 10" 78rpm single Decca 7667
1956 – Dorothy Love Coates and the Original Gospel Harmonettes, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying" on the album Get on Board
1961 – Reverend Pearly Brown, "By and By (I'm Gonna See the King)" on the album Georgia Street Singer
1965 – Mississippi Fred McDowell, "Bye and Bye"/"Wouldn't Mind Dying"
1981 – Flora Molton and the Truth Band, "Bye and Bye I'm Going To See the King" on the album Living Country Blues USA, Vol. 3
1986 – R. Stevie Moore, "I Wouldn't Mind Dyin'" on the album Glad Music
1994 – Ben Harper, hidden track on the album Welcome to the Cruel World
2002 – K. M. Williams, "Bye and Bye, I'm Goin' to See the King" on the album Blind Willie's Hymns
2003 – John and Heidi Cerrigione, "A Mother's Last Word to Her Daughter" on the album Wood Stoves and Bread Loaves
2003 – Davis Coen, "Bye and Bye I'm Goin' to See the King" on the album Cryin' the Blues
2004 – Crush Collision Trio, "Bye and Bye I'm Going to See the King" on the album Cold in Hand
2005 – Flat Mountain Girls, "Wouldn't Mind Dyin'" on the album Honey Take Your Whiskers Off
2006 – Catfish Keith, "Bye and Bye, I'm Going to See the King" on the album Rolling Sea
2007 – Francesco Garolfi, "Bye and Bye, I'm Going to See the King" on the album The Blues I Feel
2009 – Catfish Keith, "By and By I'm Going to See the King" on the album Live at the Half Moon
2010 – Heaven And, "Bye and Bye I'm Going To See the King " on the album Bye and Bye I'm Going To See the King
2010 – Willie Salomon, "By and By I'm Gonna See the King" on the album Let Your Light Shine
2011 – Catfish Keith, "By and By, I'm Going to See the King" on the album A True Friend Is Hard to Find: Gospel Retrospective
2012 – Ryan McGiver, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying" on the album Troubled in Mind
These songs have similar titles to the song which is the subject of this article, but are different from it and from each other:
2010 – Jason Moon, "I Wouldn't Mind Dying Now" on the album Naked Under All These Clothes
"Bye and Bye When the Morning Comes"/"We'll Understand It Better Bye and Bye", a different gospel song
"We Shall See the King (When He Comes)", a different gospel song
