"Keep Your Lamp(s) Trimmed and Burning" is a traditional gospel blues song. It alludes to the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, found in the Gospel of Matthew at 25:1-13, and also to a verse in the Gospel of Luke, at 12:35.
The song has been attributed to Blind Willie Johnson, who recorded it in 1928; to Mississippi Fred McDowell, who recorded it in 1959; and to Reverend Gary Davis, who recorded it sometime before 1961.
The song has been included in several hymnals.
The song is in call-and-response format. As is common with traditional songs, lyrics vary between performers – in this instance, often very widely. A usual first verse is:
"The world" and "the time" relate to the apocalyptic prophecies of the New Testament. "The work" can do so also, but suggests that the song may derive from an African-American work song.
Recordings by people with Wikipedia articles include:
1928 – Blind Willie Johnson
1959 – Mississippi Fred McDowell
Before 1961 – Pink Anderson and Reverend Gary Davis
1967 – Skip James
1970 – Wizz Jones, on the album The Legendary Me
1971 – Hot Tuna, on the album First Pull Up, Then Pull Down
1975 – Pearly Brown, on the album It's a Mean Old World to Try to Live In
1975 – John Fahey and his Orchestra, on the album Old Fashioned Love
1984 – Hot Tuna, on the album Splashdown
1986 – Hot Rize, on the album Traditional Ties
1993 – Wizz Jones, on the album Late Nights and Long Days
1996 – Hot Rize, on the 2002 album So Long of a Journey: Live at the Bouder Theater
2001 – The Word, on the album The Word Album
2002 – Andrew Bird, on the album Fingerlings
2008 – The 77s, on the album Holy Ghost Building
2013 – Luke Winslow-King on the album The Coming Tide
2013 – Marisa Anderson on the album Traditional and Public Domain Songs
2015 – Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, on the album Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams
2016 – Hugh and Katy Moffatt, on the album Now and Then
2016 – Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, on the album God Don't Never Change: The Songs Of Blind Willie Johnson
