#down in the valley to pray

A few legends of bluegrass singing a great old gospel song. Alison Krauss sang this on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, but it’s a much older song Doc says he got from his grandmother. The valley is a common theme in gospel music, from Lily in the Valley to Peace In The Valley to the biblical Valley of the Shadow of Death. Maybe it’s the humility of the valley next to the mountain (a place where God is often found), or the isolation from the rest of the world. The geography was changed to a river for the movie, another prominent symbol in gospel music, and was played during a scene of people being baptized en masse.