Down by the Riverside

"Down by the Riverside" (also known as "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and "Gonna lay down my burden") is an African-American spiritual. Its roots date back to before the American Civil War, though it was first published in 1918 in "Plantation Melodies: A Collection of Modern, Popular and Old-time Negro-Songs of the Southland", Chicago, the Rodeheaver Company. The song has alternatively been known as "Ain' go'n' to study war no mo'", "Ain't Gwine to Study War No More", "Down by de Ribberside", "Going to Pull My War-Clothes" and "Study war no more". The song was first recorded by the Fisk University jubilee quartet in 1920 (published by Columbia in 1922), and there are at least 14 black gospel recordings before World War II.
Because of its pacifistic imagery, "Down by the Riverside" has also been used as an anti-war protest song, especially during the Vietnam War. The song is also included in collections of socialist and labor songs.
Lyrics.
The song has many lyrical variations, though usually, each stanza follows a standard form, with one sentence that differs from one stanza to the next. The song often begins:
With the chorus:
Other lines that can appear in stanzas, in place of "Gonna lay down my burden", include:
Themes.
The song suggests baptism in water, using the metaphor of crossing the River Jordan to enter the Promised Land in the Old Testament. The refrain of "ain't gonna study war no more" is a reference to a quotation found in the book of Isaiah, chapter 2, (KJV): "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
Recordings.
Artists who have recorded the song include:
Soundtrack appearances.
The song was featured as a DLC in the Nintendo Wii game Just Dance 2 and Just Dance 3
It was used as background music in two episodes of "SpongeBob SquarePants" known as "Survival of the Idiots" and "Selling Out."
It was played in the "" episode "The Next Phase".
Parodies and alternative lyrics.
The song was the basis of an Allan Sherman parody called "Don't Buy the Liverwurst". The tune of "Down by the Riverside" was also used in a McDonald's's 1960s jingle, "McDonald's Is My Kind of Place". In episode 72 of the animated television series "Animaniacs", this song was parodied as "U.N. Me" about the United Nations Headquarters and was later released on their 2nd album, "Yakko's World".
In the UK, "Down by the Riverside" was parodied for use by a radio commercial on some local radio stations (namely Mix 107) about eco-friendly travel choices (i.e. leaving the car for one day a week).
JibJab also used the melody in a song about the year 2012 in review (called "2012: The End Is Here!").
An episode of "Liv & Maddie" had Liv singing a song about her musical group with senior citizens, "The Golden Chords, " at a retirement home, to the tune of this song.