"Don't You Hear Jerusalem Moan" was originally a spiritual. The last two verses refer to Methodist and Baptist preachers and this spawned a satiric version ridiculing preachers of various denominations.
Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian denominations are well known. The other denominations mentioned are:
  • Campellite designates a minister of the Restoration Movement (also known as the American Restoration Movement or the Stone–Campbell Movement and pejoratively as Campbellism) is a Christian movement that began on the frontier during the Second Great Awakening (1790–1840) of the early 19th century. The pioneers of this movement were seeking to reform the church from within and sought "the unification of all Christians in a single body patterned after the church of the New Testament".
  • Hard Shell Baptists, also known as Primitive Baptists, Foot Washing Baptists or Old School Baptists are conservative Baptists who coalesced out of the controversy among Baptists in the early 19th century over the appropriateness of mission boards, tract societies and temperance societies. The adjective "primitive" is used in the sense of "original". Their beliefs include include a cappella singing (no instruments used in worship), family integrated worship (no Sunday schools for children) and foot washing.
  • Holy Roller or Holy Jumper are terms originating in the 19th century and used to refer to some Protestant Christian churchgoers in the Wesleyan-Holiness movement, such as Free Methodists and Wesleyan Methodists. The term describes dancing, shaking or other boisterous movements by church attendees who perceive themselves as being under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
  • Unitarianism (1565–present) is a liberal Christian theological movement known for its belief in the unitary nature of God and for its rejection of the doctrines of the Trinity, original sin, predestination and of biblical inerrancy.
The earliest recording of the song was by Bill Chitwood & Bud Landress in 1925.
It was also recorded by Warren Caplinger as "Jerusalem Mourn" (1928), Gid Tanner & his Skillet Lickers as "Can't You Hear Jerusalem Moan" (1926), Jim Costa on Banjo Legacy (1989), Jon Eberhart on Life's Trolley Ride (1981) (as "Hear Jerusalem Mourn"), David Holt on It Just Suits Me (1981) (as "Jerusalem Mourn"), Jody Stecher on Going Up on the Mountain (1977) and Cas Wallin on The Old Traditions, Home Made Music (1983).
It was printed in Richardson's American Mountain Songs (1927/1955) (as "Don't Ya Heah Jerusalem Moan?").
It was included in the Roud Folk Song Index #4945.