Words: , cir­ca 1890 (vers­es 1-3; au­thor of verse 4 is un­known).

Music: .


We are going down the valley one by one,
With our faces tow’rd the setting of the sun;
Down the valley where the mournful cypress grows,
Where the stream of death in silence onward flows.

Refrain

We are going down the valley,
Going down the valley,
Going tow’rd the setting of the sun;
We are going down the valley,
Going down the valley,
Going down the valley one by one.

We are going down the valley one by one,
When the labors of the weary day are done;
One by one, the cares of earth forever past,
We shall stand upon the river brink at last.

Refrain

We are going down the valley one by one:
Human comrade you or I will there have none;
But a tender hand will guide us lest we fall:
Christ is going down the valley with us all.

Refrain

We are going down the valley one by one:
Yet before the shadowed vale may come the dawn,
When with rapture we shall gather in the sky;
“We shall be changed,” but some shall never die!

Refrain