I'm Working on a Building

One version of the song is credited to Lillian Bowles and Winifred O. Hoyle, though it existed as a traditional folk song for longer than that, likely a negro spiritual of indeterminate origin. An early version of the song was collected in a 1929 book, Old Songs Hymnal by Dorothy G. Bolton; the song is described as having a calypso feel to it, leading to speculation that it may have originated in Florida or the Caribbean.

{{cite book| title = Hymns of the Old Camp Ground | last = Erbsen | first = Wayne | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2aKIGrGlnwsC&dq=i'm+working+on+a+building+song&pg=PA69 | page = 69 | year = 2008 | publisher = Native Ground Books and Music | isbn = 9781883206567 | access-date = 2011-09-22}}

The song became popularly associated with Southern gospel music when The Carter Family recorded it in 1934 for Bluebird Records; this version is copyrighted to A. P. Carter. Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass music, added it to his regular set-list due to numerous requests from fans, and because he appreciated the construction metaphor in the song's lyrics. It is believed that the Carter version was itself based on a much older version which the folklorist John Wesley Work III later included in his 1940 collection American Negro Songs and Spirituals.

{{cite book| title = The Music of Bill Monroe | last1 = Rosenberg| first1 = Neil V. |last2 = Wolfe| first2= Charles K.| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=PmiFb1e1Fm4C&dq=i%27m+working+on+a+building+song&pg=PA94 | page = 94 | year = 2007 | publisher = University of Illinois Press

| isbn = 9780252031212| access-date = 2011-09-22}}

{{cite book | title = A Tennessee folklore sampler: selections from the Tennessee folklore society | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=0Z90XdzMKE0C&dq=i%27m+working+on+a+building+song&pg=PA324| chapter = Field Recordings of Southern Black Music | last = Nemerov | first = Bruce | pages = 323–324 | year = 2009 | publisher = Univ. of Tennessee Press |isbn = 9781572336681| access-date = 2011-09-22}}

Blues legend B. B. King first learned the song as a young street musician, and it became a regular part of his repertoire during his early career.{{cite book | title = B.B. King: There is Always One More Time | last = McGee | first = David | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uuZiCElcWTQC&dq=i'm+working+on+a+building+song&pg=PA24 | page = 24 | year = 2002 | publisher = Hal Leonard Corporation | isbn = 9780879308438 | access-date = 2011-09-22}} John Fogerty included the song in his first solo project, The Blue Ridge Rangers.

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{{Bill Monroe|state=autocollapse}}{{Carter Family|state=autocollapse}}

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Category:Southern gospel songs

Category:Bluebird Records singles

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