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A better day is coming

Charles A. Tindley and/or Robert Lowry

This hymn's author (and composer of the tune) is sometimes given as Robert Lowry, and sometimes as Charles A. Tindley. The text as attributed to Lowry usually consists of the first, second and fifth of the stanzas given below; whereas the text as attributed to Tindley usually consists of the first, second, third, and fourth stanzas given below. There are minor variations in the two shared stanzas, and in the tune. Before 1979, the Lowry version predominated in the hymnals that had the hymn, whereas since 1979 the Tindley version has had the upper hand. Personally, I could be happy singing all five stanzas. I would be interested in any information clarifying the hymn's history and the roles of Lowry and Tindley in the forms we find it being sung in today.

Hymnary text authority (22 instances, largely Tindley)
Cyber Hymnal™ page (Lowry; uses tune name WUPPERTAL)

 
1 A better day is coming,
The morning draweth nigh,
When girded right with holy might
Shall overthrow the wrong.
When Christ our Lord shall listen
To ev'ry plaintive sigh,
And stretch His hand o'er every land
In justice by and by.

Refrain:
'Tis coming by and by,
'Tis coming by and by,
A better day is coming, the morning draweth nigh,
'Tis coming by and by,
'Tis coming by and by,
The welcome dawn is hastening on,
'Tis coming by and by.

2 The boast of haughty error
No more shall fill the land,
While men enraged, their pow'rs engaged,
To kill their fellow man,
But God the Lord shall triumph,
And Satan's host shall fly,
For wrong must cease and righteousness
Shall conquer by and by. [Refrain]

3 No more will angry nations
In deadly conflict meet,
While children cry and parents die
In conquest or defeat,
For Jesus Christ the Captain,
Will give the battle cry,
The Holy Ghost will lead the host
To vic'try by and by. [Refrain]

4 No more shall lords and rulers
Their helpless victims press,
And bar the door against the poor
And leave them in distress,
But God, the King of Glory,
Who hears the ravens cry,
Will give command that ev'ry man
Have plenty by and by. [Refrain]

5 O for that holy dawning
We watch, and wait, and pray,
Till o'er the height the morning light
Shall drive the gloom away;
And when the heavenly glory
Shall flood the earth and sky,
We'll bless the Lord for all his word,
And praise him by and by. [Refrain]
    

Tune

This is a Tindley score, and the text is from a Tindley version except for the fifth stanza, which I added from a Lowry version.

A Better Day Is Coming

YouTube (instrumental w/ lyrics) of Lowry tune (3 stanzas)

MIDI file from The Cyber Hymnal™: WUPPERTAL (MIDI)