By and By
Christian song
By and By, also known as We'll Understand It Better By and By, is a song by Charles Albert Tindley. Composed in 1905, it is a 3-versed hymn that pairs with the tune of the same name. It is also often referred to by its first line, “We are often tossed and driven on the restless sea of time”, or the first line of the refrain, “By and by, when the morning comes.”⁴ Like many of his songs, Tindley composed “We’ll Understand it Better By and By” in his head, and transcribed and recorded it after, as Tindley was self-taught.
A french version of the same song entitled "Le Seigneur Nous A Aimés" is credited to Maurice Debaisieux.
History
Tindley and his wife, Daisy Henry, attended Bainbridge St. Methodist Episcopal church together in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania after the Civil War. Daisy was also a musician; like Tindley, she was a singer and pianist. The pair had eight children together. Tindley began his involvement with his church as a janitor, seeking religious tutelage from members of the church. He then began work at the church as an unpaid sexton.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “By and By” is christian song. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Christian and song, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “christian song” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q10613553. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1905.
Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “By and By”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow By and By primary sources, By and By archive and Christian research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “By and By”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “By and By” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.