There are two different lyrics in the hymn.
Lord, I want to be a Christian in-a my heart
vs
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart
Is the first correct too or typing error?
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StoneyB on hiatus
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Kihoon Kwon
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The -a is for cadence, I.E. keeping time :) – lurker Jan 04 '16 at 00:11
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Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart
is Standard English
Lord, I want to be a Christian in-a my heart
The "in-a" my heart part sounds like a dialect. According to Wikipedia, this hymn was composed by African American slaves in the 1750's, so it is probably a remnant of their dialect.
Senjougahara Hitagi
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I tend to agree. Yet it's ironic, or perhaps telling, that the Wikipedia article does not give the lyrics found on the image of the sheet music! – Nov 07 '15 at 01:09