“I Am a Pilgrim” is a traditional hymn going back to the mid-19th century, first recorded by the Norfolk Jubilee Quartet in 1924, an African-American group, and recorded and performed many times since by gospel, folk, and bluegrass artists.
The song combines elements from an “[o]ld hymn entwined with Poor Wayfaring Stranger (Sacred Harp – 1844). It appears in The Southern Zion’s Songster (1864) and in Hymns For the Camp (1862).” The song references or alludes to several Bible passages, including “If I could touch the hem of his garment” which references Matthew 9:20 where a woman touches the hem of Jesus’ robe and is healed.
Wikipedia
The version I post below is by Frank Hamilton (born 1934), an important figure in American folk music as a musician, collector of folk songs, and teacher. He co-founded the Old Town School of Folk in Chicago, and has preformed on a variety of labels, including a brief stint with the Weavers in the post-Pete Seeger period. He also appeared at the first Newport Folk Festival in 1959, a date from which the recording below is taken. Hamilton was in the house band at the Gate of Horn, America’s first folk music nightclub in Chicago. He currently continues to teach music at the Frank Hamilton School in Atlanta, Georgia.
I am a pilgrim and a stranger
Traveling through this wearisome land
I’ve got a home in that yonder city, good Lord
And it’s not, not made by hand
Bonus version is by the Byrds from their 1968 album Sweetheart of the Rodeo.