Here's one I learned... or half-learned... from an old railroader. I always knew it as the Cocaine Blues, but it's not listed that way in DT. I'm fuzzy on the last couple of verses, but I'm sure some of you will set me straight. Late one night as I was makin' my rounds,
I took a shot of cocaine and I shot my woman down.
I went back home and I went to bed;
Stuck a loaded .44 beneath my head.
Got up next mornin' and I grabbed that gun,
I took a shot of cocaine and I started to run.
I made a good run but I ran too slow;
They overtook me down in Juarez, Mexico.
Sittin' in a hop joint, a-smokin' my pill,
When along comes a sheriff from Jericho Hill;
He says, "Willie Lee, your name is not Jack Brown,
And you're the dirty hop that shot your woman down."
"Yes, oh, yes, my name is Willie Lee,
And if you have a warrant, please serve it on me.
I shot her down 'cause she made me sore;
She said I was her daddy, but she had five more."
(Here's where Old-timer's Disease sets in. The next two lines are something about taking him to the county seat, followed by:)
I had no one to go my bail;
They threw my wore-out carcass in the county jail.
(Again the mind is gone, along with another two lines. Then:)
The judge said, "Murder in the first degree."
I cried, "Lordy, Lordy, have mercy on me."
(There may be, probably is, a final verse expounding a great moral lesson, but I couldn't swear to it. If anyone can fill in the blanks, I'd be grateful.)