II. THE LEHIGH VALLEY SEQUENCE DOWN IN LEHIGH VALLEY Here is the logical grandparent of all sentimental hobo ballads. The hobo, having learned to strike a contrast between the sentiment and the reality of his existence, subjects "Lehigh Valley" to frequent burlesques. Let me sit down a minute, stranger, A stone got in my shoe- Now don't commence your cussin'. I ain't done nothing to you. Yes, I'm a tramp-—-what of it? Some says we ain't no good, But tramps has to live, I reckon, Tho' folks don't think we should. Once I was young and handsome, Had plenty of cash and clothes, But that was before I tippled And gin colored up my nose. It was down in Lehigh Valley Me and my people grew. I was a blacksmith, captain; Yes, and a good one, too. Me and my wife and Nellie; Nellie was just sixteen, And she was the prettiest creature The valley had ever seen. Beaus—why she had a dozen- Had 'em from near and fur, But they was most of them farmers— None of them suited her. Then came a city stranger, Young, handsome and tall, Dang him, I wish I had him, Strangled against that wall. He was the man for Nellie, She didn't know no ill; Her mother tried to tell her, But you know how a young girl will. Well, it's the same old story; Common enough, you'll say: He was a smooth-tongued devil, And he got her to run away. It was less than a month later That we heard from the poor young thing: He had gone away and left her, Without a wedding ring. Back to our home we brought her Back to her mother's side, Filled with a raging fever, She fell at our feet and died. Frantic with grief and trouble, Her mother began to sink. Dead—in less than a fortnight-— That's when I took to drink, Give me a drink, bartender, And I'll be on my way. I'll tramp till I find that scoundrel, If it takes till judgment day. Transcribed from the PDF of The Hobo's Hornbook, page 43: http://www.horntip.com/html/books_%26_MSS/1930s/1930_the_hobos_hornbook__george_milburn_(HC)/1930_the_hobos_hornbook__george_milburn.pdf But I don't think this is the requested song. Maybe so, maybe not. This guy's good job was as a blacksmith in the Lehigh Valley. Maybe the requester's family changed the recitation to fit Oklahoma.
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