The Ballad Index entry: https://balladindex.org/Ballads/Doe249.html
Red Light Saloon, The DESCRIPTION: The singer goes to (Bangor) on (July 4). (The train) being late, he is "forced" to visit the Red Light Saloon. Quickly recognized as a (logger/cowboy), liquor and women give him their attention. His "ellick" grows hard; he goes off with a five dollar girl
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1948 (Beck-LoreOfTheLumberCamps)
KEYWORDS: logger cowboy sex drink bawdy whore money
FOUND IN: Canada(Mar) US(MW,SW)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman, pp. 249-250, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Logsdon-WhorehouseBellsWereRinging 11, pp. 74-76, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Peters-FolkSongsOutOfWisconsin, p. 267, "The Red Light Saloon" (1 text, 1 tune)
Beck-LoreOfTheLumberCamps 49, "The Re-Light Saloon" (1 text)
DT, REDLIGHT* REDLITE2*
Roud #9424
NOTES [109 words]: In Logsdon-WhorehouseBellsWereRinging's text, the singer ends up having sex with a five dollar whore. These days, that sounds cheap -- but Logsdon points out that that was a lot at the time apparently indicated in the song.
Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman's and Logsdon's tets are so different that I thought about splitting the songs. But Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman has only three verses; I suspect it has been shortened, either by Doerflinger-SongsOfTheSailorAndLumberman or his informant. Beck's version is also different, with no mention of a train at the end, but he too was keeping his texts clean. So I'm lumping them. - RBW
Last updated in version 5.2
File: Doe249
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