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Somebody sang this at our song circle the other night, and I don't believe I've heard it before. I found two versions in the Digital Tradition and many listed in the Traditional Ballad Index, and I thought it might be worthwhile to see what we can dig up on it.
Here's the Traditional Ballad Index entry:Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) [Laws H2]
DESCRIPTION: The reckless hobo cannot stay still; the sound of a train keeps calling him. (He may become involved with various girls, but even they cannot hold him.)
AUTHOR: (credited to Jimmie Rodgers by John Greenway)
EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (recording, George Reneau)
KEYWORDS: railroading train travel rambling floatingverses
FOUND IN: US(Ap,MW,So,SE)
REFERENCES (13 citations):
Laws H2, "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home (A Wild and Reckless Hobo; The Railroad Bum) "
Randolph 836, "A Wild and Reckless Hobo" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Sandburg, pp. 456-457, "Ten Thousand Miles Away from Home" (1 text, 1 tune, which from its form appears to go here although the plot is somewhat different; the singer misses the true love who abandoned him)
Davis-More 29, pp. 221-228, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (3 texts plus a fragment, 2 tunes; the two longest texts, AA and DD, both contain floating material, in the case of "D" probably from this piece)
BrownII 30, "The Maid Freed from the Gallows" (4 texts, 5 excerpts, 1 fragment, plus mention of two more; the final text, M, probably combined with this piece)
BrownIII 359, "The Wild and Reckless Hobo" (1 text); 361, "Waiting for a Train" (1 short text)
Hudson 111, pp. 250-251, "The Railroad Bum" (1 text)
Fuson, pp. 128-129, "Ten Thousand Miles From Home" (1 text)
Lomax-AFSB, pp. 28-30, "Ten Thousand Miles from Home" (2 texts, 1 tune)
Ohrlin-HBT 42, "Sam's 'Waiting for a Train'" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 54, "Danville Girl" (1 text)
Pankake-PHCFSB, p. 130, "At the Jail" (2 texts, 1 tune; the result looks to me to be a mix between this and "Logan County Jail," though it's one of those vague cases....)
DT 781, DANVGIRL (DANVILL2)
Roud #699
RECORDINGS:
Bill Baker, "Wild and Reckless Hobo" (Brunswick 445, c. 1930)
Dock Boggs, "Danville Girl" (Brunswick 132B, 1927); (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1)
Burnett & Rutherford, "Ramblin' Reckless Hobo" (Columbia 15240-D, 1928 (rec. 1927); on BurnRuth01)
Vernon Dalhart, "Wild and Reckless Hobo" (Brunswick 2942, 1925)
Morgan Denmon, "Wild and Reckless Hobo" (Velvet Tone 2366-V, 1930); "The Wild and Reckless Hobo" (OKeh 45327, 1929)
Dixon Brothers, "The Girl I Left in Danville" (Montgomery Ward M-7337, c. 1937/Bluebird B-7674, 1938)
Bob Miller's Hinky Dinkers, "Wild and Reckless Hobo" (Brunswick 445/Supertone S-2059, 1930)
New Lost City Ramblers, "Danville Girl" (on NLCR06)
Pine Mountain Ramblers [or Virginia Mountain Boomers], "Ramblin' Reckless Hobo" (Champion 15610, 1928; Supertone 9305, 1929)
Charlie Powers, "The Wild and Reckless Hobo" (CYL: Edison 5131, n.d.)
George Reneau, "Wild and Reckless Hoboes" (Vocalion 14999, 1925)
Pete Seeger, "Danville Girl" (on PeteSeeger02, PeteSeegerCD01)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "The Bigler" (meter)
cf. "More Pretty Girls Than One" (words, tune)
cf. "Waiting For a Train (II)" (subject, some lyrics)
Notes: I question the attribution of this to Rodgers, as it seems to take quite a few forms. It seems more likely that he used floating verses in composing his song, "Waiting for a Train." - PJS
You'll note that I didn't say I believed Rodgers wrote it. - RBW
Paul Stamler suggests that "The Danville Girl" subtext deserves separate listing, noting that "It has certain verses that set it apart, including the'You bet your life she's out of sight/She wore those Danville curls' and 'She wore her hair on the back of her head/Like high-toned people do.' It's also got floating verses, including some from "Gambling Man...." The difficulty, for me at least, is that none of these are characteristic of the song; I've seen versions without either verse. Thus, while the extremes are different, there is no good way to draw a line. We could simply call all texts which mention Danville "The Danville Girl" -- but there are otherwise identical versions which omit that key name. Plus, the Brown "Wild and Reckless Hobo" text is certainly a "Danville Girl" version, but Laws lists it here. - RBW, PJS
From Alan Lomax's notes to PeteSeeger02, "There are stanzas in this one from so many different hobo songs, sung in so many different ways, that one might call this the master hobo song. Actually I had some hand in mixing the verses together in American Ballads and Folk Songs (Macmillan, 1934), from which this version comes." Can we say, "smoking gun"? - PJS
I wonder if that might explain the Danville Girl mixup, too.... - RBW
Naw. That was already going on when Dock Boggs recorded the song in 1927. - PJS
File: LH02Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index InstructionsThe Ballad Index Copyright 2005 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.
Here's the first version we have in the Digital Tradition, source not shown:
DANVILLE GIRL
My pocket book was empty,
My heart was full of pain.
Ten thousand miles away from home
Bumming a railroad train.
I was standing on the platform
Smoking a cheap cigar
Listening for that next freight train
To carry an empty car.
Well I got off at Danville
Got stuck on a Danville girl
You bet your life she's out of sight
She wore those Danville curls.
She took me in her kitchen
She treated me nice and kind
She got me in the notion
Of bumming my last time.
She wore her hair on the back of her head
Like high-toned people do,
But the very next train come down that line
I bid that girl adieu.
I pulled my cap down over my eyes
Walked down to the railroad track
Then I caught a westhound freight;
Never did look back.
Recorded by Seeger
DT #781
Laws H2
@hobo @train @love
filename[ DANVGIRL
RG
Here's the second one:
DANVILLE GIRL (2)
(Adapted from Trad. by Woody Guthrie and Cisco Houston.)
I went down to the railroad yard, watch that train come by,
Knew the train would roll that day, but I did not know what time.
I did not know what time, boys, did not know what time.
Knew the train would roll that day but I did not know what time.
Good morning Mister Railroad Man, what time does your train roll by?
Nine-sixteen and two-forty-four, twenty-five minutes 'til five.
At nine-sixteen, two-forty-four, twenty-five minutes 'til five.
Thank you Mister Railroad Man, I wanna watch your train roll by.
Standing on the platform, smoking a big cigar,
Waitin' for some old freight train that carries an empty car.
I rode her down to Danville Town, got stuck on a Danville girl,
Bet your life she was a pearl, she wore that Danville curl.
She wore her hat on the back of her head like high-tone people all do,
Very next train come down taht track, I bid that girl adieu.
I bid that girl adieu, poor boys, I bid that girl adieu,
The very next train come down that track, I bid that girl adieu.
From the singing of Woody Guthrie. Folkways FA 2484.
(c) Copyright 1963 Stormking Music, Inc.
[Compare to the chorus of "Brownsville Girl", co-written by Bob Dylan
and Sam Shephard, working title "New Danville Girl" (available on the
1986 album "Knocked Out Loaded"):
Brownsville girl with your Brownsville curl,
Teeth like pearls shining like the moon above.
Brownsville girl, show me all around the world.
Brownsville girl, you're my honey love.
DT #781
Laws H2
@train @rambling @parting
filename[ DANVILL2
XX
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