The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #46310   Message #2336880
Posted By: GUEST,Dave MacKenzie
09-May-08 - 07:47 PM
Thread Name: Origin: Saint James Infirmary Blues
Subject: RE: History of Saint James Infirmary Blues?
"It seems to me remarkable, and remarkably unremarked on, that the "Let her go" stanza must be an interloper. How can it possibly refer to a dead person?"

I always took it that the first two lines instruct the doctors to desist from reviving her, and for Big Whats-is-name to let go emotionally. The last two lines are purely self-congratulatory.