Lyr Add: OLD BLUE

My old dog Blue
'll make a 'possum walk a log,
Make a 'possum clim' a tree,
Then set down and bark for me.
G'on! Blue, you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

He'll make a 'possum walk a lim',
Then set down and laugh at him;
I'd get the 'possum and carry him home,
Blue'd get nothin' but the bones.
G'on! Blue you rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

My old blue dog is dead and gone,
Left this nigger here to moan;
I went to the barn one sunny day,
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.

I buried him in a beautiful shade,
Dug his grave with a silver spade;
Let him down on a golden chain;
At every link I'd call his name:
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
I wish it was me instead of you.

Going to heaven some Sunday morn,
Going to tell you what I'll do:
Get St. Peter's golden horn,
Then go out and blow for Blue;
Blue! Blue! Blue! Blue! You rascal you,
Ketch another 'possum for me and you.

Sung by Negro construction gang, 1915-1916. Origin in minstrel songs and spirituals. Perrow collected a version in 1909. On old records of the 1920s and taken up by Joan Baez (see DT) and other folk singers.
White, N. I., American Negro Folk Songs, 1928 (1965), p. 207-207.
Here Posted by Annamill; a shortened version.
@animals @dogs @work @Negro
^^