DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines

Subject: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 11:34 PM

This is an edited DTStudy thread, and all messages posted here are subject to editing and deletion.
This thread is intended to serve as a forum for corrections and annotations for the Digital Tradition song named in the title of this thread.

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I don't know how many variants of this song we'll find, but it's worth a try.

Here are the words we have in the Digital Tradition:

MY SWEETHEART'S THE MULE IN THE MINES

My sweetheart's the mule in the mines
I drive her without any lines;
On the dasher I sit
And I chaw and I spit
All over my sweetheart's behind.

@animal @mining @work
filename[ MYSWEETM
TUNE FILE: MYSWEETM
CLICK TO PLAY
DC

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Here is the Traditional Ballad Index entry on this song:

My Sweetheart's a Mule in the Mines

DESCRIPTION: "My sweetheart's a mule in the mines, I drive her without any lines, On the (bumpers/dasher) I sit and tobacco I spit All over my sweetheart's behind."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1927
KEYWORDS: animal mining work humorous
FOUND IN: US(MA)
REFERENCES (5 citations):
Lomax-FSNA 65, "My Sweetheart's a Mule" (1 text, 1 tune)
Botkin-AmFolklr, pp. 864-865, "My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Arnett, p. 127, "My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines" (1 text, 1 tune)
Silber-FSWB, p. 27, "My Sweetheart's The Mule In The Mines" (1 text)
DT, MYSWEETM*
Roud #4756
RECORDINGS:
Pete Seeger, "My Sweetheart in the Mines" (on PeteSeeger07, PeteSeeger07b)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon" (tune)
File: LoF065

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Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 11:36 PM

I learned it as a singular "Mine," not "Mines." It's close enough to still work with "lines."

My sweetheart's a mule in the mine,
I drive her without any lines.
On the bumper I sit
And tobacco I spit
All over my sweetheart's behind.

This was learned as a child so it could have been altered over time.

Acme/SRS

Subject: ADD Version: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 11:45 PM

Hi, Acme. I learned it as "a mule in the mine," but it looks like the printed sources prefer "the mule in the mines." Here's a school songbook version:

MY SWEETHEART'S THE MULE IN THE MINES
Pennsylvania Coal Miner's Song

My sweetheart's the mule in the mines,
I drive her without any lines;
On the bumper I stand,
With my whip in my hand.
My sweetheart's the mule in the mines.


Source: Music in Our Country, Silver Burdett Music For Living Series, book 5, page 63

notes: Before electricity was installed underground, mules were used to pull the flat-cars that transport mined coal from the digging area to the shaft up which it Is lifted to the surface. Boys in their early teens drove these mules. Early in the morning they got their mules from the stables, fed them, then hitched them to "trips" of empty cars. With a crack of the whip and a shout, each mule train started off down a passage so dark only the mule could see what lay ahead. Thus, the driver had no reins; he had to govern his mule with the tone of his voice. The boys had to work underground for ten hours. They sang this and other songs to brighten the long day.


I wonder if the song was "sanitized" for school use.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 11:47 PM

My father sang it once and that was enough for us to learn it - and sing at the top of our lungs while at play out in the back yard. If I come across his version I'll post it. It's only in my head right now. :)

Subject: ADD Version: My Sweetheart's a Mule
From: Joe Offer
Date: 18 Mar 17 - 11:54 PM

I wish I could have heard your dad sing it, Acme. Do you have any recordings of him singing anything? Did he ever do studio recordings?

And Lomax:

MY SWEETHEART'S A MULE

My sweetheart's a mule in the mines
I drive her without any lines;
On the bumpers I sit
And tobacco I spit
All over my sweetheart's behind.

Source The Folk Songs of North America (Alan Lomax, 1960), page 131

reprinted from Minstrels of the Mine Patch, by G.G. Korson (Grafton Press, 1927)

Notes from Lomax:
65. MY SWEETHEART'S A MULE
MINING MULES were almost as tough as the miners themselves. Horses usually proved too nervous for underground work, but a mining mule, with a leather guard to protect his head from the roof, and a flickering lamp set between his ears, could surefootedly pick his way along the dark passages, pulling several times his own weight in coal. A mule became so accustomed to life underground that, when he was put out to pasture in the sunlight, he would refuse to eat grass until he had watched his companions for several days. Despite their stubbornness, they proved to be tough, unexcitable, loyal members of the underground team. The men grew deeply attached to their four-footed comrades, and sometimes went on strike when the management transferred a mule from one mine to another.

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B.A. Botkin's A Treasury of American Folklore (poage 864-865) has the Korson version, along with what Botkin calls a "bowdlerized" version that I posted from the Silver Burdett school songbook. Botkin says the air is "My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon."

Subject: ADD Version: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Mar 17 - 12:00 AM

Silber (Folksinger's Wordbook page 27) isn't much different:

MY SWEETHEART'S THE MULE IN THE MINES

My sweetheart's the mule in the mines.
I drive her without any lines.
On the bumper I sit
And I chew and I spit
All over my sweetheart's behind.

Well, that covers all the versions cited by the Traditional Ballad Index except for I Hear America Singing! Great Folk Songs from the Revolution to Rock (Hazel Arnett, 1975), which I don't have or don't find.

A couple of YouTube videos wouldn't hurt, would they

Here's Joe Glazer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyNbVjMJink

And Pete Seeger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2glwmGpbFc

Malvina Reynolds started her "You Can't Make a Turtle Come Out" with the same melody, expanded.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: GUEST,Marybea
Date: 13 Nov 21 - 06:12 AM

The version I learned from my mom, whose family lived in the California Gold Country since 1851. The Empire Mine (gold mine) in Grass Valley also used mules in their mine.

My sweetheart's the mules in the mine
I drive her with only one line
On her bumper I sit
And tobacco I spit
All over my sweetheart's behind.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: Lighter
Date: 13 Nov 21 - 11:57 AM

The text of the song (and possibly the melody) was inspired by the 1892 hit, "My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon," by James Thornton:

https://levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu/collection/142/112

Those who don't read music (and many who do) might attend to Jane Russell singing the song in the movie "Montana Belle" (1952):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya8SrQVFTkI

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Feb 23 - 02:14 AM

My sweetheart’s a mule in the mine(s)
I drive her with only one line
On the car step I sit
And tobacco I spit
All over my sweetheart’s behind

My grand father taught us this “song “ and laughed with gusto when he did so.
My grandfather was born in 1900 and there was a “car step” on his car
And he probably chewed tobacco (but definitely smoked a pipe)
And the rest I never understood

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: GUEST,The Og
Date: 28 Feb 23 - 10:06 AM

Loved this song...but always thought it needed mode verses. Here's my first attempts...


My Sweetheart’s a Mule in the Mine (?)

      1                      5                1
My sweetheart’s a mule in the mine,
4                                  1
I drive her without any line,
            4                               1          6m
On the bumper I sit, and tobacco I spit,
    1             5                        1
All over my sweetheart’s behind

My sweet mother taught me this song,
She sang it so loud and so strong,,
As a young lad of eight, I thought it was great,
Just chewing and spiting along.

My father makes gin in the tub,
It’s used as a drink or a rub,
Some goes inside, and some over the hide,
The rest we just sell to the pub.

My sister picks pockets for fun,
She’s slicker than most everyone,
She’ll sidle up close, to your cash adios,
There’s never a reason to run.

My brother’s a pimp on the street,
With a harem of ladies so sweet,
It’s my humble impression, the oldest profession
Will never become obsolete

My true love’s a mermaid named Gail,
I see her each day without fail,
In the harbor we swim, ’til the light gets too dim,
I love her for more than the tail.

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: Charley Noble
Date: 01 Mar 23 - 01:02 PM

I'm thinking I first heard on a 1950s recording by Frank Warner.

The Og,

Your new verses remind me of verses from "My God How the Money Rolls In" but they seem to work well.

My father's a street corner preacher;
He saves little girlies from sin;
He'll save you a blond for a dollar;
My god, how the money rolls in!

Charlie

Subject: RE: DTStudy: My Sweetheart's the Mule in the Mines
From: GUEST,Mark Ross
Date: 01 Mar 23 - 01:47 PM

Here's how I learned it.

https://soundcloud.com/smokestack-mark-ross/01-my-sweethearts-a-mule-in

The Butte Miner's Song is from the singing of Jay Rummel.