Lyr Req: In the Pines (from Jimmie Davis)

Subject: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: GUEST,Tina
Date: 08 Oct 01 - 05:56 PM

My Step-Dad loves the song "In The Pines" by Jimmie Davis. He and My Mom are building a house in the pines actually and He can't remember the words.

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Oct 01 - 06:02 PM

In the DT....CLICK HERE

Spaw

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: catspaw49
Date: 08 Oct 01 - 06:09 PM

You might also be interested in the version also known as "Black Girl" which is in the DT also....Click Here. Barry Finn also had some excellent information regarding this one on THIS THREAD.

Spaw

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE PINES (Jimmie Davis)
From: Stewie
Date: 08 Oct 01 - 07:11 PM

The version that Jimmie Davis recorded has elements from each of those linked by Spaw above. He recorded it with backing from Lawrence Welk and his orchestra in Hollywood on 19 February 1946 - it was not issued at the time. Although copyrighted by Georgia fiddler, Clayton McMinchen, it was simply an arrangement of the traditional piece.

IN THE PINES

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold winds blow

Little girl, little girl
What have I done
That makes you treat me so

You caused me to weep
And you caused me to moan
And you caused me to lose my home
(Hey, hey, hey)

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold winds blow

The longest train I ever saw
Was comin', comin' through the pines
The engine passed at six o'clock
The caboose sailed by at nine
(Hey, hey, hey)

In the pines, in the pines
Where the sun never shines
And you shiver when the cold winds blow

Source: Bear Family boxed set Governor Jimmie Davis 'You Are My Sunshine' BCD 16216.

--Stewie.

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE PINES (Nirvana, Bill Monroe)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 09:52 PM

I noticed that the "Black Girl" in the DT (which Spaw linked to above) is marked with the keyword "@infidelity." I'm not sure why, but I always imagined that the questioner in the first 2 lines is the girl's father. That doesn't seem to fit with the verse saying, "My father was a railroad man/Killed a mile and a half from town," but it could still be her mother. Anyway, I don't think any infidelity is necessarily implied. Fornication, maybe, but not adultery.

I found this information at The Deadlists Project:

According to "Southern Mountain Folksongs" by W. K. McNeil, there is an unpublished study of "In The Pines," running to 650 pages, by Judith McCulloh. This study analyses the lyrics and music of 160 variations of the song and identifies one musical and three textual elements that must be present for a song to be In The Pines. The textual elements are;
[1] the phrase "In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines"
[2] the phrase, "The longest train I ever saw"
[3] and one or more verses describing an accident in which someone is decapitated.

The following information comes from History of Rock Music @ The University of Tennessee:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Looking Back Through the Pines...
Sound as history in rock music
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
Nirvana
from Unplugged in New York
Recorded 1994

My girl, my girl, don't lie to me
Tell me, where did you sleep last night?
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through.

Her husband was a hard-working man
Just about a mile from here
His head was found in the driver's wheel
But his body was never found.

My girl, my girl, where will you go?
I'm going where the cold wind blows
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun don't ever shine
I would shiver the whole night through.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Where Did You Sleep Last Night"
Lead Belly
Recorded 1944
[no text given]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"In the Pines"
Bill Monroe and His Blue Grass Boys
Recorded 1952

The longest train I ever saw / Went down that Georgia line
The engine passed at 6 o'clock / The cab passed by at 9.

In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines
And we shiver when the cold wind blows.

I asked my captain for the time of day / He said he throwed his watch away
A long steel rail and a short crosstie / I'm on my way back home.

Little girl, little girl, what have I done / That makes you treat me so?
You caused me to weep, you caused me to moan / You caused me to leave my home.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Black Girl"
text as sung by Lizzie Abner
Collected by Cecil Sharp in Oneida, Kentucky (1917)

Black girl, black girl, don't lie to me
Where did you stay last night?
I stayed in the pines where the sun never shines
And shivered when the cold wind blows.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Common Elements

Musically -- plaintive minor key, slowly-rocking triple meter, repetitious phrases
Text has three basic elements -- (1) chorus of "in the pines," (2) a stanza about "the longest train I ever saw," (3) a stanza about decapitation

Musical sound is also important -- (1) in country versions, the song's eerie qualities are emphasized by the "high lonesome" sound, (2) for Nirvana, Cobain's raspy voice echoes the dark emotions of the text as does the powerful "grungy" bass

Oddly enough, although "In the Pines" exists in many places on the Internet, I never found a version that seemed like a reliable transcription from Leadbelly. There are many more sites out there dedicated to documenting the versions done by Nirvana, the Grateful Dead, etc., than by Leadbelly himself.

I did find one site that said that the earliest recorded version was done by the Tenneva Ramblers in 1927, under the title "The Longest Train I Ever Saw."

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: Stewie
Date: 13 Feb 02 - 10:57 PM

The Tenneva Ramblers version, recorded at Ralph Peer's historic Bristol sessions in 1927, has been reissued on CD on the excellent 2-CD Country Music Foundation set: Various Artists 'The Bristol Sessions' CMF-011-D.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: Chicken Charlie
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 04:17 PM

Variants on the 'longest train' idea--

As stated previously:
The longest train I ever saw came down that Georgia Line;
The engine passed at six o'clock and the cab rolled by 'bout nine.

Or:
The longest train I ever saw was thirteen coaches long;
The only girl I ever loved was on that train and gone.

There's also a wreck variant somewhere; all I can remember is the second line of one verse:
His head was on the driving wheel, but his body was never found.

Perhaps some other ghoul will give us the rest of that.

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: Mark Clark
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 05:04 PM

What a great thread! At one time or another, I've done most of the versions cited. I think Monroe's is the only one I remember well enough to do anymore.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: JeZeBeL
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 05:12 PM

Yeah, sorry, I was going to put the Nivarna one up as that is the only version I know. When we're in the car, I make chris play it over and over again. It's a top song and I love it loads.

Jez xxx

Subject: RE: lyrics to 'In The Pines' by Jimmie Davis
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 05:18 PM

Jezebel, one version is in thread 6950; Here
I am adding another to that thread from the "Long Steel Rail."

Subject: Lyr Add: IN THE PINES (Sung by Dock Walsh, 1926)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 06:08 PM

Lyr. Add: IN THE PINES 3(?)

In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And I shivered when the cold wind blow.

Oh, if I'd minded what grandma said,
Oh, where would I been tonight?

I'd-a been in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And shivered when the cold wind blow.

The longest train I ever saw
Went down the Georgia line.

The engine is stopped at a six-mile post,
The cabin never left the town.

Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie,
Where did you stay last night?

I stayed in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And I shivered when the cold wind blow.

The prettiest little girl that I ever saw
Went walking down the line.

Her hair was of a curly type,
her cheeks were rosy red.

Now darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie,
Where did you stay last night?

I stayed in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And I shivered when the cold wind blow.

The train run back one mile from town
And killed my girl, you know.

Her head was caught in the driver wheel,
Her body I never could find.

Oh, darling, oh darling, don't tell me no lie,
Where did you stay last night?

I stayed in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And I shivered when the cold wind blow.

The best of friends is to part sometimes,
And why not you and I?

Now darling, oh darling don't tell me no lie,
Where did you stay last night?

I stayed in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And I shivered when the cold winf blow.

Oh, transportation has brought me here,
Take a money for to carry me away.

Oh, darling, now darling, don't tell me no lie,
Where did you stay last night?

I stayed in the pines, where the sun never shine,
And I shivered when the cold wind blow.

Sung by Dock Walsh. Recorded 1926, Columbia (reissues). From Norm Cohen, 1981, The Long Steel Rail, pp. 491-492, with music.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: In the Pines (from Jimmie Davis)
From: kendall
Date: 25 Sep 05 - 07:55 AM

I learned this from Texad Jim Robertson in about 1945