Lyr Add: The Longest Train (from Alan Lomax)

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LONGEST TRAIN (from Alan Lomax)
From: Alice
Date: 10 Oct 98 - 03:43 PM

Mention of the song "In the Pines" in another thread reminded me of this version called "The Longest Train". I had learned "In the Pines" with the lyrics,
"Little girl, little girl, (or black girl, black girl) don't you lie to me, tell me where did you sleep last night?,
In the pines, in the pines, where the sun never shines, and I shivered the whole night through."

I came across this version to the same tune, collected by Alan Lomax (#290 in Folk Songs of North America). This version is a reflection of the black convict miners that were leased out by the state to work in Joe Brown's coal mine in Alabama. Lomax's notes on this song are very interesting, and he refers to the work of George Korson, "Coal Dust On The Fiddle", which described the conditions of convict slave labor.

THE LONGEST TRAIN

The longest train I ever did see,
Ran around Joe Brown's coal mine.
The headlight passed at six o'clock,
The cab come by at nine.

The prettiest girl I ever did see,
Was on that train and gone.
Her eyes were blue, her cheeks were brown,
And her hair it hung way down.

That train it wrecked at the four mile hill,
And killed my Evaline.
Her head was found in the drivin' wheel,
Po' body ain't never been seen.

The longest day and the longest night,
Was the day Evalina died,
I walked the track the whole day long,
Hung down my head and cried.

The long steel rail and the short cross tie,
They carried me away,
Was transportation brought me here,
But I'll make it home some day.

I particularly like the last verse, since my dad and his relatives came to Montana in the early part of this century to work on the Great Northern Railroad. He started by carrying ties on a crew when he was 14.

alice in montana

Subject: Lyr Add: THE LONGEST TRAIN (from Peg Leg Howell)
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 14 Feb 02 - 05:37 PM

Lyr. Add: THE LONGEST TRAIN II

The rollin' mill, baby, 's done broke down,
They ain't shippin' no more iron to town.

The longest train I ever seen
Run round Joe Brown's coal mine.

The engine was at the four-mile hill
And the cab hadn't never left town.

Corrine, Corrine, my loving Corrine,
Honey, let your bang grow long.

The train run off the track last night
And it killed my love Corrine.

Her head was found in the driving wheel
And her body have never been seen.

I didn't bring nothing to this old world
And I won't carry nothing away.

It's late last night when my honey come home
I heard a rapping on her door

She got up in her stocking feet,
Went tipping 'cross the floor.

Tell me, pretty mama, what evil have I done
That make you treat me cold?

I've killed no man and I robbed no train
And I've done no hanging crime.

The last sweet word I heard my baby say
"What more, babe, can I do?

I done more for you than I'll ever do again,
Goodbye, my love, goodbye."

Joshua B. (Peg Leg) Howell, combining all the elements- Corrina..., Late Last Night..., rolling mill theme, etc. Sung in duple meter, closer to "How Long Blues" than any of the tunes associated with "The Longest train." Issued on Columbia and reissued on Testament.
Words and notes from Norm Cohen, 1981, The Long Steel Rail, pp. 493-494.