 sj |
||
|
||
Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years
|
|
|
Subject: Origins: Ninety-nine Years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 12 Oct 06 - 11:50 AM Hi, Anyone have lyrics to Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years? Any idea when the song first appears? Thanks, Richie |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ninety-nine Years From: Goose Gander Date: 12 Oct 06 - 11:58 AM There's been at least one thread on this song, but it didn't go very far . . . Ninety Nine Years So you'll find some lyrics there, but I know I have a few versions among my stuff, so I'll dig around when I get home. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Ninety-nine Years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 12 Oct 06 - 12:58 PM Hi, Thanks. This is another almost identical version by Doc Roberts. You can hear it on Honkingduck. The question is: how the various versions "Twenty-one Years" "I've still Got Ninety-Nine" and the "Poor Boy" versions fit into the picture? "Ninety-Nine Years" by "Fiddling Doc Roberts Trio" Conqueror 8078 Recorded: Unknown Issued: December 1932 (Fiddle intro) The court room was crowded The judge waited there My mother was crying When I left my chair The sentence was sharp, folks It cut like a knife For ninety-nine years, folks Is almost for life (Fiddle break) I dreamed of that whistle I heard the bell ring My sweetheart was coming Some good news to bring I knew that she loved me And that she'd be true She said, she would save me I'm guiltless as you. (Fiddle break) No matter how right folks A man he may be Bad company will sent him To prison like me So take a good woman And make her your wife For ninety-nine years folks Is almost for life |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: Goose Gander Date: 12 Oct 06 - 01:37 PM Here's Ninety Nine Years as sung by Mrs. Chloe Bain, Elkton, Missouri on September 6, 1959, from the Max Hunter Folksong Collection I know I have one or two versions in songbooks at home, so I'll see what else I can find out and post anything that might be relevant. VERSE 1 Th court room was crowded Th judge waited there Mother was crying When I left my chair
Th sentence was sharp, folks VERSE 2
So, come hear my story VERSE 3
I knew that she loved me VERSE 4
If she ever fails me VERSE 5
Th storm clouds are heavy VERSE 6
It said, that my sweetheart
OTHER COLLECTIONS: |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: Goose Gander Date: 12 Oct 06 - 02:54 PM Here's a thread for Twenty-One Years |
|
Subject: Lyr. Add: PO' LI'L ELLA From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 12 Oct 06 - 05:33 PM Lyr. Add: PO' LI'L ELLA I'll tell you somep'n that bothers my mind: Po' li'l Ella laid down and died. I'll tell you somep'n that bothers my mind: Po' li'l Ella laid down and died. I would n't 'a' minded little Ella dyin', But she left three chillun. I would n't 'a' minded little Ella dyin', But she left three chillun. Judge, you done me wrong,- Ninety-nine years is sho' too long! Judge, oh, judge, you done me wrong,- Ninety-nine years is sho' too long. From Mrs. Buie, Marlin, Texas. "'Po' Li'l Ella' is a favorite in east Texas sawmill districts." Pp. 278-279, with music. Dorothy Scarborough, 1925; 1963, "On the Trail of Negro Folk-Songs,' Harvard Univ. Press; Folklore Associates, Inc. |
|
Subject: Lyr. Add: PO' BOY LONG WAY FROM HOME From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 12 Oct 06 - 06:20 PM Lyr. Add: PO' BOY LONG WAY FROM HOME I'm po' boy 'long way from home (3X) Oh, I'm po' boy 'long way from home. I wish a 'scushion train would run, (3X) Carry me back where I cum frum. Come here, babe, an' sit on yo' papa's knee (3x) Oh, I'm po' boy 'long way from home. You brought me here an' let 'em throw me down, (3x) Oh, I'm po' boy 'long way from home. I ain't got a frien' in dis town, (3X) Oh, etc. I'm out in de wide worl' alone, (3X) Oh, etc. If you mistreat me, you sho' will see it again. (3X) Oh, etc. My mother daid an' my father gone astray, (3X) Oh, etc. You never miss yo' mother till she done gone away, (3x) Oh, etc. Come 'way to Georgia, babe, to git in a home, (3X) Oh, etc. No need, O babe! try to throw me down, A po' little boy jus' come to town. I wish that ole engeneer wus dead, Brought me 'way from my home. Central gi' me long-distance phone, Talk to my babe all night long. If I die in State of Alabam', Send my papa great long telegram. Odum, Howard W., "Folk-Song and Folk Poetry as Found in the Secular Songs of the Southern Negroes," 1911, Jour. American Folk-Lore, vol. 24, July-September, 1911- No. XCIII. Lyr. Add: FRISCO RAG-TIME Got up in the mornin', couldn't keep from cryin', (3X) Comin' to pay his baby's fine. Well, I begged the jedge to 'low my baby's fine, (3X) Said de jedge done fine her, clerk done wrote it down. Couldn't pay dat fine, so taken her to the jail, (3X) So she laid in jail, back to de wall (3X) Dis brown-skin man cause of it all. No need babe, tryin' to throw me down (3X) Cause I'm po' boy jus' come to town. But if you don't want me, please don't dog me 'round, (3X) Give me this money, sho' will leave this town. Ain't no use tryin' to send me 'roun', (3X) I got plenty money to pay my fine. Odum, ibid. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 12 Oct 06 - 08:21 PM "Po' Boy" is sung by Washington (Barrelhouse, Bukka T., etc.) White on a recording made at Parchman in the John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip. I can't get enough out of the words to transcribe them here. At American Memory. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: Q (Frank Staplin) Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:06 PM Langston Hughes, the African-American poet, put together this version early in his writing career, one of a number of poems based on his background. It often is used in literature classes as an example of 'blues." PO' BOY BLUES When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. When I was home de Sunshine seemed like gold. Since I come up North de Whole damn world's turned cold. I was a good boy, Never done no wrong. Yes, I was a good boy, Never done no wrong. But this world is weary An' de road is hard an' long. I fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. Fell in love with A gal I thought was kind. She made me lose ma money An' almost lose ma mind. Weary, weary, Weary early in de morn. Weary, weary, Early, early in de morn. I's so weary I wish I'd never been born. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 12 Oct 06 - 09:40 PM I think this is the the general branch. From the ballad index: Coon-Can Game, The [Laws I4]DESCRIPTION: The singer is so disturbed by his woman's unfaithfulness that he cannot even play cards. He takes a train, sees the woman, and shoots her. He is arrested, convicted, and left to lament his fateAUTHOR: unknown EARLIEST DATE: 1925 (Scarborough) KEYWORDS: homicide train trial prison crime robbery prisoner FOUND IN: US(Ap,SE,So) REFERENCES (12 citations): Laws I4, "The Coon-Can Game" Scarborough-NegroFS, pp. 87-89, "The Coon-Can Game" (1 text, 1 tune) ReedSmith, pp. 48-49, "The Game of Coon-Can" (1 text) Lomax-Singing, pp. 308-310, "As I Set Down to Play Tin-Can" (1 text, 1 tune) Sandburg, pp. 310-311, "Coon Can (Poor Boy)" (1 text, 1 tune) Jackson-DeadMan, pp. 61-66, "Poor Boy" (3 texts, 1 tune, but the "C" text is a different "Poor Boy" song) Coleman/Bregman, pp. 116-118, "The Penitentiary Blues" (1 text, 1 tune) Owens-1ed, pp. 179-181, "Po' Boy" (1 text, 1 tune) Finger, pp. 75-77, "The Coon-Can Game" (1 text, 1 tune) Darling-NAS, pp. 237-238, "Poor Boy in Jail" (1 text) Silber-FSWB, p. 70, "Poor Boy" (1 text, which appears to be mostly this song but with an ending partly derived from "The Maid Freed from the Gallows") DT 688, POORBOY Roud #3263 RECORDINGS: Dock Boggs, "Poor Boy in Jail" (on Boggs2, BoggsCD1) CROSS-REFERENCES: cf. "The Boston Burglar" [Laws L16] (floating lyrics) NOTES [84 words]: This song should not be confused with the blues "Poor Boy, or Poor Boy Long Ways from Home"; the two songs are unrelated. Also, although [the version in the Folksinger's Wordbook] has picked up a pair of verses from "The Maid Freed from the Gallows", it's otherwise a completely separate song, and one unique in my experience. - PJS THe Coleman/Bregman also has verses from "The Maid Freed...," so this is evidently a common mixture. The tune, according to Coleman/Bregman, has been repeatedly borrowed. - RBW Last updated in version 4.4 File: LI04 Go to the Ballad Search form Go to the Ballad Index Instructions The Ballad Index Copyright 2020 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,richie Date: 12 Oct 06 - 10:07 PM Here's some additional info about Miller the author of twenty-one years: "One of the most continuingly popular songwriters in the country genre, from the 1920s until his death in 1955, was the "event" composer par excellence, Bob Miller. Miller was not of country origin; he was born in 1895, in Memphis, Tennessee. Memphis, however, provided him with a social milieu in which he could obtain a close acquaintance with southern melodies. In the early twenties Miller played the piano for a dance band called the Idlewild Orchestra, which performed on the steamer Idlewild on the Mississippi River. In 1928 he moved to New York where he worked as an arranger for the Irving Berlin Company before establishing his own musical concern, the Bob Miller Publishing Company. Although he composed numerous blues and popular tunes, the most important items in his repertory ov over seven thousand songs were the hillbilly items. In the decades following the 1920s Miller produced scores of lucrative and lastingly popular compositions, including the well-known "Eleven Cent Cotton and Forty Cent Meat"; the prison song which has inspired countless others, "Twenty One Years"; ...and the World War II hit "There's a Star Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere." As an event-song writer Miller was always alive to the possibility of exploiting any incident that struck the fancy of the people. In fact, he was sometimes ahead of a story. He supposedly prepared an obituary song for [Louisiana governor] Huey Long two years before his assassination, and even went so far as to predict accurately that the killing would occur in the state Capitol." Bill C. Malone, Country Music USA, Austin, 1975, pp. 60-61. Since Miller had collections of blues and hillbilly record isn't it likely that his song "Twenty-one years" is an arrangement/composition of materials from the "I've Still got ninety-nine," "Cold Penitentary Blues," "Boston Burglar" and "Poor Boy" songs that predated his. The lyrics are similar. Richie |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST Date: 12 Oct 06 - 10:13 PM Since the Ballad index used Bogg's "Poor Boy in Jail" as a reference, I'll post the lyrics. Lyr Add: Poor Boy In Jail Dock Boggs Oh, my mama's in the cold, cold ground, My daddy, he went away. My sister married a gamblin' man, And now I'm gone astray. I sit here in this old jail, And I do the best I can, Get to thinking about the woman I loved, She ran away with another man. She ran away with another man, poor boy, She ran away with another man, Get to thinking about the woman I loved, She ran away with another man. I went out on the prairie, And I stopped the Katy train, Took a bag of mail from standing there, (1) And I walked away in the rain. They got the bloodhounds on me, And they run me up a tree. Said, "Come down from there, my boy, And go to the penitentiary." I said, "Mr. judge, Mr. Judge, What you goin' to do to me?" Said, "If the jury finds you guilty, my boy, I'm goin' to send you to the penitentiary." They took me to the railroad station, A train come rollin' by. I looked in the window, saw the woman I loved, And I hung my head and cried. (1) Should have been sung as "Took a bag of mail from the baggage coach," |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 12 Oct 06 - 10:18 PM I just remembered the the reason I put a footnote in the Boggs version I just posted; this from Sandburg: "Po' Boy is a jail song in Oklahoma and Texas.....We are left to infer that if the po' boy had made a safe getaway after taking a bag of mail from the baggage car, the woman in the case would not have run away with another man but would have stayed with him to enjoy the loot." .... Carl Sandburg p. 30 Richie |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 12 Oct 06 - 11:09 PM Lyr add: Poor Boy by Woody Guthrie My mother called me to her bedside These words she said to me If you don't quit your rambling ways They're gonna get you in the penetentiary Gonna get you in the penetentiary poor boy Gonna get you in the penetentiary If you don't quit your reckless ways They're gonna get you in the penetentiary So I sat myself down in a gambling game But I could not play my hand Just thinking about that woman I love Run away with another man Run away with another man poor boy Run away with another man Just thinking about that woman I love Run away with another man The cards came around the table lord And I had such a worried mind My stack of gold dollars I wasted away And I lost about ninety-nine I lost about ninety-nine poor boy I lost about ninety-nine My stack of gold dollars I wasted away And I lost about ninety-nine It wasn't very long till I seen him again He ran away left her behind And I laid him down with my old forty-four And the judge gave me ninety-nine The judge gave me ninety-nine poor boy The judge gave me ninety-nine I laid a man down with my big forty-four And the judge gave me ninety-nine Well the jury said I had to pay And the clerk he wrote it down And the judge called out my number Two sixes upside down Two sixes upside down poor boy Two sixes upside down The judge called out my number Two sixes upside down |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: Goose Gander Date: 13 Oct 06 - 12:56 AM Here's the most complete version of Ninety-Nine Years I could find, from Old Time Ballads & Cowboy Songs: Compiled by Cowboy Loye and Just Plain John (no date, probably mid-1930s) NINETY-NINE YEARS The court room was crowded, the judge waited there My mother was crying, when I left the chair. The sentence was sharp, folks, it cut like a knife, For ninety-nine years, folks, is almost for life. I dreamed of this whistle, I heard the bell ring, My sweetheart was coming some good news to bring. I knew that she loved me and that she'd be true, She said she would save me, I'm guiltless as you. She went for a pardon or else a parole. I know she'll come back for she's part of my soul. If she ever fails me, I'll be mighty blue, I'll stay in this jail-house, I'll die in here, too. They said I was criminal and to my despair, They sent me to Nashville and shaved off my hair. So come hear my story, I'll tell you my fate - I'm serving in Nashville for another man's hate. I've prayed with my mother, I've prayed to the stars, To my Heavenly Father through these prison bars. The storm clouds are heavy, the day has no light, And ninety-nine years, folks, is almost for life. I just got a letter from Nashville town, And after I read it, my spirit broke down. It said my sweetheart and the judge would be wed, And here in this jail-house, I wish I were dead. No matter how right, folks, a man he may be, Bad company will send him to prison like me. So take a good woman and make her your wife, For ninety-nine years, folks, is almost for life. Loye Pack was an early country singer who, as far as I know, was never recorded, though he was a regular performer on West Virginia radio. I'm not clear on the relationship between Ninety-Nine Years, Twenty-One Years, and various Poor Boy songs. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:00 AM Ninety-Nine Years by Bill Anderson My mama always told me better Than to play with a loaded gun If I'd've just listened to her she'd've Never had a prisoner for a son. The picture's still in front of my eyes The echo in my ears When the jury said he's guilty And the judge said ninety-nine years. Oh, for ninety-nine years I'll watch The sunrise over that some old sea Ninety-nine years nothing but An empty cell for company. Yet there's not very much that stands between Me and the freedom I hold dear Just a thousand bars, a big brick wall And a sentence of ninety-nine years. I kissed my darling on her tender lips And they took me by the hand I had a nice little ride on a ferry boat To the rock where the prison stands. The warden said as he locked the door I hope you'll like it here Just make yourself a home You're gonna be with us ninety-nine years. I've almost forgotten what my real name is Been a number for so long Making little bitty rocks out of great big rocks Gets old as the days wear on. But I'll do my best for ninety-nine years Just try to stay alive 'Cause the Governor said if I'd be good I'd get out in ninety-five. Oh, for ninety-nine years I'll watch The sunrise over that some old sea Ninety-nine years nothing but An empty cell for company. Yet there's not very much that stands between Me and the freedom I hold dear Just a thousand bars, a big brick wall And a sentence of ninety-nine years... |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:06 AM I've Still Got Ninety-Nine Bluegrass version as recorded by Monroe Brothers As I sat down to a gambling game I could hardly play my hand For thinking about that woman I love, run away with another man Run away with another man, poor boy, run away with another man I'm thinking about that woman I love, run away with another man I bought her everything she needs I dressed her up so fine She caused me to work for forty years, I've still got ninety nine I've still got ninety nine, poor boy, I've still got ninety nine She caused me to work for forty years, I've still got ninety nine I stroll down to the old depot just to watch the train roll by I looked in the window saw the woman I loved, hung down my head and cried Hung down my head and cried poor boy, hung down my head and cried I looked in the window saw the woman I loved, hung down my head and cried They took me down to the old jailhouse, the door they slammed on me Said if you'll report that moonshine still, I'll see that you got free I'll see that you go free poor boy, I'll see that you go free If you'll report that moonshine still, I'll see that you go free I told my age was twenty one, the truth I told that time Before I'll report that moonshine still, I'll go and serve my time I'll go and serve my time poor boy, I'll go and serve my time Before I'll report that moonshine still, I'll go and serve my time |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:18 AM I'm re-posting the Boston Burglar for comparison on this thread. It's already in the DT. The Boston Burglar gets twenty years (not twenty-one or ninety-nine). THE BOSTON BURGLAR I was born in the town of Boston, a place you all know well, Brought up by honest parents, the truth to you I'll tell, Brought up by honest parents, raised up most tenderly, Until I became a sporting man at the age of twenty-three. My character was taken and I was sent to jail, My friends they came and tried in vain to get me out on bail, The jury found me guilty, the clerk he wrote it down, The Judge he passed the sentence, I was bound for Charlestown. They put me on an eastbound train one cold December day, And every station we passed through, you could hear the people say, " There goes the Boston Burglar, in cold chains he is bound, For one crime or other he is bound for Charlestown." I saw my aged father standing at the bar, Likewise me dear old mother, tearing at her hair, Tearing at her old grey locks and trembling with a frown, "My son, my son what have you done to be sent to Charlestown?" There lives a girl in Boston, a girl that I love well, If ever I gain my liberty, it is with that girl I'll dwell, If ever I gain my liberty, there are two things I will shun, Being a night street walker, and the drinking of strong rum. All you who have your freedom, take a warning if you can, Don't go round the streets at night, breaking laws of God and man, For if you do, you'll surely rue, and find yourself like me, Serving up full twenty years in the penitentiary. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 05:00 PM I'm reposting this from Sandburg (posted by Joe Offer on another thread) because it is an example of the Coon Can lyric: COON CAN (POOR BOY) 1. My mother called me to her deathbed side, these words she said to me: "If your don't mend your rovin' ways, they'll put you in the penitentiary, They'll put you in the penitentiary, poor boy, they'll put you in the penitentiary, If you don't mend your rovin' ways, they'll put you in the penitentiary." 2. I sat me down to play coon can, could scarcely read my hand, A thinkin' about the woman I loved, ran away with another man. Ran away with another man, poor boy, ran away with another man. I was thinkin' about the woman I loved, ran away with another man 3. I'm a standin' on the corner, in front of a jewelry store, Big policeman taps me on the back, says, "You ain't a goin' to kill no more." Says, "You ain't a goin' to kill no more, poor boy," says, "You ain't a goin' to kill no more." Big policeman taps me on the back, says, "You ain't a goin' to kill no more." 4. "Oh, cruel, kind judge, oh, cruel, kind judge, what are you goin' to do with me?" "If that jury finds you guilty, poor boy, I'm goin' to send you to the penitentiary. I'm goin' to send you to the penitentiary, poor boy, goin' to send you to the penitentiary. If that jury finds you guilty, poor boy, I'm goin' to send you to the penitentiary." 5. Well, the jury found him guilty, the clerk he wrote it down, The judge pronounced his sentence, poor boy; ten long years in Huntsville town. Ten long years in Huntsville town, poor boy, ten long years in Huntsville town; The judge pronounced his sentence, poor boy, ten long years in Huntsville town. 6. The iron gate clanged behind him, he heard the warden say, "Ten long years for you in prison, poor boy, yes, it's ten long years for you this day. Ten long years for you in prison, poor boy, yes, it's ten long years this day." As the iron gate clanged behind him, that's what he heard the warden say. Here are Sandburg's notes on the song: Of Fort Smith, Arkansas, we have heard, "There is no fort there and they have forgotten which Smith it was named after." It is a town where they sing Coon Can and Poor Boy; either name is correct, according to Kate Webber of Fort Smith and Chicago, who communicated the tune and one verse, other verses coming by fast freight with no demurrage from Jack Hagerty of Los Angeles Its moral is plain: retribution overtakes the wrongdoer; years in the penitentiary are long. Folk songs are often like this; they leave the hearer to piece out the story. . . . The boy is found guilty of killing a woman. Why he killed her, his excuses, and explanations, are not told. There must have been extenuating circumstances, or the jury was impressed by the youthful aspect of the prisoner at the bar, in addition to the mother's testimony that he was always a good boy. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 05:19 PM This version is also from Chloe Bain based on Ninety Nine years from the Max Hunter collection. The versions based on Twenty-one years (or a mixture of both) seem to include Nashville as the city. That could be a clue in identifying the versions. ANSWER TO NINETY-NINE YEARS Cat. #0407 (MFH #11) - As sung by Mrs. Chloe Bain, Elkton, Missouri on September 6, 1959 VERSE 1: Th walls of the prison So cold an' so gray These iron bars, I looked through For many a day The guard with his rifle Who once guarded me Are all left behind An' again I am free VERSE 2 I'm free from my ole pals Have all drifted on Even my Dad, an' My Mother have gone I still see my Mother Her face wet with tears As she heard me sentenced For ninety-nine years VERSE 3 Tho', I was not guilty They sent me away Away from my loved ones To prison to stay The Judge could have saved me But he goes th case An' he sentenced me with a Smile on his face VERSE 4 He sent me to prison An' ruined my life Th girl I once trusted He took for his wife He led her to sorrow He cheated in life In less than a year He had cast her aside OTHER COLLECTIONS: Randolph: II-168e A Sequel To Ninety-Nine Years |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,thurg Date: 13 Oct 06 - 05:20 PM "The Boston Burglar gets twenty years (not twenty-one or ninety-nine)." In the version collected by Helen Creighton in Nova Scotia, the Boston Burglar is "Sentenced down to twenty-ONE years in the penitentiary." |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 06:05 PM What's one year anyway! This is why there is confusion identifying different versions. Here's another version of Ninety-nine Years entitled Cold Penitentiary Blues. Another identifying element in these songs is that are in 3/4 or 6/8 time (triple meter). Lyr Add: Cold Penitentiary Blues George Edgin's Corn Dodgers 1932 I've got the Cold Penitentiary Blues, Oh Lord I've got the Cold Penitentiary Blues While thinkin' of the woman I love I've got the Cold Penitentiary Blues I sat down to play some cards, But I could not play my hand. While thinkin' of the woman I love, She went away with another man. She went away with another man, oh Lord She went away with another man. The onliest woman that I ever loved, She went away with another man. I went down to the old depot To watch those trains pass by, The onliest woman that I ever loved, She waved her hand goodbye. Yes she waved her hand goodbye, oh Lord Yes she waved her hand goodbye The onliest woman that I ever loved, She waved her hand goodbye. I hung on to the next freight train That come down through that town. Found my woman in another man's arms And I stepped and I shot him down. Yes I stepped and I shot him down, oh Lord Yes I stepped and I shot him down. Found my woman in another man's arms And I stepped and I shot him down. On Monday I was arrested sweet babe And Tuesday stood my trial. The jury found me guilty oh Lord And they sent me to the old State Farm Yes they sent me to the old State Farm, oh Lord Yes they sent me to the old State Farm. For ninety-nine years they sentenced me To the old Arkansas State Farm. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 13 Oct 06 - 08:50 PM Here's a blues from Jimmy Rodgers (different song)that uses some of the same lyrics as found in Woody Guthrie, which is also a different song. NINETY-NINE YEAR BLUES Transcribed by Richie for Mudcat) Jimmie Rodgers and Raymond Hall (Guitar intro) Oh, the ninety-nine blues ain't no fancy dream; If you had two lives to live. You'd know just what I mean. When the judge read the verdict, You could have knocked me down, Said,"Boy, you've got two sixes, But they're all upside down." Yode-la-hee, ohlay-hee-o-de-lay-hee. They carried me to the jailhouse, I fell down on my bed, I couldn't sleep for crying, I wished to God I was dead (Spoken: Lord I wish I was dead). It ain't the days I've been here, It's the days I got to stay; All the old friends I ever had Done shook hands and gone away. My good gal told me The day I hit this camp (hey honey): "You've made your bed in sorrow, Now sleep in it like a man." (hey, hey honey) Ninety-nine and ninety-nine Makes a hundred and ninety-eight, That's more years, pretty mama, Than you can figure up on your slate. Yode-la-hee, ohlay-hee-o-de-lay-hee. All these old bootleggers Come here and done their time. And left me here grinding, On the same old ninety-nine. (Lord have mercy) I don't know what else Is in the world left to lose Cause I've lost everything Except these ninety-nine blues. Yode-la-hee, ohlay-hee-o-de-lay-hee. |
|
Subject: RE: Origins: Poor Boy/ Ninety-nine years From: GUEST,Richie Date: 14 Oct 06 - 12:15 AM Does anyone see a connection to Delia's Gone? There's a similar plot and also the ninety-nine is sometimes used (as well as Nine Hundred and ninety-nine). Richie |
| Share Thread: |