FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (4)

Frankie went to the courthouse,
The big fat judge to see.
The judge he said to Frankie
"You shot him in the third degree."

Frankie went on the witness stand
Her story for to tell;
To tell the judge and jury
How she sent her lovin' man to hell.

Frankie said to the judge
"Well, let all such things pass,
If I didn't shoot him in the third degree
I shot him in his big brown ass."

The judge he said to Frankie
"I'm sorry it came to pass,
For it really is murder in the first degree
Although you shot him in the ankle."

[Verse in which Frankie wriggles and smiles for the judge, who calls
her "honey chile," or something like that. If this is inserted here,
it accounts for the judge's change of mind. I don't find this verse
in Buckley, but I recall it from somewhere.]

Judge said to the jury,
"Jury, I cannot see,
Though Frankie has killed the man she loved,
Why she should not go free."

The next morning in the courtroom
After the trail began
The judge handed Frankie the six gun
"Now, go kill yourself another man."


In fact, Frankie's plea of self defense carried the day and she was
freed, although many versions tell of her conviction, hanging,
electrocution, etc.

By the way, the real name of the "other woman," often given as Alice
Fry, Nellie Bly, or some such, was Alice Pryor.

Buckley lists 410 verses of "Frankie," 256 of which are substantially
different, in his analysis.

--
john garst garst@chemTUNE FILE: CLICK TO PLAY Here are some verses, not necessarily from the same sources, from
Bruce Buckley's dissertation, Frankie and Her Men (Indiana U., 1962).
They all deal with the trial, Buckley's stage 21 of the story told by
the songs. I've put the verses in an order that makes sense, sort
of, perhaps. A verse that I recall but don't find in Buckley could
go at the spot indicated.

@murder @love @infidelity
DT #316
Laws I3
filename[ FRANJON4
TUNE FILE: FRANJOHN
CLICK TO PLAY
JG
Feb07
mudcat.org

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