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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
GUEST,diplocase Lyr Req: Bow Down (from Dirk Powell) (26) RE: Lyr Req: Bow Down (from Dirk Powell) 07 Dec 23


To reply to John Minear's question:

I picked up the "tar paper shack" verse from a September 12, 2019 entry on this page. The wider conversation which provides the context is mostly talking about another song in the same family. That song is also called Bow Down, and it appears to be 20th c.,. It bears more resemblance to familiar gospel and blues lyrics("you're gonna look for me and I'll be gone"):

https://mandolincafe.com/forum/threads/146541-What-s-the-origin-lyrics-of-this-song-All-Around-the-Mountain

The writer attributes the "tar paper shack" verse to the singing. of a band called Sweet Corn. I haven't been able to trace the band or the verse any farther back. But the vivid description speaks to an experience of American rural poverty and I like the way it sings.

I wouldn't go so far as to say the Cold Around the Mountain / Bow Down song recorded by Dirk Powell is a version of the Two Sisters, but I'm pretty sure that he (or the early 20th century person who first headed the folk process off in this direction) had that song in mind (Listen for instance to Jean Ritchie's "There Lived an Old Lord").. The songmaker seems to have re-used its structure, rhythm, and some of the chorus. And so the circle goes on!


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