The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #11138   Message #1494776
Posted By: Goose Gander
27-May-05 - 11:10 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Old Gray Mare
Subject: Lyr Add: TEARIN' OUT-A WILDERNESS (from J&A Lomax)
I don't think these have been posted:

TEARIN' OUT-A WILDERNESS

De old gray hoss come tearin' out-a wilderness
Tearin' out-a wilderness
Tearin' out-a wilderness
De old gray hoss come tearin' out-a wilderness
Down in Alabam'

chorus: Hoe, boys, Hoe (4X)

A little black bull come down from de mountain
Down from de mountain
Down from de mountain
A little black bull come down from de mountain
Long time ago

He stuck his horn through a white oak sapling
White oak sapling
White oak sapling
He stuck his horn through a white oak sapling
Long time ago

He threw dirt in de heifer's faces
Heifer's faces
Heifer's faces
He threw dirt in de heifer's faces
Long time ago

Twenty more black bull calves come that season
Come that season
Come that season
Twenty more black bull calves come that season
Long time ago

From John and Alan Lomax's American Ballads and Folk Songs (p.336-337).

The Lomax's offer no source, but they note it is "A Cotton-Chopping Song," and it's certainly African-American.