"HERE TO GET MY BABY OUT OF JAIL"

I'm not in your town to stay
said the lady old and gray,
to the warden of the penitentiary.
I'm not in your town to stay
and I'll soon be on my way,
I'm just here to get my baby out of jail.
Oh, warden,
I'm just here to get my baby out of jail.

I tried to raise my baby right,
I have prayed both day and night,
that he wouldn't follow in the footsteps of his dad.
I have searched both far and wide,
and I feared that he had died,
but at last I found my baby here in jail,
Oh, warden,
at last I found my baby here in jail.

It was just five years today
when his daddy passed away.
He was found beneath the snow so cold and white.
'Twas then I vowed to take his ring
and his gold watch and his chain,
then the county laid his daddy in the grave,
Yes, warden,
The county laid his daddy in the grave.

I will pawn you his watch,
I will pawn you his chain,
I will pawn you my diamond wedding ring.
I will wash all your clothes,
I will scrub all your floors,
If that will get my baby out of jail.
Yes, warden,
if that will get my baby out of jail.

Then I heard the warden say
to the lady old and gray.
I'll go bring your darlin' baby to your side.
Two iron gates swung wide apart,
and she held her darling to her heart.
She kissed her baby boy and then she died,
but, smiling,
she kissed her baby boy and then she died.

(Karl Davis and Harty Taylor, c. early 1930s)